doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Can anybody here tell me about Parker Hammerguns?

I shoot on a regular basis clays with what Art calls the fourth iteration lifter, 30” twist barrels. I added a leather comb raiser, drop was in the 3” area, and load Federal papers with 3/4 8.5 and either Clay dot, 700x or Extra Lite, and Bulls Eye when nothing is available. Chokes are as best I can tell, never really miked, original, and the gun shoots fine and breaks clays with authority. These are not light weight or lively as the term implies but handle well. There is something about shooting 100 plus year old hammer guns on a SC range. Try it, you’ll like it.

Susjwp: I've been doing that off and on for the last year and I'm really enjoying it. My modern O/U SKB target gun just sits in it case lately.

I'm thinking this Parker will be used more for upland work (pheasants?) but we'll see how it fits me first. Since I'm not likely to be feeding it readily-available ammunition (it reportedly has short chambers) that will tend to limit its use for clays.

It's all a voyage of discovery for me with these "eared" guns. I find them strangely alluring and way more useful than I would have expected them to be.



This 1901 Ithaca digests moden target loads with no issues (because it has thick & heavy 32-inch tubes and weighs almost 10lbs). Up on the hill at Silver Creek yesterday.

eeb: After a careful evaluation (& a much needed deep cleaning) of this Parker, I'm in agreement with your assessment that they were a little better made (than even the competition). It's not anything like an English gun (in that it's your typical big and heavy American 12) but it does seem a bit more-refined than my other American hammers. It also seems to fit me fairly well (which is a BIG deal as well). Bigger, but not overly-heavy, absolutely no cast, and w/manageable drop, so...with a cinch on pad and a handguard it should be quite allright. Anyway, I'm duly impressed, and for my purposes it should be fun to use.

Also, as you mentioned, the hammer springs are fairly strong. As a comparison, my later Ithaca NIG (shown above) is quite easy to cock.



Used but not abused, as I'd hoped for.



I'm appreciating that "Fishtail" feature as well.

Shot this gun yesterday on a 5-stand. Broke the first 5 targets in a row with it so...it seems to fit allright. The gun also felt fairly light to me (because I've been using two other, heavier hammerguns). It also seemed fairly lively for its weight, which is another plus.

Of course, that lighter weight made recoil fairly noticeable, even with the AA Featherlights I was using (odd, I never used to be so sensitive). It was screaming hot so...maybe I was just being sensitive in general?

It should make for a fun hunting impliment, which of-course was the goal. I put it away and went back to shooting that 10lb Ithaca on the rest of the stations.

Bring on the Fall...