Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Paper Hulled Shot Shells

I have an old Parker 12 gauge that I'd like to use once in a while and I'm just wondering whether there would be any advantage in buying some paper hulled shot shells for it. It was built for them and I have read that such guns are throated differently than guns built for plastic hulled shells.

What I've read is mostly the ad copy in Brownell's catalog telling me why I need to buy their reamers to alter it for plastic shells. IRRC, they say that reaming it for plastic shells will reduce recoil, pressure and wear on the gun and may make it pattern better. Stands to reason that buying paper hulled shells would do the same (other variables being equal)since that would eliminate the same issue in a different way.

If anybody has has any experience with paper instead of plastic I'd sure appreciate any advice you can offer.

Thanks!

Are the chambers 2 1/2" or 2 3/4"?
I use brass cases for my Westley Richards and other older hammer guns, but also load some with paper.
Never heard of a different throating for the older guns.....
Cat

Thanks for the response! That's a good question. The barrels are not marked as to chamber length. I can insert an unfired 3" plastic shell in them with no resistance so I doubt they are any shorter than 2 1/2" but I don't really have a way of measuring the chamber length because I can't tell where the throating starts by using my dial calipers. I suppose I could just buy a few boxes of 2 1/2" paper shells and not have to worry about it. Maybe that's the answer. Its not a problem, its an opportunity to start loading paper shells!

Not sure as to the original question, but I know that the old paper shells sure smelled good when you'd stick your nose in the open crimp...

The older guns had a more abrupt forcing cone , a holdover from the blackpowder days. The more abrupt forcing cone helped to increase pressures with blackpowder loads.
With the older type forcing cone & smokeless loads recoil is increased.
The forcing cone can be recut to more of a taper without affecting chamber length.
Be kind to your old shotgun & recut the forcing cone for smokeless loads.


Mike

Thanks for the advice guys. Sorry for the late reply. This week has been pretty busy at work & I just didn't get to the campfire for a while. I may have them recut. I've been using the low recoil low noise load from Winchester in my Sterlingworth and I just got some "Vintagers" this week. I may try them in the Parker. I have some paper shells on order but they are standard pressure so I'll probably wait until I decide once and for all whether to recut the forcing cones. Both guns are pretty but have been redone so I won't be ruining any pristine collectables.

Mike Orlen is your man to have the barrel work done. His e-mail is michael.orlenverizon.net and phone is 413-256-1630

You might want to try your question at the Parker Gun Collectors site:

http://parkerguns.org/forums

They know a lot about them, and the discussion is very friendly.

Right.

If you could bottle that smell, you'd get filthy rich.

Nothing on earth has ever smelled as good as just-fired paper shells out of a fine double on a cool and clear October morning.

The "old" style forcing cones were supposed to help with hangfires and reduce potential damage to the gun from blooper shell, which were more common back in the good old days. I wasn't there at the time, but that's what I have read.

A competent gunsmith should decide if and how much the forcing cones can be lengthened. Some older doubles have quite an OD taper in the area at the end of the chamber, and care has to be taken as to how much material can be removed without causing a weak spot in a critical area of the barrel.

The trick is to check the length of a fired shotshell, not an unfired one. The shell opens up by about 3/8" over the unfired length and if the forcing cone is too short it will raise pressure.

I don't know that paper has any advantage over plastic if the lenght is correct.

Yep.

Federal paper hulls reloaded with Red Dot are your
Huckleberry for an olfactory fix.

Now that's painting a picture with words; I can feel the crispness of a fall morning, and detect the aroma of gunpowder and Hoppes right now!

Cut down federal papers (straight walls and reduced pressure) and roll crimp them and you will get beautiful patterns and low pressure with the appropriate loads. There used to be a wad that gave low pressure - I think it was called Flite-max or something like that. Go for a slower burning powder. I used to use SR7625 which really held the pressure down but gave a lot of flame and blast at the muzzle. If you cut down the federal papers and roll crimp them you can put a 2 3/4 load in them but keep the fired case at a 2 1/2 chamber. Have fun.

You should, just for grins, look up a very old article in the Double Gun Journal where they intentionally blew up an old D grade damascus (pitted) Parker 12 bore with sequentially heavier loads. It will give you a lot of confidence in the stoutness of your gun.

The forcing cones on older guns, like your Parker, were designed for shells using fiber wads. The forcing cones needed to be more abrupt to get the fiber wads to seal in the bore. Plastic wads seal much better and benifit from having a more tapered forcing cone. The forcing cone reamers that Brownells sell have nothing to do with with hull being made of paper or plastic. They are designed to change the shape and length of the forcing cone. The recoil reduction Brownells is refering to comes from a longer, tapered forcing cone. The chambers have to be measured with a gauge. A dial caliper will not work. Find out what the chamber length is first before you do anything. Above anything your ammunition needs to be the correct length for your chamber.

Also, paper hulled shells like Federal Gold Medals or the older Champions, are loaded with plastic wads. Just because it has a paper hull does not automatically mean it has a fiber wad. Gamebore cartridge loads some of their cartridges with felt wads. Check out Gamebore and get your chambers measured.

Paper hulls are the way to go. I enjoy loading full power 1 1/8th ounce loads with a hard card separating the shot from a healthy charge of FFFg black powder. Doubles are a cinch to clean after the shoot/hunt with black powder.

However, the smell is a little different than Red Dot loads!