doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Parker Problem with barel fit

From what you describe, it sounds like the hinge pin has got out of parallel with the standing breech in plan view.

jack

So, the feeler gauge will go in where you filed but not where you didn't. Sounds like you amputated the wrong testicle like the military doctor in the paper this week. Better slow down. Do these case color guys really understand double gun construction? I am very skeptical of a case color guy who doesn't start with an assembled working gun and send one back to me in the same condition. The "just send me the parts" guys scare me to death. It sounds like you just finished dealing with one of those guys. I didn't especially like Dr. Gaddy's finished products, but at least they weren't bent.

rabbit. I unscrewed the hinge pin screw to loosen. This did nothing. I took the screw out and I should have known the hinge pin fixture moved forward so that was not what I was looking for.

eightbore. I removed material where the magic marker was being worn off. Maybe I did remove the wrong testicle but I don't know.

I talked to John Gellette at Classic guns and he told me this situation happens from time to time. Since this has happened twice to me I think I am done with restoreing guns in general.
I know I am not going to have another Parker case colored.

Thanks for all of your excellent input, Gordon

In this case, it's very hard not to admire Jim Legg's vetting of what's not the "problem": barrels don't get longer upon rebluing. I really wish someone with experience would sign on here but maybe that's just too much bread and butter to give up.

jack

Were these guns annealed before recase hardening? I have seen this several times on guns that I suspect that had not been annealed before they were colored. Your last gun was done by one who I knows does anneal guns. Was this part of the service? I like to have the person who does the case coloring reassemble the gun to make sure of the fit and that no warping has occured. Better to spend the extra few dollaors than to have to deal with the hassles that you are dealing with.

KY Jon
Good point and if I ever decide to have a gun re-cased I will spend the money to have it dissambeled and reassembled after case coloring.
I did not have this gun annealed. Hind sight is 20/20 isn't it.

Thanks for the advide, Gordon

Jessie, the best way i have found to fit barrels are to smoke them using alcohol lamp with kerosene in it.If the toplever is not tripping sounds like the barrels are not quite going down far enough to push the trip down to get lever to move.It is a slow and long process for me to fit barrels. Bobby

You need to have the forend installed when you get close to final fitting.

Gordon,
This is not an isolated problem. I have had three guns restored over the past 7 years, a GHE Parker, a Trap Grade LC Smith, and a Grade 2 Ithaca Crass and in each case the receiver was annealed and the engraving chased before case coloring. Turnbull did the case coloring on all three, and the assembly and dissassembly on two. In all three cases, the receivers came back with some slight warpage. Luckily for me, not enough to impair functionality.

The Parker is the most annoying, because the warpage caused the frame rails to spread at the joint roll about .002. The gun was and is tight on face, but now rattles side to side when the action is open. When the action is closed, you can push on the barrels at the roll and they will move sideways back and forth a couple of thousandths or so. Prior to the restoration, the barrel lug fit so perfectly into the frame rails that it would scrape a film of oil off the side of the lug without touching metal when the action was rotated. Not now. The Smith was much less of a problem, one sideplate warping slightly so that it was proud of the frame by about a thousandth or two at the front of the action. Prior to the restoration, it was flush. The Ithaca suffered a slight expansion of the joint roll holes in the frame, so that the tight press fit is gone and the roll pin wiggles ever so lightly when the barrel stop lug is pushed. I think in the old days, this type of warping probably happened, and was alleviated by the "hard" or second fitting done after case hardening was complete. That is now apparently a lost art, and the modern restorers are unable or unwilling to go that last thousandth. It takes a lot of guts and experience to whack a sideplate with a lead hammer, or squeeze a newly restored receiver in a vice to get a couple of thousands play out.

Don't get me wrong, I think Turnbull did a magnificent job on my restorations, but it just nags me a little that they are not as perfect as when they left the factory. And, I reached the same conclusion as you did. While I may restore barrels and wood in the future, I will never re-case another reciever. The perfect fit is more important to me than a "new" appearance. I picked up a 1900 VH with a thin coating of brown rust over half the receiver and half the barrels, which I carefully removed a little at a time with a razor blade and oil, leaving a gray patina with fine salt and pepper pitting. Nevertheless, while abused on the outside, the gun has never had a screw turned and the bores, chokes, chambers and cones, as well as the action interior,are perfect. I will never restore it, because despite being cosmetically challenged, to me it is my benchmark gun as to what proper fit and action clearance should be. I wish I still had that fit on my GHE. Good hunting.
\ Mike

Although I'm not a metallurgist I do have a MechE background and I've always had reservations about recasing actions via the bone charcoal/heat process. Personally I think having new looking, vivid cc isn't worth the risk of warping or cracking the action. Maybe I was influenced by none other than P.O. Ackley who wasn't too keen on the recasing process either, writing about recased Krag receivers developing cracks. I've had a bunch of SxS guns restored over the years including restocking to my dims and rebluing if necessary; but with their actions I'm happy with the silvery look as a reminder of the hands that turned them that way. JMO of course. Silvers