PH 16 GAUGE ON A 0 FRAME

[Stephen Hodges]

With the advise of two forum members (the guilty know who you are!!) I just purchased this PH 16 gauge on a 0 frame. As you can see it is in need of a clean up, but should be a nice shooter. I has 28” barrels. Both bores are .663 with .006 in the right and .022 in the left. The gun weights 6 Lb 4 oz. The LOP is 13 ½” to the wood, and 14 1/8 to the end of the very “squished” pad, with the DAH at 2 3/8”. Serial # is 81128. Wall thickness is great and there are a few scattered pits in both barrels, but nothing bad. The gun is tight on face. I’ll post some additional pictures after the clean up.

[Daryl Corona]

Nice find Steve. I just love an honest gun like that.

[Mark Landskov]

Wow! That will be a great grouse gun. The screws look like they have seen few, if any, screwdrivers. Enjoy!

[charlie cleveland]

nice find...will make you a fine hunting gun... charlie

[Dave Suponski]

:rolleyes:.....:whistle:.....:rotf:

[Bill Murphy]

Nice little gun.

[Brian Dudley]

Yes, great screws indeed!

[Justin Julian]

Heresy to suggest it, I know; but what a fine candidate for a stunning restoration.

Imagine what Brad B could do with that gun.

[Stephen Hodges]

Yeh, he could do a great job on this one. But I really just want to clean up the stock a bit, change the pad, and shoot it for now. At most I will probably just do what I term a "hunters" restoration on this gun. No sanding if it can be helped. Might do the barrels, but I will have to see on that one. Any suggestions on what to do would be appreciated.

[Daryl Corona]

Steve,
Checkering looks to be in good shape. Personally I would just clean her up and shoot her. That gun has character which I believe will be lost with a complete restoration. I like 'em that way. Just my opinion.

[Dean Romig]

I'm with Daryl... but you know that.

[Stephen Hodges]

I know Dean, you even like the pad!

[E Robert Fabian]

Nice gun Steve hope to see you out with it.

[Bill Murphy]

I have changed a few pads on medium high condition guns. I would not change the pad on this one. I would soap the stock and go hunting. Even the barrels are good enough for a "home cleaning". I do not refinish composite barrels that look like those.

[calvin humburg]

Great gun the way it is. And what a nice one to carry chocked well to. best ch

[Bruce Day]

Stephen, you sent me a PM asking my opinion about what to do, so I will respond.

First, I like nice looking guns. Second, I like nice functioning guns. I concur with your belief that there is some oil soaking. You can test that by using a heat gun or a hair dryer on the stock and seeing if oil is pulled up. If its just a little, then keep applying heat until oil migration stops. If there is a lot of oil, then I recommend pulling the stock from the action and using alcohol, acetone, or some other oil solvent to remove the oil.

The solvent will remove the finish but IMHO, the stock needs refinishing anyway because in my opinion its not attractive as is . You can steam out dents, chemically remove the old finish and refinish it yourself. Seal the stock head when it is off. After all the liquid chemicals on the stock, you'll probably have to lightly sand raised grain. I think I see enough grain pattern under there to make me believe that this wood could be pretty.

If the pad is crushed, I recommend replacing it with a period correct pad such as a Jostams Hy Gun or No Shoc. It looks crushed to me. You can save the old one for historical purposes, but since the pad thats on there is almost certainly an add-on anyway, it would be inconsequential to me as a collector.

Clean the action well with Rem Action Cleaner, whether you remove the stock or not. Then lightly oil.

The barrels. I can't tell enough to recommend anything. Those twist barrels are attractive when they show lots of contrast, if no contrast, then they can look pretty dull. Compare the covered area under the forend and make your own decision. Dale Edmonds charges around $300 for a barrel refinish, I don't know what Brad Bachelder charges. Both would do a nice job.

And then an unsolicited comment. These 0 frame 16's can kick pretty hard when used with standard 1 oz 2 1/2 dre loads. They were intended by Parker to be used with 7/8 oz 2 1/2 dre loads ( see Parker Small Bore Shot Guns brochure) and I think Parker called it right. The heavier recoil of a 1 oz load would not make much difference for your shoulder for the few shots you get per day when grouse hunting, but it would for 50 or 100 targets. Since I don't know of any commercial 16ga 7/8oz loads, that pushes you into handloading or RST. I think those mini mags 1 1/8oz loads would push those barrels over the service load ceiling and close to proof loads, see TPS p. 515, and I would stay away from those.

Glad to help, per your request, and have fun with your new gun.

[Justin Julian]

I'm with Bruce....I too like the look of a good honest hunting gun in original condition, but this one is just too far gone to pretend that it still looks good. A Parker deserves to look better than that. New pad, deoiled and steamed stock with new finish, blue the trigger guard, triggers and safety button, carefully clean up the frame, and then evaluate whether the barrels should be restored. After that's all done properly, even the naysayers will admit that it looks better and is more desirable to own than in its current condition...well, maybe not all of them...

[Eric Eis]

I with Daryl, Bill and Dean. Nice original gun, clean up the stock, maybe maybe not replace the pad, maybe put a coat or two of tung oil on the stock and see how the barrels clean up with some Hoppes #9 and bronze wool. If you redo the stock, then the stock won't look right (too new) to the rest of the gun, do the stock, barrels and reblue the trigger guard and then the receiver sticks out looking bad. That's my 2 cents.....

[Justin Julian]

That's why I like Linspeed oil finish. You can leave it shiny and new looking, or take it down to a dull finish with buffing to make it match a patina frame.

[Stephen Hodges]

Update on the PH--Last night Bob "the tool man" Fabian measured the barrels of the PH, and they passed with flying colors. We then went to his back yard and took a few shots each. Today I went to the range and burned 125 rounds. I also received my letter on the gun today. It was ordered on February 7th, 1895 and shipped on August 22, 1895 to W.C. Hodgkin's and Company of New York, NY., with F/F chokes which are now IC/LM. Everything else checks out with the letter. PH, 16 Gauge, 28" barrels with a LOP of 14 1/4", DAH of 2 1/2" and a weight of 6 Lb 6 Oz.

[scott kittredge]

maybe i will get to see it soon too, sounds like a nice bird gun, scott

[Stephen Hodges]

You will, it's going to PA with us!

[Dean Romig]

You done good Steve.

If you use bornze wool and Hoppe's be sure to remove the stock first. You don't want to accidentally overscrub onto the wood.

[Bobby Cash]

I perused TPS this morning looking for stats on how many "0" frame 16's were made. Help?
Thank you, :bowdown:
Bobby

[Dean Romig]

TPS has no records of frame sizes.