I made the short drive up to see Bill Schwarz today and let him look over my 2 new Parkers. It's great to have such a talented and helpful gunsmith so close.
In general, he gave both guns a clean bill of health, with the exception the 20ga has a split in the headstock. It has no visible cracks, but if you flex the butt stock you can see the right ear move slightly away from the action. You can also hear the difference if you tap on the right ear as compared to the left. His prognosis was common split that he could easily repair. I told him I planned to hunt with gun and asked it was OK to shoot low pressure 2 3/4" shells. His reply was it would be much better to lengthen the chambers to 2 3/4" and then I could shoot it with no worries going forward. He's going to do that work as well as open the right choke to IC.
The 12ga GHE is good to go. He confirmed that the action had been tightened up and after inspection he said whoever did the work knew what they were doing. Barrels have been rust blued and the wood refinished. Again he commented that it was very nice work. He measure the chambers and said they had been lengthened to 2 3/4. He didn't find anything out of place or mismatched. No mechanical issues were found.
I inquired about the gap where the dog's head fits the action and he said it was a result of hook being re-built to tighten the action, but said it's nothing to worry about so I won't.
I left the 20ga with him and brought the 12ga home. I'll be shooting a round of sporting clays with it this Wednesday.
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