Do you have a checklist for Inspecting a gun during an inspection period?

[jeffkinser]

I just purchased my first Parker (a 16 ga Trojan with 26" barrels) via Gunbroker and am picking it up from my Range this morning. I have a 3 day inspection period and wanted some guidance on what to verify on the gun once I have it in my hands for the first time. I appreciate all of the help.

The gun was sold as a Trojan Parker with matching serial numbers that had been restored. It also said that there had been a "professionally fixed" crack in the wrist.

Here is my plan so far:

1. Verify that all the pieces are included. (Thanks for the recent post about the forend being thrown out by the FFL shipping department)

2. Verify that the serial numbers all match in the appropriate places

3. Verify that the bores look clean and unpitted

4. Verify that the outside of the barrels look clean and unpitted.

5. Verify that the barrels look to be the original barrels with the correct length and are uncut. Specifically looking for 16 gauge and 1 frame on the lug and that the barrels match the pictures on the listing

6. Have my local gunsmith measure the Width of the Barrel thickness to ensure shootability

7. Have the local gunsmith verify that the crack in the wrist is safe


I already know that the case colors are cyanide so I am overlooking that check.
I don't know how to determine if the bluing is the correct Rust bluing process.

Anything I am forgetting for a "shooter grade"

8. Put it in plain sight in my office, look at it for hours and plan my next Parker purchase!!!!!

thanks,

Jeff

[Brian Dudley]

Check the ribs! Hang barrel on your finger and knock the tubes with your nuckle. Listen for a steady ring sound. Anything that sounds flat or like a dull thud is very suspect for loose ribs. Also look at the ribs joints very closely. Push down on the rib and look for movement at the joint. A little oil in the crack of the rib might help since it can be seen pushing out from a point if the rib is loose.

Other than that and others that you mention, if the gun is as described, tight, solid and fits you. Put it into your collection.

[Bruce Day]

I don't really have a checklist. This one looked pretty good to me and will be my main squeeze at the Southern, you know, for bragging rights.

The east coast guys can eat their hearts out. Its not for sale.

[Dean Romig]

If, when tapping the barrels for that clear bell-like ring, you hear a slight buzzing, it could be the cocking hook or the extractor causing that.

[Dean Romig]

Other issues aside Bruce, I like that early pad!

[Bruce Day]

There is no slight buzzing with my fancy gun.

Brian, a steady ring sound? You mean like a telephone?

I don't see any need to send this one off to a gunsmith. I don't think it could be improved upon . It gets attention just the way it is.

[Brian Dudley]

There are all sorts of tones that can be heard when ringing the barrels. And it is not always a true indication of rib issues. Barrels can give a good sound and still have a rib issue.
But, every one I have encountered that sounded like a flat or dull thud, had rib issues.

[Russ Jackson]

Bruce when you hear the bottom of that pad slap against the wood ,you will know to let her go ,it will be shouldered perfectly ,I'm not sure this won't give you a huge advantage ,you might want to check the rule book !:rotf:

[John Havard]

Bruce, you sure know how to pick them!

[jeffkinser]

Thanks to all the members who answered my original question. I appreciate the insight and help.

[Jerry Harlow]

This is just what I would do if the barrels have a weep/drain hole in them where they were reblued.

With a squirt nozzle I would spray a good quality gun oil in the hole. With a rubber tipped air nozzle at low pressure, I would put some air pressure into the hole. If oil comes back out the hole and no where else, good. If oil comes out at a very small spot in the solder, then probably still OK

If oil comes out everywhere, top and botton, then a hot bluing job was probably done at some point, even though the last job may have been a correct rust bluing. Barrels would probably have to have the ribs relaid and reblued. May hold together, may not.

Just my two cents.

[Gary Carmichael Sr]

The reason I ilke the Southern you can look at a gun on my table and take it out and shoot it really see how it feels and fits, Gary

[jeffkinser]

Just an update: I picked up the gun and it matches the description on the listing perfectly. Had a gunsmith look at it and he said the barrels were great and they were rust blued. I checked the barrels and they rang out very nicely up and down the barrels so thanks Brian for that tip.

Can't wait to go shoot now!

[Bill Murphy]

The bores and chokes must be measured with a bore micrometer. Jeff, I trust your "gunsmith" owns a wall thickness gauge and a bore micrometer. If not, he is not a "gunsmith". "barrels are great" is not the right answer.

[John Taddeo]

I keep a pipe cleaner with a loop in it in my tool box (and hang the barrel from and it) that seems to eliminate the buzzing and gives a good long ring. You should also have gotten a minimum wall thickness from the Smith Jeff..

[jeffkinser]

Thanks for watching out for me guys. He does and it all checked out as over spec. I was just abbreviating the conversation.

Jeff

[todd allen]

Jeff, the only other thing you need to do is post some pictures.

[jeffkinser]

It is only a restored Trojan so don't over expect compared to what normally gets posted on here....but it is my first and I'm happy!

[Bill Murphy]

Does your new Trojan have any Remington repair codes stamped on the barrel flats? What claim did the seller make for the source of the refinishing of your gun?

[jeffkinser]

More

[jeffkinser]

Hi Bill,

The restoration was done before this owner and he did not know where it was done. The case coloring looks like it was cyanide so it is a little off the original. Everything else looks pretty good. I knew all of this info before the purchase so the price was calculated to match the representation of the gun.

I don't find any repair codes.

I am sending off for a letter to see if they have anything just in case.

Jeff

[todd allen]

It's a beautiful gun that do the job that it was intended for.

[Greg Baehman]

In response to the original question, here's a 2-page Gun Evaluation Check List that I've used:

[Daryl Corona]

It is only a restored Trojan so don't over expect compared to what normally gets posted on here....but it is my first and I'm happy!

It's still a Parker, Jeff, and a 16 to boot. Very nice. No need to apologize. Congratulations and enjoy. I bet it won't be your last.

[Bill Murphy]

That is a great transition era Remington Parker. With no Remington repair codes, the appearance of the gun points to Larry DelGrego and Son. I would buy this gun off a gun show table without a problem.

[Greg Phillips]

Great first purchase, significantly better than my first stab at a Parker. This is a gun you can keep and enjoy for many years. Very nice, almost all members here have at least on trojan in their permanent collection. Enjoy

[Michael Murphy]

The first item on my checklist is: Does it make my socks go up & down. After that, I know I'm in trouble.

[ed good]

this three day inspection business is nonsense. it was created by one of the early internet sales sites...back before we had the internet, men would do business via print media and the telephone. back then, a mans word was his bond. buyers were expected to know what they were buying and sellers were expected to know what they were selling. and, if a man would not at least guarantee that what he was selling was free of major flaws that would dramatically affect the value of an item, then no one would do business with him...now, many sellers on gunbroker and elsewhere expect people to buy guns based on minimal descriptions and minimal fuzzy pictures...with no return option! it is amazing to me that people actually buy from some of these guys...guess ole pt was right! the more things change the more they stay the same.

I long for the good ole days when we used to treat each other the way we ourselves expected to be treated...

[Linn Matthews]

Well Ed, don't slam everyone. Some of us still do business the "old" way

[ed good]

parkerman: glad to hear it.

[Grantham Forester]

Your point is well taken about change, but I am confused as to the letters "pt"- My daughter is a French History major at Oberlin College, and like her mother, Jean Marie, is fluent in that language as well. The phrase "plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose" which Jean-Baptise Alphonse Karr authored somewhere between 1939 and 1849 in the monthly French magazine Les Guepes- is translated exactly as "the more it changes, the more it is the same thing" which has now morphed into the more common vernacular as you had written it-- Words of truth and wisdom, mon Ami.

[ed good]

my reference to pt, is as in pt barnum, as in " there is a sucker born every minute". ole pt said those famous words more than 100 years ago...as in, " the more things change the more they stay the same". as in, only a sucker would buy a used shotgun, without some guarantee that it is as advertised...

[Bill Murphy]

The three day inspection is not an internet phenomenon.