VH 16 getting prepared

[Jack Cronkhite]

Pheasants start next Thursday (Oct 1). Whenever I pick up a new to me gun, I like to do this first, because most of them have a century of crud to clean up inside. This 16 will get a chance for the opener here. Cheers, Jack
http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=631&pictureid=7395

[Angel Cruz]

If i did that to one of my Parkers the next call would be to Brian...Help!!!:rotf:

[Stephen Hodges]

I did that to my Thompson Center Encore Muzzle Loader one time. My next stop was the factory which was then in Rochester, NH. I handed the bag full of parts to the customer service gent, he disappeared out back and was back in ten minutes with my gun put back together. All he said was don't do that again:rotf:

[Bill Murphy]

I bought a DH two barrel Miller trigger pigeon gun in a bag, in parts. I had no idea if it was all there. Babe and Lawrence DelGrego put it together for $100 plus shipping. They never mentioned any parts that may have been missing.

[Jack Cronkhite]

I'm always amazed with how much crud is involved. My best friend today was the ultrasonic bath and it was very black after several times through. Even then, there was hardened gunk that required a bit of physical effort. Even more amazing is that the gun was shootable but not easy to operate. I have found after a few small issues that a "tinkerer" can dismantle and reassemble a Parker with relative ease. It is a well engineered action and can be completely disassembled without having to destroy some pieces as in some other sxs guns. Tough to find a replacement for a destroyed part, as it must be new or remanufactured as a parts gun won't do. These pics show how to remove and reinsert main springs, plungers and hammers. Another member mentioned to use a punch pin to hold the plunger in place while removing the hammer pin screw. Before that I was just pushing the plunger in with the dowel and trying to insert the hammer pin screw. Possible, but not easy. The punch pin makes it easy. Tomorrow it wil be ready to pattern. Cheers, Jack
http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=631&pictureid=7399
http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=631&pictureid=7398
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[Daniel G Rainey]

If I did that to one of my Parkers there is no way I could get it back together and I know no one in Mississippi that I would trust to the job. Guess, I will keep shooting dirty old guns. Dan

[Jack Cronkhite]

You do get to see some strange stuff. Here the unhooking slide has been smacked many times in an effort to remove it. They gave up. All that has to be done is undo the small screw on the edge of the trigger plate and the slide will "slide" right off. This slightly abused VH 16 is re-assembled and ready to be fired. Maybe tomorrow. Cheers, Jack

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=631&pictureid=7400
http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=631&pictureid=7401

[Eric Estes]

Jack, I think this has come up in other threads before, but what do you use as a "bath" in your ultrasonic cleaner? Great pictures, thanks.

[Jack Cronkhite]

Hi Eric: I bought the Lyman cleaner from Cabellas and use a bath of distilled water and Lyman Turbo Sonic Concentrated Steel and Gun Parts Cleaning Solution (also Cabellas) Mix 1 oz cleaner to 20 oz distilled water. You can use ordinary tap water but distilled will work faster (or so the bottle says). For really dirty parts I also use the heat setting on the ultrasonic cleaner. Some century old stuff requires many cycles through before they come clean but they do come clean. The odd piece of really caked on stuff needs the help of the always available tooth picks. Pointy ones from your favorite steak house work the best, especially since you need to eat a good steak first. Cheers, Jack

[Kevin McCormack]

My favorite is when they reassemble the gun and can't get the floorplate to lay flush as it should, so they whang away at the forward edge of the plate (usually with a hard plastic hammer) and break off the rim on the side where this unhooking slide plunger sits!

[Jack Cronkhite]

Yes there is always a new disaster to be found. Of all the things I have learned in life, this one invariably stands me in good stead - If something is getting difficult, you are doing it wrong The design engineers usually made things as simple as possible. I think Parkers are very well designed and easy to work on. I am no gunsmith, just a guy with screwdrivers (hollow ground of course), a couple punch pins, a variety of wood dowels, a light amber/rubber hammer, a pair of vise grips (just for the top lever spring and only after lifting it gently with a small screwdriver blade in the very convenient location the engineers made for me to do that). Open to better methods any time but I don't have any qualms over cleaning the innards. There is no such thing as "patina" inside the frame. Cheers, Jack

PS: Tomorrow is the opener for pheasants. I'm ready and will take three new to me guns to try out. The VH 12 and Darne 20 get to digest old paper Canucks. Don't have any for the VH 16 so that one will be treated to new Gamebore 2.5" #6 shotshells.

[charlie cleveland]

good luck jack....charlie

[Jack Cronkhite]

Thanks Charlie: I took the VH16 and VH12 and the little French Darne 20. Never shot a Darne before. Handled nicely but bird and pattern never met so after wasting a bit of ammo, I put that away for the day. Next was the VH 16. I discovered in the clean-up that the butt stock is from a different Parker 16 and that the bores were not well cared for over it's life to date. That said, I knew it would be a good shooter. First shot was a bit different. A rooster flushed and just as I am pulling the trigger, a second flushed right into the shot. No chance for that one to get out aways, so hit pretty hard. Second and third shots each brought down a rooster. So, 3 shots, 3 roosters. I guess I'm a Parker guy for sure. Cheers, Jackhttp://parkerguns.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=631&pictureid=7404

[Daniel G Rainey]

great hunt ! 3 shots, 3 pheasants. Outstanding ! Did the same thing last year with my first Parker. now hunting Parker number 4 and am a parker man for life. Dan

[Jack Cronkhite]

Here are some pics of the tools used for disassembly/reassembly. Not that many. Close up shows the hollow ground tip sizes. The gold tips are very small for the few tiny screws encountered.

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=638&pictureid=7458
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