Second Chance Gun

[Jack Cronkhite]

I started a thread in the old forum, portions of which remain in the Archive. The picture links seem to have moved to cyber space. This said, I have created an album 108603 (Second Chance Gun). I have a long way to go with this project and it is an on again off again affair. So far, the barrels have been re-blued, which is the best part of the project thus far. I do have every part disassembled and over time will finish the individual part clean-up. I will be taking photos of each step along the way as I progress to re-assembly. The album starts with just the barrels and all barrel parts. I have added text to each image and would appreciate any critique of the text and can adjust any errors or subtle nuances pointed out, as I have used a bit of licence in naming some items or parts thereof. Ultimately, I would like to build a "schematic" that includes every part. To the uninformed (me included) there are far more parts to the gun than would be imagined when gazing upon a completely assembled gun that can conveniently break into just three "parts". I will update this post or the album from time to time.

Cheers,
Jack

[Robin Lewis]

Nice job! Very nice indeed.

[Dean Romig]

Great job Jack! :clap:

Your photography is very sharp and the nomenclature you have used for the various parts and aspects, while not always the same that parker Bros. used, perfectly describes function.

The only change I would suggest is that "K" is the mark of Charles Alonzo King, Superintendant of the Gun Works and inventor of some few dozen improvements to the Parker Shotgun. C.A. King's son Walter King succeded him as Superintendant and used the stamp "WK".

[Pat Dugan]

When you finish this project, we all will have an accurate description of the parts discussed and know finally what they look like, thanks for the super effort to inform us all.

PDD

[Dave Suponski]

Excellent job Jack....Thank You....:bowdown:

[Mike McKinney]

Thanks for this good work and the info it will provide for future reference, especially us beginners.

[calvin humburg]

That's very helpful.

[Jack Cronkhite]

Trigger group added to album
Jack

[Jack Cronkhite]

Lots of "before" pictures added

[Jack Cronkhite]

Safety Slide Group added today. Safety lever/pin group to come. That little slide button we can see and that fits our thumbs so nicely ultimately requires seven parts to do the job

[Jack Cronkhite]

A few more pics added.

On another note, many months ago we were discussing buggered screw heads. I had thought about just filing off the burrs but another member (wish I could remember who and I can't find the discussion thread) said don't do that just peen it over. Well today I was cleaning up the cocking crank pin stop screws, one of which was badly buggered. I turned that back into the receiver and very lightly attacked it with a hammer. To my pleasant surprise, the vast majority of the burrs returned to the slot leaving a fairly decent slot - not perfect, but decent. Thanks again to "someone" for the advice. I know I can get all eleven screws from Galazan for 35$ but I would not get the same satisfaction as playing with all the originals.
Cheers,
Jack

[Lee St.Clair]

Wow. I am impressed. Thank you very much Mr. Cronkhite for sharing with us. An education on parts and cleaning up one of these treasures indeed.

[Jack Cronkhite]

You are welcome Lee. I'm getting down to the last few internal parts and then a whole lot of photos will follow. What intrigues me the most is to have learned just how much engineering went into the building of these guns. Secondly, I have no training in gun smithing but have learned that with patience, perserverance and proper turn screws, anyone with the inclination and a hint of mechanical ability could do this. Thirdly, there is a proper sequence that must be followed to dismantle and one important hint on the initial removal of the trigger plate - all of which I found on an old NRA publication and posted a year or so ago. Finally, an interesting sense of satisfaction has taken over the whole project as the handling of each and every part has given me a tactile connection with the unknown factory folks who originally assembled the gun. This gun was so far gone at first look that it was a certain candidate for the scrap heap after robbing a few useable parts. Like the folks on "Speed Vision" channel say, "Don't crush them - restore them".
I won't consider the end result a "restoration" just a major clean-up campaign. I will live with the surface pits that remain after the rust is all gone. If I end up with a safe shooter, I will be more than pleased.
Cheers,
Jack

[Eric Eis]

My Hat's off to you Mr. Cronhite, if it hadn't been for your post I would never had asked the members what they thought I should do with that hammer 16 ga that I picked up last weekend, I was going to part it out but I think the members of the board got me thinking to keep it whole

[Jack Cronkhite]

Eric: If my little project saved another intact gun, great !! Looking forward to seeing some pics of your gun.
Cheers,
Jack

[Jack Cronkhite]

I'm down to four metal parts that continue to need rust attention - the receiver, the fore end iron and the forend lock and spring. Once the totality of the rust is gone; except for the receiver, these last few parts will be severely pitted. Somehow, the receiver held up not too badly, given the amount of rust involved. The other three parts will be functional but ugly. I may try some expoxy/steel product to fill and obtain a smooth surface that could see a product like Dura Coat used versus bluing. Anybody used that product?

All suggestions are welcomed to deal with cosmetic cover up of deep surface pits.

Next step is photos again, as I do have most of the individual parts cleaned up. Then wood. And I thought I was going to shoot pheasants with it last fall. Maybe this season it will see service again.

Cheers,
Jack

[Jack Cronkhite]

The Bolt Group is added to the album. Remembering that I'm no gunsmith, any errors reported for the description of the functioning of this group will be corrected.

Cheers,
Jack

[Bruce Day]

There is a small welding machine used for mold making/repair. It can be used to fill pits from corrosion. I've forgotten the name of the machine maker.....Francis probably knows it. A friend of mine has a highly interesting Parker at a gunsmith now having this done to it. Without the process available, he would not have purchased the gun, many others passed it by.

[Jack Cronkhite]

Several more photos added. As always, critique of descriptive terms and wording of functional descriptions are appreciated.
Jack

[Robert Delk]

There was a very interesting article in some magazine or another that showed the restoration of a Mars auto pistol that was badly pitted and abused. The gunsmith rebuilt the pitted areas by welding and remachined the parts to original specs and then used correct bluing methods and aging to make a very nice pistol out of what appeared to be a candidate for the parts pile. It can be done if one wants to spend the money and can find the right man to do the job.

[Jack Cronkhite]

A pic of all small parts. Missing from this image are:
Fore end iron (still working on rust removal)
Receiver (frame)
Barrel set
Fore stock
Pistol Grip Cap & Screw
Butt Stock
Butt Plate

So that is another 8 parts (11 if you count the aiming bead and the two screw pins that keep the pistol grip cap in correct alignment, all three of which could be removed for counting)

For sake of argument, let's say 11 parts are not in the picture.

Including those 11 parts and counting every pin, spring, screw etc, and knowing that all parts are accounted for and that the gun is a correct (well..........) VH manufactured in 1902 - which is a hint regarding + or - two parts on a barrel lug
HOW MANY PARTS COULD PETER PIPER PACK??

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=128&pictureid=1506
95

[Jack Cronkhite]

Need a little help with terminology. Since there is no firing "pin" in a hammerless, what do we call the little pointy thing on the end of the hammer???

[Dean Romig]

Jack, that is called the 'striker'.

[Jack Cronkhite]

Thanks Dean. The perfect word and it takes a lot less typing.
Cheers,
Jack

[Dave Fuller]

Jack - Your photos are superb. You're creating a very useful catalog of Parker parts that are in many ways much better than the out-dated reproductions of old shop drawings that most of us futz with when embarking on a project, thank you! - Dave

[Jack Cronkhite]

Thanks Dave. As this has progressed, I'm thinking it wouldn't take that much more effort to build a full shop manual.
Cheers,
Jack

[Jack Cronkhite]

Started to play a bit with the fore end wood. It was chemically stripped of any remaining original finish (not much of that). Stainable wood filler was used to attempt to repair some work, probably performed by a mouse. That was sanded down and a second application made. When the fore end iron was dropped into place, it was discovered that the fore end had been aggressively sanded down at some point in its history, as there is a fair bit of wood missing to come flush to the iron. Sooo...... I think I will just build it up with this wood filler and eventually try some artistry by faking the grain a bit. Everything about the gun, as those who have watched it progress well know, is about as bad as it gets and parting it out was probably the right thing to do but........... well doggone it, it is a Parker. Here's a look at the first go round with the fore end wood. No matter how this old gun looks when done, it will at least be a shooter again, which was impossible when it arrived here. The other nice thing about working on a real disaster is it is pretty hard to screw it up any worse than it already has been. That will allow me to not worry about some experimenting with the metal to see if I might be able to perform some cosmetic repairs with various epoxies (cosmetic only, the structure is sound).
Cheers,
Jack

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=130&pictureid=1550
http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=130&pictureid=1551

[Pat Dugan]

Years from now, when the Parkers survive us all, your pictures will be the Rosetta stone of others hoping to keep Old Parkers alive. I cannot express my amazement with your skill in photography.

I hope with your permission, that with the money of the PGCA, a little book of the parts could be made and sold.

PDD

[Jack Cronkhite]

Pat: I don't mind sharing the effort for the folks here so I left the album wide open. I don't think small booklets cost too awfully much to produce. I could probably have something like that put together and sell at cost + equivalent of a shot of single malt or a half box of ammo for my effort. If PGCA wants to take it on, I'm open to that too.

Cheers,
Jack

[Bill Murphy]

Jack, I think the booklet idea is a great one. Just make it big enough for old guys to read. By the way, a good friend came to dinner last night. He lived in Regina in the seventies, was with IBM Canada.

[Pat Dugan]

Super great idea, maybe the PCGA board will undertake this little project for the benefit of all members. The big pictures would be great.

PDD

[Jack Cronkhite]

For such a purpose, I think I would re-make the images with the parts sitting on graph paper so that one can also determine from a picture the true size of the part. Some of the small parts can look as big as other parts when taken at a close distance. Anyway, 'tis a good thought for the dead of winter after all the pheasants are eaten and the obligatory ration is frozen for the occasional mid-winter early spring dinner.

Cheers,
Jack