Extractor Chips

[Garth Gustafson]

I was cleaning my 16ga GH the other night after shooting about 100 shells thru it and I noticed chipping on both sides of the bottom of the extractor lip. The chips are both about 1/16" long. Although this was the first time shooting this gun, I'm fairly certain the chips weren't there before.

I was using a combination of RST spreaders and Polywad doublewides. Both were 7/8oz loads with 2-1/4 DRE.

The shells extracted normally and I didn't notice anything unusual. I don't see any cracks on the extractor and the barrels and receiver appear normal.

Any thoughts on what may have caused this?
Thanks guys, appreciate your insight, Garth

[George Stanton]

That's from the firing pins. I don't know about Parkers since I only have one and its not in front of me, but a lot of guns have a relief filed there to clear the pins.

[Garth Gustafson]

Thanks George. The chips align perfectly with the firing pins.
Regards, Garth

[Austin J Hawthorne Jr.]

Interesting. I just checked a few of my Parker's, and some of them have the cutouts, and others do not. This could be another area of study along the same lines as the K---Kf inquiry.

[Craig Budgeon]

Garth, notice that the firing pin reliefs have the same discoloration as the rim cutouts which means that is not recent damage. If it were recent it would be a bright silver in color and much different than the rim cutout color.

[Garth Gustafson]

Thanks Craig, I just looked at it under a magnifying glass and the chips definitely have patina. So the damage on this 1897 GH is older. Thats good news

[Dean Romig]

Most of my Parkers have those relief cuts. They were first introduced on early guns that did not have retracting plungers and were carried through guns with non-rebounding hammers.





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[John Campbell]

The small bruises you see are indeed from the firing pin tips. This is caused by the tumblers being out of time and not retracting back into the frame soon enough/quickly enough to clear the extractor as it moves up when the gun is opened.

It might be prudent to inspect the firing pin tips to make sure they are not dangerously deformed from this, which could lead to a pierced primer. If the tips are OK, simply "opening up" the deformed area very slightly for added clearance may be all that's needed.

[Garth Gustafson]

Thanks John, the pin tips look nice, rounded and straight, no jagged edges. I'll look for a small rattail file and attempt some careful filing on the extractor damage

[Alfred Greeson]

Oh well, guess this isn't a good time to make an offer on your 16 GH after all. Just another example of the expertise that is available on the forum. Thanks guys.

[Garth Gustafson]

I only have 2 Parkers and neither one has relief cuts on the extractors. 1897 GH and 1917 VH

[Dean Romig]

I put a little more thought into it Garth, and if the gun wouldn't open fully because the extractor became hung up on the tips of the firing pins (tumbler tips) forcing it to open could cause such chips. I've had certain Parkers that experienced this very situation.






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[Jerry Harlow]

Thanks John, the pin tips look nice, rounded and straight, no jagged edges. I'll look for a small rattail file and attempt some careful filing on the extractor damage

It is not damage in my belief; rather it was done at the factory. Notice how uniform the cuts are. The fitter made those cuts at the factory to clear the extractors. They are perfect cuts. That is why the hammer pins are not butchered, which they would have been from constant dragging on the extractor. No need to file.

[Garth Gustafson]

Thanks Dean, I just fired some snap caps and opened the gun to see if the pins were hanging on the extractor. The tumblers did their job and retracted the firing pins all the way back into the frame so there is no contact with the extractor and all appears normal.

Right after I got this gun Brian Dudley did an ultrasonic cleaning and I wonder if that cleaning resolved the problem of the pins not retracting back into the frame. This restocked 16ga O frame is a wonderful little gun and the only work I'm planning to have done is to have the damascus barrels refinished.

[Brian Dudley]

The extractor cleanse cuts are something that are a hold over from the hammer guns and early hammerless guns.

The first hammerless guns did not have rebounding hammers. Along with some other things inside the action, they also put these small cleanse cuts in the extractor to make sure that it would clear the pins when opening.

After rebounding hammers were implemented in the hammerless guns, the extractor guns remained for some years. Garth, your later guns do not have them due to this. They were phased out in the early 1890s.

I have a PP article in the works that deals with this very topic in detail.

[Paul Harm]

And here I thought only the 1873 Remington hammer lifter gun was made without rebounding hammers. The 75 model had rebounding hammers. I've owned a number of Parker Lifters, and they all had rebounding hammers. It's easy to see they aren't chips, but put in when the gun was made. I would think in case the firing pins were stuck the gun would open without damage to the pins. Good idea.