My Parker won't cock

[Michael Sutton]

Hello all, I am a gunsmith, but this is the first Parker I have had the pleasure to work on. My original complaint is that it won't cock. I took the bottom plate off, inspected cocking slide, the floor plate, the hammers and the cocking spurs. Without the floor plate attached, I can hold by hand and it cocks like it's supposed to. But as soon as I put the floor plate back on the gun fails to cock. I have racked my brain over this. I rechecked all of the part and none of them seem to have excessive wear. It is a grade 2 Parker in 16 gauge made in 1892 and still has some case hardening color to the protected parts of the shotgun. Everything is tight including the lock up of the barrels on the receiver. I need to ask if anyone has ever come across this problem? Also, if anyone has some suggestion on what to check next I would appreciate it. Most Doubles I have worked on use a different cock type mechanism. I would hate to never be able to shoot this shotgun.

Michael Sutton

[edgarspencer]

A fairly common error on assembly, is to allow the cocking crank to roll under and not be engaged with the square slot on the end of the cocking slide.

[Brian Dudley]

First... Is the gun completely original (as far as you can tell) with no alterations? ie: restocking, welding cutting or grinding on anything.

Do your tang screws tighten up properly, or are they able to be over tightened?

Second: Strip and clean everything. Nearly any gun can benefit from a good cleaning. Sometimes that will fix whatever issue you may be having.

Anything beyond that is anyones best guess as there are several different little things that can cause the general issue of "not cocking", and without having specific knowledge of the particular gun, it is difficult to diagnose.

Generally saying, if you take the action completely off the wood and reassemble everything without the wood, you should be able to test function. You just will not have the safety assembly in place. Then you can see if the issue may be replaced to the safety, or to the trigger plate being pulled up due to over tightening of screws.

[Michael Sutton]

Thanks for the info as I will go back through it. As far as the slide is concerned, it is properly placed under the trigger plate and is engaging as it should. It seems like the trigger plate isn't holding the slide properly and allows the cocking spurs of the slide to ride up and over the hammers, like there is so much wear that the tolerances are no longer proper. It is all original and it doesn’t appear to have too much wear. I took the buttstock off and it is still doing the same thing. I’ll keep fitteging with it and hopefully I’ll find out what is causing it. I checked the exploded view of all the parts so I do know that nothing is missing. Thanks again. I’m still taking suggestions if there are any to be had.

[wayne goerres]

Had a problem very similar to yours. Their is a very tiny screw that holds your cocking slide in place. If that screw is over tightened it can cause the problem your talking about. Remove the screw and make sure the cocking plate is moving freely without any binding. if so replace the screw . Run it down til it just bottoms out and then back it off a 1/4 turn. If that fixes the problem remove the screw and put a drop of locktight on it and repeat the process. Hope this dose the trick. Had mine apart many times before I figured it out.

[Michael Sutton]

Thanks Wayne. I will do that. I agree, as I have had this one apart many times as well. I will do as you said and see if that helps.

[Mike Franzen]

Keep us posted Michael as to what you find. Also, welcome to the forum. A good Smith who knows his way around a Parker is a valuable resource. Hope you’ll keep working on them and seeking information.

[Michael Sutton]

I just wanted all to know that my shotgun is fixed. Although I got many good tips as to what it may have been, none proved to fix my problem. I did want to say that after a little perseverance on my part and my unwilling to give up, I figured it out on my own. Whomever took it apart the last time, did not put it back together properly. I believe that was one tip I got, but never having worked on them before, everything looked proper but in reality, it wasn’t. What I found out was on the triggerplate there is a rod that must be under tension so it can properly operate the cocking slide. What you have to do is back the rod that puts tension on the triggerplate rod out, then place the cocking slide in its place and then the triggerplate. Once all that’s done, tap the rod back in to engage the rod on the triggerplate. You’ll need a nylon tipped hammer to drive it back in. That pin is then held in place by the handguard where it mates up with the receiver and of course the tightness of the fit of the pin. What gave this all away was when the last person put the triggerplate back on they had to tap it with a hammer which caused a small bulge where the pin was not retracted to properly install the triggerplate. You should not need a hammer to replace the triggerplate because mine fell right into place once it was put together properly. I learned a lot with this repair so if there are any questions I might could help you with, please don’t hesitate to write me. Thanks again for all the tips that were given to me. I have had to write this 3 times. I’m not sure why the other replies I made were not publish unless I can’t see my own replies, so if this has been redundant, forgive me.

[edgarspencer]

What I found out was on the triggerplate there is a rod This is called the UNHOOKING SLIDE that must be under tension so it can properly operate the cocking slide. What you have to do is back the rod UNHOOKING SLIDE ROD that puts tension on the triggerplate rod out, then place the cocking slide in its place and then the triggerplate. Once all that’s done, tap the rod back in to engage the rod on the triggerplate. You’ll need a nylon tipped hammer to drive it back in. That pin is then held in place by the FORE END handguard where it mates up with the receiver and of course the tightness of the fit of the pin. What gave this all away was when the last person put the triggerplate back on they had to tap it with a hammer which caused a small bulge where the pin was not retracted to properly install the triggerplate.
What you've done may have fixed your gun, but It sure sounds like your unhooking slide was (and still is) gummed up. This is not, at all, the normal assembly procedure. The unhooking slide rod is NOT held in by the Fore end (handguard?) and under normal circumstances, does not need to be retracted, and "tapped" back in.

[Brian Dudley]

Yes, it sounds like the gun still needs a little more attention to be made compleyely right, but at least you are finding your way onto the right Track. And with many guns out there, they only do not work properly, because the last person who worked on them did not know what they were doing.

A few thoughts on your post. Both the unhooking pin in the frame and the unhooking slide are backed up with coik springs. They sould both push back under hand pressure, but spring back easily and smoothly. Your dented up trigger plate will effect the movement of the unhooking slide and can lead to the barrels not wanting to release from the frame when taking down. You will want to repair that issue for sure.

[Michael Sutton]

When I said that the fore-end held that pin in place may have been a mistake-quote on my part. It is actually held by the tightness of the fit, and it can’t back out because the fore-end won’t allow it. I had to take the whole receiver apart and clean everything like it was mentioned to me. But for the pin to be positioned like it was supposed to be, I saw no other alternative to the way I actually did it. There isn’t enough room between the triggerplate and the frame to allow for me to depress the rod on the triggerplate to properly engage the pin in the frame. It’s working fine now, but if that wasn’t the proper way to install it, I am all ears, but as I see it, my way worked as well. There are no gummed up parts in the receiver as like I said, the whole frame was taken apart and all parts cleaned. If what you say is true, how could it be working now? I still appreciate all the help. If I ever find anything online for the proper assembly, I’ll be sure to post it. I will also let all know if I have any trouble with the shotgun by the way I was able to fix it, I will follow up with that as well. Thanks.