Repair Question

[ken wight]

I purchsed my first Parker, a D grade Ser 120709, It came with a repair tag
Larry Del Grego and Son
Ilion New York phone number TW 4-8754
I believe the stock was replaced at that time.
Is there any way to research the repairs
I would like to have the forend cleaned and refinished and mabie the rear
stock darkened to match.
I would appreciate your feedback.

[Steve Huffman]

I would work only the forend and leave the butt as is .

[Rich Anderson]

I'm in agreement with Steve. Only the forarm needs some attention. I agree with your assesment that the gun was probably restocked. You can contact DelGrego and confirm this.

[Dave Fuller]

In my experience they will tell you if they worked on the gun but don't like digging out the old records to find out what they did. If you are having more work done they might be more inclined to pull the file. I too agree that the forend should be the focus of any further work on your gun. It looks nice!

[Russ Jackson]

Ken ;Congrats on your first Parker , very nice looking gun ,now that you got the bug ,it won't be the last ! I doubt you will find out much from the Del Grego's about previous work on your gun ,I have contacted them a few times about a gun I thought they may have done ,they will tell you anything you want to know about Parkers ,except that ! At least in my experiences . Good luck with your new gun !! Russ

[ken wight]

Thank you all for your feedback, I would appreaciate any thoughts on
how to tackle the forend.

Ken

[Gary Carmichael Sr]

gentlemen, while we are on the subject of repairs, I have a ten gauge grade three hammer gun that the right hammer will not stay cocked. I have taken the side plate off and every time find the spring has slipped off the post that it attaches to. the gun inside is clean as a whistle. any ideas or should this go to delgrego? is it larwrence or larry you talk to. thanks for any info Gary Carmichael

[Austin W Hogan]

Gary; I have had to repair two locks with that trouble recently. The first was OK after cleaning and reassembly. The second seemed OK after squaring the notch, but would not stay cocked when mounted on the gun. I found it necessary to transplant the trigger spring (the small one at the back of the lock) from another lock. I use a pair of the small, "needle nose" vise grips as a spring compressor. This makes it easy to properly seat the spring.
I would advise removing all the lock parts, cleaning in an ultrasonic tank if possible, with kerosene and a brush otherwise, and reassembling with the vise grips. If the spring still slips, try exchanging it with one from another lock. There is some difference in lock parts among grade 0,1,2 and higher grades.

Best, Austin

[Dean Romig]

Ken, the forend wood should be seperated from the iron, latch and tip. Then It should be stripped of its finish and finally should be soaked in acetone to leech out any oil in the wood. You may find by doing so that the wood will be lighter than what you see now. Next step is to re-cut the checkering and finally to apply the appropriate finish.

[Jim Williams]

After stripping and degreasing as suggested, scrubbing with a strong solution of TSP in water will often bleach/lighten the darkened wood. The water will usually turn dark brown when this is done. I used to soak them in TSP but found out the hard way that if the wood is really punky the solution will dissolve the surface wood, resulting in the surface being lowered, i.e. leaving the wood below the surface of the adjoining metal (ouch!). But a good thorough-but-brief scrubbing will not harm it while helping to lighten it. Sometimes it works wonders. On the other hand I have a forend right now that I've done everthing to and it just won't lighten.

Jim

[Richard Flanders]

Gary: the spring has slipped off the post that it attaches to

Post? I'm trying to visualize this. There is a small pin on the spring that protrudes through the side plate and holds the spring to the inner surface of the side plate. Is this pin doing that or is the main spring able to move enough to disconnect? Maybe the locks on your gun are not like what I have...

[ken wight]

Thank you both for the info,
Dean - how long for the acetone bath ?

[Dean Romig]

If you can keep it completely air-tight and keep the stock entirely submerged (weighted) several days may be enough. As the oil and stain is leeched out of the wood the acetone will darken comensurately. The acetone will not harm the wood at all.

Incidentally, acetone is HIGHLY combustible and you DON'T want to breath a lot of the fumes.

[ken wight]

Thanks, I'll let you know how it turns out.

[Gary Carmichael Sr]

Richard. I guess the main spring is disconnecting, It is in the 54000 ser range. I put the spring back on the post well thats what I call the piece it attaches to cock the hammer before assembly it stays on put the lock on the gun snap it a few times it comes right back off, The gun is sold and currently in washington state. So am asking the gentleman who bought it to send it to delgrego for repair have talked to larry said he could make the repair. will keep you posted. Thanks for the reply. gary

[Bill Murphy]

Ken, I'm sure you agree that this is one strange thread, but we are all among friends. The Del Gregos would be glad to research your repairs if you can provide them with the name of the person who had the gun worked on originally. Their files are in alphabetical order and there is no way for them to locate your gun by any other means. Good luck. I agree that your forend should be stripped and acetoned, then refinished.