Mike,
I had the same issue as you describe with one of my Parkers. I tried the things you have already done with no luck. I ended up calling one of the respected Parker smiths we all know & he told me what to do to get it open. I'm hesitant to pass this on because I don't want someone to possibly damage something & have it come back on me. So follow this at your own risk & comfort level.
Hold the gun action in something solid. Take a small piece of soft wood about 4" long. " I used a piece of 1"x1"x 4" pine" Hold the wood piece against the portion of the top lever where your thumb would normally be to open the gun. Put some slight pressure on the lever in the direction of opening with the dowel to take all the slack out. Now take a small hammer or your rawhide mallet & gently tap the dowel in direction of opening. Be sure to keep constant pressure on things when the top lever starts moving. Proceed with caution through the process if things don't start moving stop before further damage is created. A whole series of light tap's should get the gun open.
In all likelihood you will need to have a good Parker gunsmith look the gun over after you get it open. This is probably a problem in the bolting mechanism. The issue will probably happen again if it's not repaired properly.
|