PH top lever is stuck

[Mike Poindexter]

A 12ga PH I have had for a long time but shot very little had the top lever stick in the closed position after dry firing. The gun is relatively clean. Prior to that I had noticed a few times that it stuck and broke free with a little extra pressure, like it was pulling the bolt back over the lug--but not now. I dont want to break anything. Here is what I have done: pulled the trigger guard and rear tang screw, pulled the trigger plate screws (3), tried to remove the top tang screw but the lever wont move over enough to unscrew it. Got about 1/16th of a turn. So, the stock is just a tiny bit loose on the frame now, but with the barrels still on I cant get the trigger plate off and cant remove the top tang, so I dont want to do anything to the sear pins. I have tapped the frame gently with a rawhide mallet all over hoping to fee something up--no luck. I squirted penetrating oil down all the screw holes, holding the gun muzzles down so the oil wouldnt run back into the stock, tapped the frame again, no luck. the gun is now standing on the muzzles in my gunsafe. Any thoughts from the more experienced Parker disassemblers? Thanks in advance.

[Snap Cap]

Mike, did you try removing the forend from the barrels before attempting to open the breech?

[GH-16]

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.

[Mike Poindexter]

Thanks Paul; I forgot to say the s/n is 116388 so it is a pre-1910 bolting system.

[B. Dudley]

Getting the action off the stock will allow you to see most of the bolting linkage so you can tell if something is damaged. However, you will not be able to disassemble the linkageunless the bolt is able to be drawn back out of the bite. Since the retaining screw for the bolt is partially covered when the bolt is forward.

[Mike Poindexter]

Paul: What you advised worked perfectly. Once the gun was open I continued the disassembly and found the entire action clean and smooth. When I reassembled it the same problem occurred, so I will be shipping it off to NY for repair or adjustment. This gun has the flat hardened bolt plate installed, not the 12 degree step, and my sense is that there is either too much or too little angle on the interface, which is causing pinching on the bolt, but that's just a guess. I'll let the pro's figure it out. Thanks again.

[GH-16]

Mike

I'm happy to hear it worked for you. Let us know when you find out what the root cause of the problem was.

[Harry Collins]

A friend dropped off a DH 16 gauge that had been found in a garage a little rusted and seized up. We visited for a while and as I saw him drive off the farm I tapped the top lever with a light mallet. Problem solved and I was able to take the gun apart and as I remember I ultrasound the frame, etc.