I have a problem - HELP PLEASE

[Tom Will]

I saw a nice G grade at a local auction on Fri. I thought it would make a great shooter. I was pressed for time and only had a chance to look at it quickly and couldn't stay at the auction and never read the desciption of it(bad,very bad) although it was said to be a VH which I new was wrong. Well I put a absentee bid on it for $500 and won.
Picked it up today SN112880- good news-very nice wood,Parker Brothers dogs head but plate,capped pistol grip,14 or 141/4 to front trigger, 30" barrels, not much pattern outside but bores are beautiful.On the reciever is G and 2. OK this is why I bid absentee. Bad news and stupid for not seeing it. The safety does not work and there are no firing pins in the gun that I can tell. All the srew heads are in pretty nice shape, only the 2 at the bottom have the slightest marks. Who would be a good person to look at it and repair it for me. Anyone else get a gun with no firing pins?
When I found that I had won the auction I thought I really had a deal, now I'm not so sure. Any help or suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks

[Dean Romig]

Where are you Tom? Maybe we can recommend someone near you who can examine and likely fix you GH.

[Tom Will]

I'm in the Cleveland OH area. I do go to PA quite often, Smerset County area(flight 93 crash site). I also have 2 weddings that I will be driving to in Sept. One in Myrle Beach SC and one in Chicago. I can make a detour if needed. Thanks

[Autumn Daze]

Tom, The firing pins on hammerless Parkers are integral with the hammers themselves. If there are no firing pins protruding from the breech face it is possible that the hammers have been removed or the pin portion of the hammer has been removed rendering the gun unable to fire. That might explain the turned screws on the floor plate. You may want to send the gun to DelGrego as he most likley has the parts to repair it.

[Big Friend Ten (BFT)]

Hi Tom,

"Very Nice Wood" and good uncut barrels (which are at .729" ID or close to that) are worth more than $500!

If your GH is missing hammers and other internal action parts it may cost more to return it to operable (shooting) condition than you may want to spend. Do a quick assessment:

1. Join the PGCA for $40 annually. Our magazine the Parker Pages is worth that alone!
2. Once you are a member (we take PayPal) you will be able to see the "members only" For Sale sub-forum of this site.
3. Look at the recent threads. PGCA member Kensel Rise has sold at least (2) nice GH's recently for a little over $1000. Study his photos and those of other recent sales. Condition, condition, condition, and collectability. 12 gauge GH's are pretty common so condition makes one being more collectable than another. I think that Kensel's guns were very good buys based on their condition and that his sales lasted but a couple hours each. Use those guns and prices as a market baseline for what a GH will sell for quickly.
4. Cost it out as to your $500 plus shipping, tax and so on; plus the fee to return your gun to operable condition. What will you total investment be? Trust me that is is easy, make that very easy to find yourself "upside down" in trying to salvage a Parker!
5. Is the cost near the $1000-$1200 baseline for a GH in pretty good condition? If so it is a decision you will have to make if you want to invest in something that you will later break even at.
6. If you want to get your money from the gun and perhaps a little more ("Very Nice Wood!!!") as a PGCA member you may post what you have in the for sale sub-forum.
7. You may also try to "trade-into" a Parker that doesn't need any work.

What frame size is your gun? That is the number stamped into the bottom of the barrel lug. Many PGCA members such as me have parts, parts guns, and project guns. I have a DH project that needs either a a good stock or I need to pass on to another member. Notice I stated "member". I can easily sell Parker parts at a gunshow or on Gun Broker or EBay. I'd rather help a fellow PGCA member.

I hope this helps! Please consider joining the PGCA.

Mark

[Pa SxS]

Tom, you say the safety does not work. Do you mean you can't move the safety at all to get the gun to fire, or do you mean that the gun will fire without moving the safety?

If you can pull the triggers I would make sure the gun is cocked, remove the forend and barrels. With those removed take a piece of soft wood and place it over the breach face holding it securely against the breach face. Pull both triggers and see if there are firing pin dents in the wood. If there are, then the hammer/firing pin assembly is working.

Drive another 2hrs east from Somerset to Harrisburg and I'd be happy to look at it.

[Big Friend Ten (BFT)]

Hi Tom,

We have a great SxS shoot in Lapeer Michigan on May 12th. If you attend this shoot one of the many Parker guys will be able to access your gun. Just look for the PGCA display table and my smiling face!

Mark

[B. Dudley]

Yeah, some of the things you mention may not be really serious matters. Even though you took a serious chance, $500 does not sound too out of line for it. As long as it is all there, with good lockup. Not bad at all.

[John Liles]

Hello Tom,
Assuming that your gun has Damascus barrels because you indicated that their pattern was faint, I wouldn't be surprised, since you say the rest of the gun is in great condition, if some do-gooder back in the day when Damascus barrels were deemed to be death traps, pulled the pins so that no one would ever fire it again. Could be that all you need are pins. Certainly hope so!
Good luck,
John

[Richard Flanders]

I wouldn't be surprised if someone took it apart and didn't properly index the safety rod or whatever it's called when they reassembled it.... we ALL know that's easy to do. Maybe it's just stuck on safe. You should be able to look through the firing pin holes with a bright flashlight and see the tips of the firing pins if they are there. Could be this thing just needs to be taken apart and reassembled properly. Sure sounds like a good buy to me at $500.