Vent hole

[Ruff Hunter]

From what I can tell, Parker is about the only US manufacturer that did not use a vent hole in their bottom barrel rib. I am under the belief that vent holes were drilled at those factories to relieve the pressure from the rapidly expanding air in the void between the tubes when the sets were dropped into boiling water time after time during the bluing process. I suspect that too many barrel ribs popped loose, even when the guns were new, so venting was adopted by most manufacturers. Older LC Smiths filled their vent hole with a headless plug. Winchester filled their 21s with what looks like a lead BB smashed into the hole. Others simply left them open. I myself prefer a vent hole that's open or can be opened easily. Of all the vintage barrels I've boiled, only one set was still air tight, and it was not a Parker. That means that damp and maybe salty air got under all those barrel ribs for many years with no practical way to oil those hidden barrel surfaces. That can't be good. After a season of wet weather hunting, I tip the barrels up and fill the space between the ribs with my favorite gun oil. I then let them sit like that for hours before draining the oil out through the vent hole. As for the look of a small, well centered vent hole that's concealed under the forestock, it doesn't bother me at all. Had Parker Brothers used vent holes like everybody else, we would now be discussing how bad a Parker without one would look.