Parker Charcoal Case Hardening Colors and Metal to Wood Fit

[Stan Hillis]

Salient points, Bruce. Concerning the wood to metal fit ..........

I have been considering a project to convert a restocked A grade Philly Fox from a semi-beavertail to a long splinter. Doing due diligence to determine if the wood is currently fitted closely enough to the underside and sides of the barrels, so as to not have unsightly gaps when the excess wood is cut away, I have been measuring how well the upper edges of the f/e wood is fitted to the barrels on many of my splinter f/e vintage guns.

I have yet to find one that is fitted snugly along these edges, including my high condition DHE Parker. My graded Foxes have a uniform space from front to within about an inch of the f/e iron that will accept .025" - .030" shim all that way. Make no mistake, these forends are tight to the gun, with no looseness, but the upper edges are not contacting the barrels.

If any of you have your better grades of American classics out any time soon, and can spare a moment to check that fit for me, would you please? I would be very appreciative.

Brian, could you shed any light on this from a gunstocker's point of view?

[B. Dudley]

Originally Posted by Stan Hillis

Salient points, Bruce. Concerning the wood to metal fit ..........

I have been considering a project to convert a restocked A grade Philly Fox from a semi-beavertail to a long splinter. Doing due diligence to determine if the wood is currently fitted closely enough to the underside and sides of the barrels, so as to not have unsightly gaps when the excess wood is cut away, I have been measuring how well the upper edges of the f/e wood is fitted to the barrels on many of my splinter f/e vintage guns.

I have yet to find one that is fitted snugly along these edges, including my high condition DHE Parker. My graded Foxes have a uniform space from front to within about an inch of the f/e iron that will accept .025" - .030" shim all that way. Make no mistake, these forends are tight to the gun, with no looseness, but the upper edges are not contacting the barrels.

If any of you have your better grades of American classics out any time soon, and can spare a moment to check that fit for me, would you please? I would be very appreciative.

Brian, could you shed any light on this from a gunstocker's point of view?

I would not place any bets on a beavertail being able to be successfully converted to a properly fitted splinter at all. The chances are very slim and there is no way of knowing until you cut it up and see what it looks like. There are so many contact points and if any one spot is off, it is no good. That is if you want it the way it should be.
A beavertail does not need 100% contact on the barrels, neither does a splinter for that matter. Just in the areas that you see. Even when you look at factory guns with use, the bluing will wear along the edges where the wood contacts, and maybe a few other areas, but that is all. Not that the other surfaces are not a close fit, they just are not full contact.
With a beavertail the amount of fitting work is significantly greater than a splinter, I personally charge twice the price to make a beavertail as I do a splinter. At least for a Parker, because there is a draw-bolt also involved. But anyway…
It many cases, a splinter is usually more tightly fitted than a beavertail, especially a full beavertail that really comes up around the sides of the barrels.

To summarize. Cut the sides off your fox forend and see what you are dealing with, but you should really be budgeting on just having a new forend made in the end.