evaluating FIL's Parker

[Dean Romig]

Sometimes it means that there might be crud or particles in the latching mechanism or action enough to prevent it from closing completely but in a clean well cared for gun it means that it hasn't been abused and closes tightly. When the gun was new the lever was likely just a bit more to the right than it is now. In some guns that were used hard the lever may be centered or a bit to the left and still not lock up tightly. The lever operates the bolt which engages the bolt plate on the rear of the barrel lug. They are set at a slight taper under a spring load. As the gun wears through use these tapered surfaces wear against each other and as this happens the lever gradually comes closer to center and even to the left of center in extreme cases.