CHE BTFE Woes.

B. Dudley · 01-14-2014, 11:09 AM

I recently finished up some work on a Parker CHE had at one time had a non original Beavetail Forend (BTFE) added to it. A "proper" forend iron was fabricated for it, which utilized the draw bolt in the nose of the forend. This was done by modifying an original Splinter iron. The forend wood itself was the major issue. It was very fat and had a large belly on it. Because of how large of a belly it had on it, the forend latch sat much farther away from the bottom of the iron as it normally would. The latch lever had its linkage extended by a large margin and the forend key also had some crude welding done on it. These mechanical issues left a forend that was having a hard time staying on the gun under recoil of firing.
The finish of the wood was also very dry and the checkering was in no way correct for the gun. The below photo shows the forend in its beginning state. Sorry I do not have better before photos. Just picture a War Club on the front of this gun.

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First I had to make everything mechanically sound. The forend latch lever had to be replaced. The one that was on it was not original since it was completely void of any engraving. A lever from a D grade made a fine match to the surrounding latch engraving. Also, the forend locking key had to be replaced. Then, the forend latch was able to be re inletted into the forend by about 1/4"! This allowed for a proper bottom line to be established on the forend. Finally the sides and nose of the forend was able to be reshaped into a correct looking Parker BTFE. An Amber shellac finish really set off the wood. Which you would have not thought to be that nice under the finish on the old forend. Finally a checkering pattern that was more correct for the grade was cut in.

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