Another Parker Hammer TL

[Anthony Christensen]

The hammers do not work. At least they do not cock readily and I do not intend to apply brute force. I don't know if anything was done internally to the lock mechanism. All the screws on this Parker show use-abuse as they all have slot deformation to varying degrees.
Based on your question, I dug out a 12 Ga A-Zoom snap cap. The fit in the chambers is very sloppy, maybe as much as a 1/16th inch sloppy! A 12 Ga snap cap rattles around!
Is there a dimension for the breach diameter that I could check with a caliper to verify the 10 Ga chambers?
If this Parker is a 10 Ga which it now appears to be, then the Parker Gun Serialization book has a data entry error for S/N 47950 on page 202.
The request for a PGCA research letter and the check went into the mail today.

Tony

[Double Play]

Tony,
If it is a 10 gage as it appears then a couple of things may have occurred. Either the entry was incorrect which I doubt as your gun was produced in a batch of 19 same grade/gage guns which was typical of PB gun manufacturing practices at that time or perhaps the gun was returned for a set of 10 gage barrels which was a service also offered by PB. Let’s hope the PGCA letter you sent for can shed some light on this question.

[Anthony Christensen]

First, please delete all previous comments about S/N 47950 being a 10 Ga shotgun. It was my check procedure that was sloppy. I did not remove the barrels from the action and remove the extractor. Therefore, the snap cap was not fully chambered since it was engaged with and stopped by the extractor.

Second, I apologize for any confusion my comments may have caused.

With the extractor removed, both 12 Ga Winchester and Remington shells fit well.
Although I do not have any 10 Ga shells to use as a check, it appears that there is not chamber clearance enough for a 10 Ga shell to be chambered.
Actually, I am not at all familiar with the 10 Ga shell size or any other of its characteristics.
The 12 Ga A-Zoom snap cap seems to be a reasonable check tool as its base diameter matches the base diameters of the Winchester and Remington shells within .002 inch. The snap cap forward section is round with a diameter very similar to the factory shells. The plastic section of the factory shells is not quite round but both chamber fine in both barrels.

Also, please ignore the comment that the Parker Gun Serialization book might have a data entry error on page 202.

TC