Parker not firing

[CHE]

There may be pieces of a coil spring in the firing pin hole. Some had a coil spring to retract the pins and they rust and break. If all else fails make new pins

[Autumn Daze]

Ian, This is a hammerless gun....correct?

[Old and Reliable]

Originally Posted by tom leshinsky

There may be pieces of a coil spring in the firing pin hole. Some had a coil spring to retract the pins and they rust and break. If all else fails make new pins

-- My basic knowledge of Parker guns only applies to the hammerless series-- the term used here "made new pins" could be a bit misleading, and the hammerless Parkers had the firing pin (striker) forged with the entire hammer, then machined to print dimension. Now LC Smiths (and other sidelocks) tend to have separate firing pins (strikers) and there, if you have Lt. Col. Brophy's book on specs.- and the machining ability, you could indeed turn out replacement pins on a lathe.

Parkers have rebounding locks, as listed on their catalogues and hang tags, I believe, that pretty much state you can "dry-fire" them w/o snap caps and cause no harm to the firing pins- I have never opened up a AH Fox boxlock gun, but seem to recall the now late Mike McIntosh mentioning the one thing (in his opinion) deficient in the fine Fox action was the lack of rebounding hammers.

However, as I believe in gremlins that snafu computers-anything is possible. I own a older GHE 12 that was originally a GH- was fitted with ejectors later, but not at the factory. So- it is entirely possible that some enterprising gunsmith may have added coil springs to a Parker as an experiment to rebound the strikers after firing.

I have a good friend originally from Germany- retired Mechanical Engineer from Allis-Chalmers, at the Yooper shoot I left my 12 3E Smith for him, as he has worked on many European shotguns and rifles as a gunsmith- he wanted to see if an older Smith like mine with the bushed firing pins was adaptable to your concept of a trapped coil spring to rebound the firing pin tip- not a bad idea, as they are "free floating" in the bushing and receiver breech, if you have the hammers cocked and open a Smith with the muzzles downward, you'll see the tips of both strikers protruding!