Right Barrel Miss firing on a Reproduction 20 Gauge

JoelShep · 08-11-2011, 10:51 PM

I bought a two barrel set Parker Repro 20 gauge this past Spring. It had been fired little if at all prior to my purchase. I am new to SxSs but wanted to get one since I am a traditionalist and I just love the Parkers. I will hunt mine for grouse and woodcock, so I chose the Repro.

As many can attest, there is an adjustment of going from a Ruger Red Label to this gun. After many rounds and a two day stint at the Orvis shooting school (excellent instruction), I noticed the right barrel ejector was not really ejecting the shells. In fact the gun miss fired 5 or 6 times, in the right barrel, during the class. I could hear and feel the firing pin fire, but it was not strong enough to ignite the primer.

I have since noticed that when I load snap caps in the gun the right barrel snap cap rarely ejects in EITHER barrel set. I spoke to a gun smith in the Boston area and he says I wore out the spring on the right side of the gun. Here are my questions:

Is this most likely the problem? Is it easy to fix by most gun smiths?

I have fired probably around 750 rounds through the gun most of which were fired in the right barrel. Does this practice cause undue wear on the gun? In other words, should I use both barrels on a more equal basis?

Thanks for any reply

Dean Romig · 08-11-2011, 10:59 PM

750 rounds is of no consequence whatever to a Parker Repro. I've fired thousands and thousands in my 20.
You may have a problem in your right ejector mechanism. I don't know how to explain it but I had a problem in my ejector mechanism in the forend and the spring mechanism to fire the gun was working against the spring mechanism in the forend ejector causing misfires and lack of ejection as well.

Who did you take the gun to in the Boston area? I live in the Boston area - maybe I can recommend someone.

Big D · 08-11-2011, 11:00 PM

If the gun had little use since it was built, there may be a buildup of congealed grease and crud in the action. A thorough cleaning may fix the problem

JoelShep · 08-12-2011, 10:28 AM

Thanks for the comments. I will have to check this out, but I did notice the problem on both barrel sets, my 26" and 28" barrels. The gunsmith I have spoken with is Rustblue Gunsmithing, Sergey Lyalko out of Natick.

Dean Romig · 08-12-2011, 10:50 AM

Do you have a seperate forend for each set of barrels?

I haven't heard of that shop - but then, there are a lot of shops that I haven't heard of.

Dave Suponski is having some mechanical work done on his repro by a well-known and respected gunsmith right in CT. You might ask Dave through this forum if he will give you the smith's name.