Thoughts on this...

[CHE]

Walt don't be afraid to take it apart. Two small screws in the back and two screws on top and carefully tap the iron up first then back and out. Just use screwdrivers that fit.

[Walt Kowalski]

Originally Posted by tom leshinsky

Walt don't be afraid to take it apart. Two small screws in the back and two screws on top and carefully tap the iron up first then back and out. Just use screwdrivers that fit.

Okay, I probably should have mentioned that this is a beaver tail forend...any differences between this and the splinter? There is a large screw at the muzzle end of the forearm which appears may be very long...sorry I didn't mention this before...

[John Liles]

Hello Walt,
Hopefully this wont apply in this case, but before you disassemble the fore end, look closely at the fore end lug connection to the barrels. I've resoldered a few that have become loose and caused the same symptoms that you report. The lug will probably not even appear loose, and the barrels will still ring, but the solder may have failed allowing the lug to rotate slightly. The typical indication of the condition will have the lug appearing solid with no solder visible on the muzzle end of the lug, with a visible linear transition to shiny solder seen at the receiver end of the lug, where the rear end of the lug has lifted slightly.
John

[Walt Kowalski]

Originally Posted by John Liles

Hello Walt,
Hopefully this wont apply in this case, but before you disassemble the fore end, look closely at the fore end lug connection to the barrels. I've resoldered a few that have become loose and caused the same symptoms that you report. The lug will probably not even appear loose, and the barrels will still ring, but the solder may have failed allowing the lug to rotate slightly. The typical indication of the condition will have the lug appearing solid with no solder visible on the muzzle end of the lug, with a visible linear transition to shiny solder seen at the receiver end of the lug, where the rear end of the lug has lifted slightly.
John

Thank you!
I'll check this out!

[Walt Kowalski]

John, Here are some pictures of the lug area...if you can spot anything please advise...it looks pretty solid to me!
Any idea what the little hole is for??
Oops...must have missed the part where you said the rear portion may have lifted...I'm assuming the muzzle end of the lug is the front??

[John Liles]

Hello again Walt. Nice pic's! The Parkers that I've worked on were not Repros.
Does the lug on a Repro transition in height? It may just be the flash, but the lug appears to sit higher towards the rear, but maybe not if the lug itself is taller toward the rear. The last Parker that I worked on that had a loose/rotated lug was a 20 gauge, and when properly repositioned the top surface of the lug base was parallel and in contact with the adjacent barrel sides. Perhaps another member that has a Repro or two will chime in with a comparison of how yours looks to one that he owns.
I do see shiny solder, which I would think would not be visible after rust blueing, leading me to think that maybe the lug has been repaired in the past. There again, I don't know what the assembly should look like on a repro.
There are varying opinions as to the purpose of the small hole in the bottom rib. I've seen some original Parkers that had no holes, and some that did. One prevelant theory is that the hole allowed for the air to escape from the rib cavity during the boiling process of rust bluing. The expansion of the air due to heating was feared to cause the soft soldered ribs to pop off. Others will likely chime in with better opinions! I've heard that Parker Bros was able to rust blue their barrels without the holes, and that any hole in a Parker rib was a sure sign of a non-Parker re-blue. I'm pretty much a Parker novice, and I hope to hear the opinions of others more in-the-know!
John