Parker Trogan

[Wayne Johnson]

Originally Posted by Dennis V. Nix

Wayne in my opinion it is a good price for a shooter. I am a bit concerned that it has been reblued and still looks old and worn. Of course not seeing the gun all any of us can do is take your observations into consideration. What is worn to one person may be just what another person is looking for. Again, for the price, especially if he will come down somewhat, I think it sounds good.

I may have overstated it looked "old and worn." It doesn't have any bare metal showing or anything, it's just not a bright, shiney blue. More of a flat, subdued blue. The area on the lock around the hinge pin shows some wear, but to me it looks like right where a man would hang the gun in the crook of his arm. Sort of like holster wear on an old Smith & Wesson revolver, I tend to think of that as honest wear. The wood is plain without any fancy grain. The checkering is sort of flat. But the more I looked at it, the better it looked.

I plan to take a few pictures of it tomorrow, then walk down the hill behind the house here and fire a few low brass shells to make sure it works.

[George Lander]

Wayne: One quick way to check if your Parker is "on face" or not is to take the forearm off & grasp the muzzle end of the barrels and shake them from side to side. If on face there shold not be much movement betweet the action and the barrels.

Best Regards, George

[Wayne Johnson]

Thanks George. I tried that and if there is any movement, I can't feel it.

The only problem I've found is I can't get the barrel to come off unless I dry it. I did some searching on the forum and apparently this is a pretty common problem. I'm hoping some cleaning, and lubing will work on that. That's the way I'm going for now.

Will it hurt to dry fire occasionally? I don't worry much with newer guns, but this one is pretty old. I'll have to pick up a set of snap caps for 12 ga.

[BRDHNTR]

Wayne and George: I recently sent my 16 VH back to DelGrego's to have Lawrence tighten my fore end up. When I was discussing this with Lawrence, Lawrence stated that Parkers fore ends, unlike many other doubles, were designed to actually be the primary element that keeps the barrels tight to the face. Lawrence further stated that the only test to determine barrel to face tightness is to slip a piece of paper between the breech end and the block, close the gun and see if you can pull the paper out. If the paper can be pulled out, the barrels are not tight to face, if the paper can't be pulled out then the gun is tight. When I asked Lawrence about taking the fore end off and shaking the barrels, he said this is not the test for Parkers. Didn't mean to hi-jack this thread but George's post to Wayne reminded me of what Lawrence D. had said to me recently and I thought it important enough to post. There may be other opinions.

[Wayne Johnson]

Can't pull a piece of paper out either.

[BRDHNTR]

You're in good shape Wayne. Sounds like a good honest Parker. Post some pictures after the sale. All the best and Happy Easter

[Bill Murphy]

Spray some solvent on the uncocking slide and work it back and forth and the gun may start coming apart without dry firing. However, dry firing on a non ejector Parker is harmless. Another thing, it is pretty difficult to blow up a 12 gauge Trojan.

[Wayne Johnson]

Originally Posted by Bill Murphy

Another thing, it is pretty difficult to blow up a 12 gauge Trojan.

Yea, I was being kinda tongue in cheek with that.

That's what I've done with the uncocking slide. I'll see if that doesn't help. I didn't want to dry fire it if it would hurt anything. I had done a search here last night, and read a couple of old threads where dry firing came up and nobody had jumped in to say "Don't do that" so I figured it was ok at least on a limited basis.

[Dean Romig]

I'm sorry for my ignorance... What in an "uncocking slide"? I know of a de-cocking lever on some pistols but... nothing like that on a Parker that I know of.

[Fishtail]

$750 for a one-of-a-kind Parker is a great deal.