VH 16 getting prepared

[TARNATION !!!]

Pheasants start next Thursday (Oct 1). Whenever I pick up a new to me gun, I like to do this first, because most of them have a century of crud to clean up inside. This 16 will get a chance for the opener here. Cheers, Jack

[Angel Cruz Ortiz]

If i did that to one of my Parkers the next call would be to Brian...Help!!!

[Steve Hodges]

I did that to my Thompson Center Encore Muzzle Loader one time. My next stop was the factory which was then in Rochester, NH. I handed the bag full of parts to the customer service gent, he disappeared out back and was back in ten minutes with my gun put back together. All he said was don't do that again

[Bill Murphy]

I bought a DH two barrel Miller trigger pigeon gun in a bag, in parts. I had no idea if it was all there. Babe and Lawrence DelGrego put it together for $100 plus shipping. They never mentioned any parts that may have been missing.

[TARNATION !!!]

I'm always amazed with how much crud is involved. My best friend today was the ultrasonic bath and it was very black after several times through. Even then, there was hardened gunk that required a bit of physical effort. Even more amazing is that the gun was shootable but not easy to operate. I have found after a few small issues that a "tinkerer" can dismantle and reassemble a Parker with relative ease. It is a well engineered action and can be completely disassembled without having to destroy some pieces as in some other sxs guns. Tough to find a replacement for a destroyed part, as it must be new or remanufactured as a parts gun won't do. These pics show how to remove and reinsert main springs, plungers and hammers. Another member mentioned to use a punch pin to hold the plunger in place while removing the hammer pin screw. Before that I was just pushing the plunger in with the dowel and trying to insert the hammer pin screw. Possible, but not easy. The punch pin makes it easy. Tomorrow it wil be ready to pattern. Cheers, Jack

[Daniel G Rainey]

If I did that to one of my Parkers there is no way I could get it back together and I know no one in Mississippi that I would trust to the job. Guess, I will keep shooting dirty old guns. Dan

[TARNATION !!!]

You do get to see some strange stuff. Here the unhooking slide has been smacked many times in an effort to remove it. They gave up. All that has to be done is undo the small screw on the edge of the trigger plate and the slide will "slide" right off. This slightly abused VH 16 is re-assembled and ready to be fired. Maybe tomorrow. Cheers, Jack

[Eric Estes]

Jack, I think this has come up in other threads before, but what do you use as a "bath" in your ultrasonic cleaner? Great pictures, thanks.

[TARNATION !!!]

Hi Eric: I bought the Lyman cleaner from Cabellas and use a bath of distilled water and Lyman Turbo Sonic Concentrated Steel and Gun Parts Cleaning Solution (also Cabellas) Mix 1 oz cleaner to 20 oz distilled water. You can use ordinary tap water but distilled will work faster (or so the bottle says). For really dirty parts I also use the heat setting on the ultrasonic cleaner. Some century old stuff requires many cycles through before they come clean but they do come clean. The odd piece of really caked on stuff needs the help of the always available tooth picks. Pointy ones from your favorite steak house work the best, especially since you need to eat a good steak first. Cheers, Jack

[Kevin McCormack]

My favorite is when they reassemble the gun and can't get the floorplate to lay flush as it should, so they whang away at the forward edge of the plate (usually with a hard plastic hammer) and break off the rim on the side where this unhooking slide plunger sits!