Dry firing, ejectors, etc.

[Steve McCabe]

I am new to Parkers, just having acquired my first one, a 1923 VHE.

My question is, what is the proper protocol for dry-firing a gun with ejectors and disassembling it?

I'm assuming the gun can be dry-fired and then the forearm removed and the barrels separated from the receiver. Will this cause harm to the ejectors? What is the proper sequence? I was told to never " dry fire the ejectors," but I'm not clear on what this means. Do I need to invest in a set of snap caps?

Any and all clarification and advice most appreciated---and thanks in advance for your patience with a new guy.

[B. Dudley]

The gun does not even have to be dry fired. Just take it apart.

[Dean Romig]

If you dry fire it before taking the forend off you’ll have trouble (impossible) putting the forend back on until cocking the ejector hammers in the forend. And when cocking the forend hammers against a solid stationary object you can harm the forend wood if it slips. (Voice of experience) so always remove the forend without having dry fired it first.





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[B. Dudley]

Not true. The forend can be removed with the gun uncocked.

[Steve McCabe]

I have always stored my guns with the firing pins fired, so that the hammer spring is not kept compressed. Is this not an issue with Parkers?

Here's a hypothetical scenario: I have just spent time afield and am packing up to go home. I remove the unfired shells from the chambers and close the gun. I want to break my gun down to put it into a takedown case.

How do I proceed?

Do I leave the closed gun cocked and then remove the forearm and open the top lever to disengage the barrel set from the receiver?

Do I dry-fire the gun after the barrels have been removed?

Do I put the receiver in its case cocked?

What's the correct protocol to follow? As I mentioned, I'm interested in 1) protecting the longevity of the hammer springs and 2) not harming the ejector system.

Again, many thanks in advance for any clarification you can provide.

[Dean Romig]

Originally Posted by Brian Dudley

Not true. The forend can be removed with the gun uncocked.

Yes it can but you can’t put it back on withour cocking the ejectors in the forend first.





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[Woodcock survey]

The ejectors do not trip if the fore arm is off, therefore they are still cocked.

[Dean Romig]

Parker hammer springs are coil springs and you can store the gun indefinitely with the hammers cocked. Even after the hammers are dropped there is still significant tension on those springs. They will not lose their strength at all if stored cocked.
And, you can dry fire a Parker Bros. hammerless gun without snap caps with no harm at all to the gun or firing pins.
The ejectors are the thing you need to worry about on a Parker so equipped. Damage is easily done to the stop plate or doll’s head by allowing thebejectors to snap back against the stop plate without snap caps or empty shells.





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[edgarspencer]

Originally Posted by Dean Romig

Yes it can but you can’t put it back on withour cocking the ejectors in the forend first.
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What Brian, and Dan are saying is true. Dry firing, then removing the fore end does not trip the ejectors, so there is no issue re-installing the fore end. The ejectors are still cocked. All that aside, there is no need to dry fire the gun in order to disassemble it.

[Dean Romig]

Originally Posted by Daniel Carter

The ejectors do not trip if the fore arm is off, therefore they are still cocked.

Agreed - IF the forend is removed before dropping the hammers.





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