Parker Hale

MrYou

Well-Known Member
I know they are an old style rifle, but thats it.......does anyone shoot this PH rifle either in 243 or whatever cal?? what are they like ? steel quality etc & accuracy ?

They look a good quality riflr ,if not basic..comments please.

Thanks
 
I view them as the rifle that fashion forgot.

Based on a solid and proven design - in many cases using surplus Mauser actions and produced by Birmingham gunmakers - who arguably had a bit of experience.

Add in Roger Hale - a gun enthusiast ( if not sadly a great businessman ).

Those I have seen/ owned shot well for the standards of the time ( before anything less than wragged single holes at 300yds mandated a rifle be scarpped :D ) If this 'problem' was too much to bear, I suspect Border et al could rustle up a suitable tube in short order.

PH were in the running for the Brit Army sniper rifle and were squeezed out by Malcolm C's Accuracy International. The PH rifle was effectively a militarized version of their sporting offerring.

The old Handgunner magazine coined the perfect phrase - about the M81 parker Hale - 'It is everything a man of taste could wish for in a rifle'. Add the 1200C superclip to that list and I would concur.

Hope helps.
 
I'm no Mauser expert, but I'm getting interested ;)

The vast majority (so I've read) of Parker Hales use Santa Barbara '98 Muaser actions - true 98 ones made in spain. They are meant to be a little on the rough side (age will have smoothed things though), but are tough, reliable and accurate. Some of the early ones had FN actions I think - the most desirable s/h 98 actions.
 
I have a BSA made 308 Norma Magnum on a Santa Barbara action. It's an older gun but smooth as silk. No questions about the strength at all. ~Muir
 
I bought a .308 PH from the game fair about 12 years ago, i learnt to shoot fullbore rifles with it and looking back at my first atempts at reloading for it, it was capable of 1" @100m as long as i did my bit.
I sold it because of other peoples opinion of them (parker hale nail was one comment) if i still had it now i wouldn't be in any particular rush to sell it.

Nothing wrong with PH rifles.

Ezzy
 
I have an FN-actioned Parker Hale .270, factory bedded into a lovely figured walnut Monte Carlo safari stock. It's capable of 0.5"-0.75" at 200 yards off a benchrest, using a homeload of 60gns H4831, CCI BR2 primer and a Hornady 130gn softpoint bullet, set long at 0.277" off the ogive. I'm hoping it will be even better / consistent when the trigger gets a fettling shortly by Mike Norris.

They are lovely rifles at seriously bargain prices - mine was cheap but Vizlamad recently bought an unused and unmarked PH .270 and 6x42 Swarovski scope for £350 - it was just gathering dust on an RFD's shelf. Another shooting buddy bought a very decent PH in .30-06 for under £200. My only vague criticism - and it's more of a criticism of Mauser actions than PH rifles per se - is the sloppy bolt feel at full extension, exaggerated even more on a long action like the .270.

Andrew Banner at Wildcat Rifles in Droitwich has a knack of sourcing really nice Parker Hales.

Adam.
 
Adamant said:
I have an FN-actioned Parker Hale .270, factory bedded into a lovely figured walnut Monte Carlo safari stock. It's capable of 0.5"-0.75" at 200 yards off a benchrest, using a homeload of 60gns H4831, CCI BR2 primer and a Hornady 130gn softpoint bullet, set long at 0.277" off the ogive. I'm hoping it will be even better / consistent when the trigger gets a fettling shortly by Mike Norris.



Adam.

Is the trigger heavy ? why you having it worked? thanks
 
The trigger on my PH - in common with many PH rifles - is basically an early version of the very good Timney trigger. It is highly adjustable; unfortunately mine was adjusted to a pull of about 150lbs :oops: :rolleyes: when I bought it.

Reducing it to around 3lbs was straightforward and made a massive difference as you'd imagine! However, my rifle fettling skills are a bit limited, despite having the PH trigger manual and only needing a screwdriver and small spanner for the job, so it's going to Mike Norris to be adjusted to a final 2lb pull and have the sears polished to a silky smooth finish at the same time. If Vizlamad's PH is anything to go by, having recently had the same treatment, it should end up as good in feel as a Jewell trigger but for a mere £50 ;)

Adam.
 
Here's one from the Holts January sealed bid sale:

31007.jpg


Sale S1035 Lot 3510

PARKER HALE .270 (WIN) 'SAFARI' BOLT-MAGAZINE SPORTING RIFLE, serial no. R1814M, 22in. nitro barrel (rear sight removed), mounted with scope rings, insert repair to right of stock
Estimate £60-80

http://auctions.holtsauctioneers.co...alelot=S1035+++3510+&refno=+++31007&saletype=
 
Hi All,

Funny I should see this as I am presently playing with a new acquistion a Parker-Hale 1200C in 25-06. Paid a bit more than your talking about but it has beautiful wood and came with std Leupold 1" rings on a one piece base and a spare magazine. Found it on the Guntrader site and got it sent down to my "local" dealer (only 30 miles away instead of a 4 hour drive):-

PICT0080.jpg


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I robbed a scope off a BSA Suprsport Five to try it with, a Simmons 6-18x40AO Air Gun Competition scope but have since replaced it with a new Simmons Aetec Master Series in 2.8-10x44WA and have been working a few handloads:-

PICT0086.jpg

This is the one I have settled on for now, five shots in 0.780", but as one group does not make a good load a few more will be shot to verify it's good. POI has been changed now ;) it was shooting 1" high and central before this change to the load a different bullet seating depth and one grain extra in powder charge moved the POI 3" :eek: .

I also have a nice P-H 1100 Lwt in .308 and it shoots very well if I do my part:-

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Three shots of the Hornady 130 grn SP :D the ringed holes above were an old load using the Speer 200 grain bullet which this rifle didn't like.

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The 1100 Lwt. And finally this was shot with a 6mm Rem P-H 1200V:-

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6mmRemP-H1200VRHS.jpg

A better shot than I could probably tighten them up even more.

I would have to disagree with the P-H being rough :( OK they not in the same class as the Mannlicher Schoenauer or Mdl 1892 but then few rifles are ;) The BSA's are also smoother and slicker in the bolt but the Parker-Hales are quite OK. This 1200C in 25-06 is very slick the 1100 Lwt is also as too is the 1200V. The roughest of them I have tried was a mid 1980's 1200 Super in 7.92mm that was brand new straight out of the box and the stock inletting also left something to be desired but I think this came from the take over period? so quality obviously dipped them. This later 1200C is much better in all departments :D
 
I bought this an M81 Classic in 270 for £250 plus 15% premium at auction in 2008. I sold the Zeiss 'scope on eBay for £220 and replaced it with what I think is better a Zeiss Diatal C 4x and Diatal C 6x.

These have now been put on the back shelf and I've fitted a Diavari-C 3-9 Variable that I bought off eBay. As "Handgunner" said it is about the acme of "off the peg" volume British riflemaking.

A35.jpg
 
I have had a PH for 20 odd years,originally in 308 Norma magnum which I used for sambar deer hunting and only this year i had it re chambered re barrelled for 358 Norma mag with a Stainless MAB,she shoots too!

I installed a plastic stock all those years ago and then changed it to a Bell + Carlson full length aluminium bedded stock this year. A good tough rifle,that shoots really spot on and the calibre is a hammer too.

I am currently looking for a PH L/action so as to use my 308 N Mag barrel again,a full rifle or just the action if any of you members have one for sale
 
I think I will be looking towards a PH or BSA as my first .243. Do they manufacture left handed ones or any ambidextrous ones? I like the look of the wooden stocks, and I wont be in a position to afford a brand new rifle so I will be looking for something like this. I know its probably a question that has been asked about the .243 many times before, but after how many shots through a rifel would you have concerns about blowing a barrel?

atb
 
dont think they do leftys ,or i havnt seen any on the barrels i think you should find is they went out of fashion and seem to be lying around rfds shops and gun trader for very little. mine was like new ,as most i have seen so you should find a very good one quite easy,wayne
 
thanks...do they do them in an ambidextrous stock? I seem to remember seeing one that appeared to have a similar type of stock as my CZ ambi, but couldnt be sure as i coulnd't see both sides in the picture.

atb
 
not really sure to be honest brithunter is probably the best to answer,i am a lefty but the stock on my model 100 fits me well and i have had no need to change i just reach over with my trigger hand and cycle the bolt that way all the best,wayne
 
yeah...likewise Mereside. i only find a problem with some of the ones with a bigger drop in the butt, with the right handed cheek piece. i never seem to be able to get a comfy cheek position on the stock if i am using it lefthanded. Ambi are fine, i have gotten used to the action being right hand and doesnt cause me any problems....

atb
 
There you go - the first P-Hale I was grudgingly offered a look-at in Grays of Inverness would have cost me the princely sum of £45. (In those days - Grahams across the road was the working-man's shop and you felt you had to pay a tenner just to walk in the door at Grays).
As it happend, my estate issue rifle - handed on to me by the retiring stalker, was a P-Hale Safari in .243. Cold hammer-forged barrel onto a mandril. The trigger was the old mauser-type straight pull and felt like I was tugging it over the rocky mountains before it released the sear. The solidified packing grease was still encasing the action and magazine area as the old stalker would not dismantle the rifle.

I shot my first hind with that rifle. After accomanying the two senior stalkers up into the snow and back along the ridge to a corrie the old fellow handed me the rifle and said, "The big house requires a yeld hind and I was to shoot one in the neck".
The shot had to be taken downhill from the sitting position as the snow was too deep to lie in. I had not put one shot through that rifle, so I just squeezed the trigger gently along the rough metal until I saw the hind crumple down in the coire.
Nikko Stirling 4X sight. They worked until the reticule collapsed, then I took the thing apart and made a new pointer reticule out of a fine embroidery needle and finest copper wire from inside an old radio coil. soldered into place on the ring and tensioned with a home-made spring device. Times were hard eh ! Caviar must have been getting expensive !

When the day came that I was handed the rifle on my certificate, I stripped it down in my workshop shed and worked on the bare bones until the trigger was refined to breaking glass. The stock forend had moved to and fro because of the very damp conditions and varying temeperatures so I free-floated it in order to remove the blackened friction areas.

The boss shot a fly with it at 85 yards on the old target and I remarked that if he had pulled his finger out he could have made it a neck shot.

Good luck with the rifle. It's heart-warming to see that the old tools can still come up to scratch - and that they still have a respected following.

Those rifles were sold under the assurance that they would give a 2" group, but all Parker Hales I came across would give minute of angle groupings at least - with Norna or RWS factory ammo - and I finaly wore that barrel out after fifteen years of test shooting and a conservative figure of 200 deer and other animals per year before it was changed for another, so you have plenty life in that barrel I would guess.
 
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