Went to the dark side last week

[vaturkey]

I have always tinkered in the back of my mind with owning a 28 gauge sxs. The one that my mind kept wandering towards was a Parker Repro made in the 1980's. Knew I would never be able to afford an original 28 Gauge Parker in any grade and it appears that the 28 gauge repro for the most part has passed the test of time and gets mostly 2 thumbs up for the Parker crowd. I had set down some must haves that I wouldn't compromise on and those included having two triggers and Q1 and Q2 factory chokes. Beavertail forearm was also on the wish list, but I'd not seen one for sale forever that hit all of my criteria. Well, one popped up on GB last week and it had everything going for it except the beavertail forearm and after setting a self imposed bidding limit I went after it and sealed the deal as they say. Funds have been sent as well as the FFL. I'm guessing in about 10 days I'll have my mitts on it. If everything is as expected it will be added to the Woodcock harvesting gun safe.

PS. First non-Fox double I've bought for many many years. Only other "non Fox" in the inventory is an Ithaca SKB 20 gauge that I bought so I could have a single trigger gun for ultra cold weather that I encounter out west chasing late season birds.

Double PS. Pictures to follow.

[44whiskey]

good on you, time slows to a crawl when waiting on a shipped gun,bet she will be a sweetheart . 44whiskey

[Silvers]

Nice Tom, life is short and it's always good to get something you want. Double triggers too. Woohoo. Just one watchout, it seems the 28 gauge Repro ejectors have a tendency to "batter" their stop(s) in the barrel extension (probably not the correct Parker lingo) and you may want to carefully inspect when she arrives. There are several threads on this topic on the pgca site. I don't recall if there's a good fix, or not. frank

[Sporrns]

Preventing unresisted ejector travel is the best "good fix." If you don't routinely use snap caps, you can pretty much eliminate this problem on ANY empty ejector gun by putting a thumb or forefinger against the ejector(s) as the gun opens but before the ejectors trip. The seemingly insignificant few thou of an inch travel of the ejector stems in their races (unless provided some resistance) allows a tremendous amount of force to be transmitted to the surface of the ejector stop plate, which in the case of the Parker Repro is quite thin and held in place by a very tiny single screw. Without some opposite force to counter this travel (driven by very strong springs!), a very vulnerable situation obtains. Even the resistance of fired shells provides some degree of resistance; I'm also personally convinced that allowing ejectors to snap full force with no snap caps or finger resistance against the ejector face is a primary reason for extractor guide pin breakage/bending in A.H. Fox guns.

[vaturkey]

I think I had heard about the issue Frank and Kevin mentioned before. Hopefully there is no issue currently. I'm guessing most of the damage is done by dry firing the gun and then opening the action up and letting the ejectors slam to the rear and hitting the stop? hard. Seems like there should have been a way to to replace the ejector springs with a less forceful type. I'll see if I can find anything on the Parker forum in regards to a potential way to head off the problem at the pass as they say.

[DarylC]

The best way to avoid problems Tom is to have a smith convert it to an extractor gun. To paraphrase an old saying "If it has ejectors or tires you gonna have problems with it".

[vaturkey]

The best way to avoid problems Tom is to have a smith convert it to an extractor gun. To paraphrase an old saying "If it has ejectors or tires you gonna have problems with it".

I would be fine with that. I find that ejector guns of any type eventually cause problems. I'd just want to keep all the original parts so when the good lord comes knocking that the new owner will have the gun in original condition.

[44whiskey]

have you received parker yet

[eightbore]

I disagree with my friend, Daryl, that the conversion to non ejector is the best fix for the possibility of broken stop plates on smallbore Repros. We have discussed a stop screw of good proportions through the bottom of the breech as a good solution. The stop screw worked on non ejector guns and it would work as well on ejector guns. We have discussed this before.

[Stan Hillis]

I also respectfully disagree that a gun with ejectors will eventually give problems (with the ejectors). I am a big ejector gun fan. I won't go so far as to say "proponent" because I don't care to try and influence other's opinions of ejectors. I love them, and have had such a minuscule amount of ejector problems as to be not worthy of mention. Almost all of my doubles are ejector guns. Out of all of them the only one I've ever had fail me is a 1918 BE Fox that had a guide pin break. I repaired it myself, detailed on this site, and it's still going strong, years later. I've put over ten thousand rounds through several of my ejector doubles without a hiccup, including two trips to Cordoba, Argentina for high volume doves with an ejector double.

I guess, if one took the word "eventually" literally, the statement could be said to be accurate. Eventually, all mechanical devices will fail if used. But, how long, how many rounds does it take, to get to the point that there is ejector problems? Doesn't that have something to do with the overall reliability aspect of selective ejectors? I think it does. Personally, I have more problems with other things on double guns than I do with their ejectors.

JMO, YMV.

[vaturkey]

Gun has been received and it was fired very very little for sure. There is currently no issue with the ejector stop plate that I can see. Not sure of what the proper fix would be on a problem that doesn't currently exist (and I looked hard for any wear and tear on that area). The stop screw would certainly head off the problem at the pass, but then you have a gun that's not original and even though its indeed a Japan made Parker, its one that is a bit hard to find from the standpoint of having the Q1 and Q2 chokes and Double Triggers. My current belief is to shoot it enough to get comfortable with it for birds (really Woodcock as that's the only game in Va to speak of) and to keep an eye on it. If I start to observe what everyone has talked abou,t then the stop screw fix appears to be the best and easiest one out there that I've read about.

PS. I shot the gun a handful of times at hand thrown clays late last week. Mechanically everything seems fine. I hit 3 out of 4 targets thrown and my goodness those ejectors will throw the empties.

Double PS. Seems to me an easy fix would be to use some less powerful ejector springs, but no one on the Parker site has attempted that fix and there's got to be a reason they haven't.

[vaturkey]

I also respectfully disagree that a gun with ejectors will eventually give problems (with the ejectors). I am a big ejector gun fan. I won't go so far as to say "proponent" because I don't care to try and influence other's opinions of ejectors. I love them, and have had such a minuscule amount of ejector problems as to be not worthy of mention. Almost all of my doubles are ejector guns. Out of all of them the only one I've ever had fail me is a 1918 BE Fox that had a guide pin break. I repaired it myself, detailed on this site, and it's still going strong, years later. I've put over ten thousand rounds through several of my ejector doubles without a hiccup, including two trips to Cordoba, Argentina for high volume doves with an ejector double.

I guess, if one took the word "eventually" literally, the statement could be said to be accurate. Eventually, all mechanical devices will fail if used. But, how long, how many rounds does it take, to get to the point that there is ejector problems? Doesn't that have something to do with the overall reliability aspect of selective ejectors? I think it does. Personally, I have more problems with other things on double guns than I do with their ejectors.

JMO, YMV.

I'm now on my third Fox with a Broken Guide Pin while I have owned them. All Ejector 20 gauge Sterly's. Maybe I'm just unlucky. All happened while shooting 5 stand when the guns were being used pretty heavily and the barrels were smoking hot.

[eightbore]

My vote for the fix for the ejector stop on smallbore Parker Repros is the screw "stop" through the bottom of the breech which engages the relief cut in the ejector. My number two would be some kind of rubber bumper that would cushion the blow on the stop plate. I haven't examined a smallbore Repro to determine how this would be done, but I may look at a 28 Repro later today to get an idea. Weaker springs in the forearm would probably be the best fix.

[Mike of the Mountain]

"Went to the Dark Side?" Tom, I think you have finally stepped into the light of glory!!!

[vaturkey]

Stockman is finishing up work on my Repro. Sent me the below pic yesterday. As many know most of these guns have too little DAH. Some stocks can be bent some can't. This one I thought could be because its quartersawn and I was correct. Went from 2 1/8" to 2 3/8" DAH and added some cast as well for a righty. Then getting rid of that god awful bowling ball finish and adding an oil finish. This one is stocked in Claro and per my stockmaker had pores deep enough to catch fish in. Lots of filling in those pores before applying the finish. Anyway this is where we currently are. I'll have it back in probably a month. Finish being applied is Timberluxe.