doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Sell Off Starting ???

'
Just on Guns International and saw 3 as new Parker Repros for sale. Seems a fellow much have read about the Repro's problems
(barrel lugs coming apart) and sold off his 3 repro's to Cabela's I wonder how much they gave the guy? This may be the start of
the sell off of which is almost certain to come.

Dirty Harry

I don't have a dog in the Parker repro fight, but mentioned the problems to my gunsmith yesterday. He said he had owned and worked on many repro's without this issue.

Somewhat wishful thinking. There won't be any sell-off.
JR

The price for most doubles is not what it was two decades ago. The Parker repops, included. There is a bit of a private party sell off happening as we speak, but, the dealers who have been looking at the same guns for a decade or so haven’t gotten the memo.

The guys that like the Parker do-overs, like them a lot. They never caught my fancy, and that includes the time before I saw three broken guns. I believe the broken guns to be a distinct fraction of the total production, but, they are out there.

Best,
Ted

If I was going to spend $5-7000.00 on a SxS it surely wouldn't be on a Japanese Parker Reproduction anyway. I see them for sale all the time. 🤭 You can get an awfully nice original Parker for that kind of money. So, I never cared about the Parker Repro anyway. As anyone can guess- my choice for that amount of money would be a Model 21. 😉

Just what we need--Some more internet driven alarmism!!

I don't have a Dog in this Parker Repro Discussion either, it's not a fight. I first became aware of this problem about 2 years ago, since than I
have become aware of about 20 repro's having the lugs coming apart. It's even being talked about on the Parker gun collectors site. I would
think that IF I owned 4 or 5 Repro's I would not want that information getting out to the general public. I owned one Parker repro a few years ago,
but it didn't fit me right, and was made too light for a 12ga.They should have been made on a #2 frame. It appeared to be a well made gun,
but did not compare to the Browning B-SS.

Dirty Harry

Parker Reproduction shotguns were made from 1984 to 1989.

That makes the newest of them 37 years old.

Sometimes, 37 to 42 year old guns break.

It's not a thing I'd worry about, any more than the numbers of Model 21s I saw go belly up at the old Yoopshoot...

You say that as if a separated lug on a set of brazed barrels is reparable, in the manor of a Model 21 with a loose, soldered rib.

It is not. It is NOT a broken gun, it is a catastrophic failure that likely spells the end of that particular gun.

Best,
Ted

I can easily think of a dozen reasons why someone might sell three Parker repros at once, beginning with a collector aging out and disposing of guns so his heirs don't have to.

Harry, I'd advise against becoming too invested in thinking the problem with Parker repro barrel lugs separating is a widespread thing, especially considering we only have photographic evidence of ONE failure, and no information concerning exactly how it failed. We do know that ONE particular gun had a poor braze joint. Only a blind man wouldn't be able to see it. We also know that thousands of others have been fired and did not fail. Many of the unfired guns will remain unfired, so they won't be falling apart in their box or case. I don't know that corrosion from improper flux or cleaning is expansive in nature, and might force a less than perfect joint to gradually separate. If that was happening, I'd expect we'd see a bloom of oxidation coming from voids in the braze joints.

You have to admit that it seems odd that Parker repro owners aren't plastering the internet with photos and serial numbers of other guns that failed. Do a Google search of "Cracked Ithaca Flues Frames" and you will easily find photos of several examples... repeated ad nauseam on multiple forums, and also descriptions of what the apparent root cause was. The vast majority were severely abused, fired with loads they weren't designed to handle, or they had other problems that caused them to double. There was also a similar hysteria over some Fox shotgun frames that cracked, and we have learned the cause was improper opening by allowing the barrels to drop unsupported. This is illustrated and documented on Dewey Vicknair's Blog.

It's possible I will be proven wrong about Parker repros by photographs and documentation of numerous examples. News travels fast on the internet, and no group of Parker collectors will be able to keep it a secret that a significant number of Parker repros are falling apart in normal use. Even where there was a documented problem with low number Springfield rifle heat treating, the guns that were re-heat treated (nearly all) were proof tested with 70,000 psi loads, and most all that failed afterward were the result of reloading mistakes. But many people have a hard time admitting to screwing up, so place the blame on the gun.