Information on this Parker Hale please

The damaged PH barrels were primarily from commercial Mauser actionned rifles; might have been damaged Midlands as well, but I do not recall. The Midland barrel is just a Mauser sporting barrel with a slightly longer shank.
The most dramatic specimen was from a .30-06 which was fired in extreme cold, after having the muzzle shoved in the snow. It shattered into 7 pieces. The rifle was gone from the receiver ring forward. Fortunately the shooter had his left hand in a thick mitt. I used a punch to unscrew the stump from the receiver; the action was intact and unharmed.
 
It is well known there are some stock cracking (and splitting) problems, especially on the 1200 series, but as I said, I never got a problem with their barrels (except, maybe the very thin Magnum barrels heating up way too fast).
Also, I can easily see one of those pencil like barrel splitting from the muzzle if obstructed.
 
Most barrels will bulge or split if fired with an obstruction. The PH barrels are the only ones I saw that were prone to fracture. For example, if one was fired with a muzzle obstruction, the barrel would bulge, crack up through the three holes used to affix the front sight ramp, and it was not unusual for a piece of barrel 2 or 3 inches long to be detached.
 
Thanks for the information everyone!

I purchased some cheap ammo (MFS fmj) for it and took it to a range yesterday. I can't believe how accurate it is!

A shell got stuck in the chamber after the 14th shot and that prevented the bolt from opening. I had to borrow a screwdriver from another shooter (thanks again if your on here) and take the stock off so that I could get the bullets out of the magazine.
 
mmmm.... that sounds funny. You still should be able to open the bolt with some force and knock the handle rearward to extract a stuck case. I would suggest you to inspect the spent case and try to understand what happened prior of using it again.
 
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