Need a ball park value on a rifle I've been offered

nomad 68

nomad 68

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Thanks in advance guys. I've only seen a picture so far. It's a Parker hale sporter.303 Brit. It's the one with the gloss Monte Carlo stock and the Forend tip. Number 4 action.i had one years ago with a 20" barrel. This one appears longer. I see normal hunting marks on wood. Looks like a Parker hale base but no rings on it. Factory sights are gone and has bluing loss on muzzle. 5 shot mag. Assuming the bore is good, what's a good offer to throw out there. He approached me about buying it and has never fired it himself. I am not even sure I really want it but, if the price is right......
 
Not real sure what you are looking for - part of your description describes a "Custom" type of stock - but that also came with a recoil pad. PH made 4 versions of No. 4 and 4 versions of No. 1 - the "Custom" was the highest grade (most expensive). See picture below. Not terribly uncommon to find forearm or butt, or both, have been swapped to another rifle. You say "factory sights are gone" - the Custom had the PH front sight on a ramp and a barrel mounted rear sight - rear bridge for military rear sight had been milled away. It was meant for a Parker Hale A29 side mount - so three holes drilled and tapped into side wall - I am pretty certain those are BA series threads in those holes.

Be aware that companies like Bishop and others offered replacement stocks - I have a Bishop butt stock with a Monte Carlo installed on one No. 4 to use with a scope. Look at the PH advert below - that is what the original Custom should look like.

I do not know how much as collector value - a real collector would likely be real picky about the various details. So is likely worth as a "shooter" - which means bore condition is about everything. Which you do not mention. I have a rotted out No. 4 barrel that I can drop a .308" bullet through - so is about a waste of time to use. In good shape, and bedded properly, is likely capable of 2 inch 5 shot groups at 100 yards. But is not mentioned. At most, I would offer $200 for it, as you describe - since so much is unknown about it.

Parker Hale Custom and Supreme.jpg
 

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  • Parker Hale Custom and Supreme.jpg
    Parker Hale Custom and Supreme.jpg
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Just from the pic I saw, $250 area is what came to mind. As I stated, not even sure I want it. Might be a good back up or loaner rifle. I have no dies for it so I'd have to buy a set. Certainly no collector rifle. I won't see it in person til Monday so bore condition unknown as of now. He took the rifle on a part payment for services rendered.
 
I believe that the Parker Hale No. 1 and No. 4 sporting rifles actually were "cut down milsurp" - I thought that I read that the No. 4 Supreme and Custom may have had new barrels, not the military ones - but I think the receivers were all former military issue. Of the several that I have handled, most all of the Supreme and Custom stocks seem to have been made by SILE in Italy. I think the Standard and the De Luxe might have still had the military barrels and might have retained some of the military wood. So far as I know, none of them were "newly made" by or for Parker Hale.
 
If the rifling is decent, rifle is in general good condition, full 10 shot magazine, I'd say something around $250-$350. Parker Hale did some nice work on the higher end model.
 
If its in decent shape, with a bright bore, its worth ~ 300$ to someone who is into these rifles. PH rings are going to set you back another ~ 50$. Surely the seller has rings, I'd be inclined to make an offer for the package.
 
nomad 68 said:
I'll take a look at it Monday. He does not have the rings. I am sure the rifle looks better in the pic I saw than it will in person. The one I had in the late 80's, early 90's was pristine. I should have kept it. Thanks everyone.
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That I know, authentic Parker Hale bases, like the A29, pretty much need actual Parker Hale rings to work - I had read there is a modern made-in-Britain line of rings that "might" work with PH bases, but I have not used them. I am not aware of any Leupold, Weaver, Redfield, Burris, Warne, etc. rings that will fit correctly to PH bases. PH rings were made in at least 3 heights, and for at least 4 or maybe 5 scope body diameters. Some PH rings have a recoil stud in their bottom that fits into the divot on the PH bases. Also, they were made in at least two rail widths. So need to start by knowing which rail width that you have - nominally the PH catalogue referred to them as either 19.5 mm wide ("A" width) or 17 mm wide ("B" width). Most all of the "A" series bases have a visible part number on them - I do not recall ever seeing a "B" width base with a number.
 
Looked at it today. Bubba'd is an understatement. 6 different swivel holes drilled in the stocks. Not a Parker hale mount at all. It was a piece of aluminum angle with a pic rail mounted on top and it was crooked lol.i declined an offer. Never even bothered lookijpng at the bore.
 
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nomad 68 said:
Looked at it today. Bubba'd is an understatement. 6 different swivel holes drilled in the sticks. Not a Parker hale mount at all. It was a piece of aluminum angle with a pic rail mounted on top and it was crooked lol.i declined an offer. Never even bothered lookijpng at the bore.
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Is too bad that did not work out - FYI - your description of the scope mount is remarkably like what is a Parker Hale A29 side mount for a No. 4 - except for stampings, anodizing (?), etc. - appears as if it is an aluminum angle extrusion - perhaps 3 mm thick - with a "rail" that attaches on the top arm by two screws - with "bulbs" at each end of that rail to accept the "A" width PH rings and their recoil studs. A similar one (side is curved to match to a No. 1) is the Parker Hale A27 - I think the "rails" on top might be interchangeable - of the several used ones of both types that I have had, most of the time those two mounting screws - either one or both - were stripped from over-tightening. Both were intended to be used on rifles that have had their rear bridge removed.

In one of my very earliest "Bubba" "tour-de-force", in late 1960's, I made similar from a piece of about 3/16" angle iron - drilled and tapped into flat side of a No. 4 - then used files and hack saw to make a "rail" out of the top part, to accept some inexpensive slotted rings. It worked. That rifle is now riding in a scabbard as an "emergency rifle" on a snowmobile somewhere in mountains out by Grande Cache, Alberta - pretty much 50 years later.
 
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