recoil pad is parkerhale marked and nice and soft
Need help with Parkerhale rifle identification****MODEL # FOUND!!!!!*****
- Thread starter hunterhenderson
- Start date
"It is a commercial 98 but these should be Santa Barbara actions IIRC."
That was just one of the 98 actions utilized by PH.
They used surplus milsurp actions for many rifles, but the 1200 series, which is likely what the OP has, used purpose built "commercial" actions, without finger cut outs on the left side of the receivers. I've seen them with different adjustable trigger types as well.
Those actions were built by different companies in Belgium, France, Yugoslavia, and Spain. They may have even been built in other places.
Whatever, they are excellent actions and very well built rifles, no matter where the actions were made. PH did all of the finishing and fitting in the UK, to some very high standards.
That was just one of the 98 actions utilized by PH.
They used surplus milsurp actions for many rifles, but the 1200 series, which is likely what the OP has, used purpose built "commercial" actions, without finger cut outs on the left side of the receivers. I've seen them with different adjustable trigger types as well.
Those actions were built by different companies in Belgium, France, Yugoslavia, and Spain. They may have even been built in other places.
Whatever, they are excellent actions and very well built rifles, no matter where the actions were made. PH did all of the finishing and fitting in the UK, to some very high standards.
- Location
- Western Manitoba
Some years ago, I had some Voere brand rifles - if you removed the wood, you could see the word "Spain" stamped or etched into the left side of the receiver tang edge. Something tells me they were Model 2155 and Model 2165 - they had a sliding tang safety, like a shotgun. With some reading, apparently Voere (an Austrian gun maker) made some of their rifles using Santa Barbra actions. So, I suspect at that time - there was many barrelled action makers in competition with each other - I think FN in Belgium also made and sold actions to other rifle makers. From somewhere, I think the British Company "Rigby" had the British import rights for Mauser actions made in Germany - so no doubt Parker Hale figured out a way to work around that - Mauser rifles, but not made in Germany.
Frequently you can see where the "Spain" was ground out on the left side of the tang.
PG stocks were from Sile in Italy.
I observed four patterns of PH Mauser actions.
-reworked military.
-commercial sporting, full "C" inner receiver ring collar.
-commercial sporting, two "U" inner receiver ring collar.
-commercial sporting, no inner collar. Firing pin has '96 rather than '98 pattern collar. Mauser gas handling features abandoned. Bolt stop and ejector of the type used on the econo Midland 2100 actions.
I consider the second type the best, the fourth the least desirable.
PG stocks were from Sile in Italy.
I observed four patterns of PH Mauser actions.
-reworked military.
-commercial sporting, full "C" inner receiver ring collar.
-commercial sporting, two "U" inner receiver ring collar.
-commercial sporting, no inner collar. Firing pin has '96 rather than '98 pattern collar. Mauser gas handling features abandoned. Bolt stop and ejector of the type used on the econo Midland 2100 actions.
I consider the second type the best, the fourth the least desirable.
Thanks to all who posted, well it looks like after a ton of digging, this is one of the last model Parker hale rifles produced, its called an M81 Classic and is considered there finest rifle by many fanciers of PH rifles. Production dates were, i believe 1986 through till closing in early 90's
Falconflyer
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Nice rifle, congrats on the purchase!
I've had 3 or 4 PH rifles at one time or another and know several guys who own them , all are good shooting rifles. These rifles didn't cost much money when they were new and traditionally they sell for less money used than a lot of other rifles and only lately have the prices started to rise, I guess the secret is out!
I've had 3 or 4 PH rifles at one time or another and know several guys who own them , all are good shooting rifles. These rifles didn't cost much money when they were new and traditionally they sell for less money used than a lot of other rifles and only lately have the prices started to rise, I guess the secret is out!
Thanks Falcon, apparently this is their flagship rifle!!
It was at the time they were producing the model. They pretty much hyped different models the same way at different times.
Parker Hale stopped production in 1992, and there was a flood of their rifles on the markets at the time.
Same thing happened with the components the factory used to assemble the rifles.
Laws in the UK were making production tedious and expensive, and the company had been a bit of a laggard when it came to modernizing their product.
They contracted out everything used to assemble the firearms, and I've heard much of the assembly was being done in other parts of Europe by the time the company ceased production.
Many people loved the proven reliable "98 Mauser" actions at the time and still do today. I'm one of them. However, competitors had done their homework and had invested a lot of time and money into new manufacturing procedures to build cheaper to produce, innovative, and reliable variants of Mauser designs.
Just about every bolt action rifle out there, other than straight pull types, are based on Mauser lock up principles.
