Parker & Hale .308 Norma Magnum Safari Edition
- Thread starter drache
- Start date
drache, I would guess that your grandfather used that rifle for what it is ( a hunting tool), and enjoyed it immensely.
I wouldn't bother replacing the stock, but I would strip it and give it a nice oil finish. Have the bluing re-done if it needs it, and hunt it like your grandpa did.
I wouldn't bother replacing the stock, but I would strip it and give it a nice oil finish. Have the bluing re-done if it needs it, and hunt it like your grandpa did.
My grandfather was the greatest shot in the Burns Lake area when they lived up there and he passed on everything he knew to me. He was very proud to watch me shoot in a competition (unofficial) and win hands down in distance using this very same rifle. My grandfather was a big game guide and loved to hunt but sadly was born with a weak stomach, when cleaning game he could go for about ten minutes then have to go throw up, come back for another 10 minutes, repeat throwing up, etc.
Now for a little story of my grandfather's shooting:
Back in the 70's I think it was they had what was called a cake shoot. What that mean was that 5 wooden matchsticks were lined up and you had to shoot the top off the match using a .22 only using open sights at 40 feet I think it was at that time, and you only had 5 shots. The winner would get a cake or sometimes during the holidays it would be a turkey.
Anyways during this time it was a cake. My grandfather was the only one to be able to shoot all five match sticks so he won the cake. As a sign of good will he redonated the cake and they redid the competition to which my grandfather once again won. He redonated the cake a SECOND time only to win it AGAIN! Everyone there finally just told him to take the cake home.
What's amazing about my grandfather's shooting was he never owned a firearm until he was 25 years old. Growing up in Saskatchewan during the depression they just couldn't afford it. I believe though that's what also made him a good shot since money was tight every shot had to count.
More stories will come later including a GIANT hunting mishap!
The two reasons I want to get a Synthetic stock on it are, one I want to keep the stock exactly as it is with every scrap and nick my grandfather put into it and I also don't want the chance of something happening like it cracking in cold weather.
The second is that the wooden stock is so light that it makes the rifle kick like a damn mule (which I have been kicked by a mule and a packhorse).
And yes the rifle was USED and used allot! Many times that rifle meant putting meat onto his family's table!
Now for a little story of my grandfather's shooting:
Back in the 70's I think it was they had what was called a cake shoot. What that mean was that 5 wooden matchsticks were lined up and you had to shoot the top off the match using a .22 only using open sights at 40 feet I think it was at that time, and you only had 5 shots. The winner would get a cake or sometimes during the holidays it would be a turkey.
Anyways during this time it was a cake. My grandfather was the only one to be able to shoot all five match sticks so he won the cake. As a sign of good will he redonated the cake and they redid the competition to which my grandfather once again won. He redonated the cake a SECOND time only to win it AGAIN! Everyone there finally just told him to take the cake home.
What's amazing about my grandfather's shooting was he never owned a firearm until he was 25 years old. Growing up in Saskatchewan during the depression they just couldn't afford it. I believe though that's what also made him a good shot since money was tight every shot had to count.
More stories will come later including a GIANT hunting mishap!
drache, I would guess that your grandfather used that rifle for what it is ( a hunting tool), and enjoyed it immensely.
I wouldn't bother replacing the stock, but I would strip it and give it a nice oil finish. Have the bluing re-done if it needs it, and hunt it like your grandpa did.
The two reasons I want to get a Synthetic stock on it are, one I want to keep the stock exactly as it is with every scrap and nick my grandfather put into it and I also don't want the chance of something happening like it cracking in cold weather.
The second is that the wooden stock is so light that it makes the rifle kick like a damn mule (which I have been kicked by a mule and a packhorse).
And yes the rifle was USED and used allot! Many times that rifle meant putting meat onto his family's table!
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Ok Im sorry to double post like this but enough people have PM'd me asking about the story of how this rifle sat buried in mud at the bottom of a lake.
My grandfather and grandmother along with a couple who were friends of theirs were hunting. Early one morning my grandfather got up early to load the canoe while everyone else was just waking up. Minutes later everyone heard a splash and when they ran down to the lake, the canoe was over turned and everything was on the bottom including this rifle. Now this was late in the fall and the water was freezing cold but none the less my grandfather stripped down to his skivvies and started feeling around in the water using his toes for the rifle. The water was only about 5 feet deep but it took him all day to locate the rifle in the mud. He picked it up with his toes high enough so he could teach it with his hand and brought the gun out.
After a quick cleaning by fireside while suffer for the effects of slight hypothermia he got the gun all cleaned. Bagged a moose the very next day with the rifle in fact. For some reason the scope never got any water inside as it's the same scope that is on it now.
NOTHING on that gun has been changed since the day my grandfather got the gun home in 1965!
My grandfather and grandmother along with a couple who were friends of theirs were hunting. Early one morning my grandfather got up early to load the canoe while everyone else was just waking up. Minutes later everyone heard a splash and when they ran down to the lake, the canoe was over turned and everything was on the bottom including this rifle. Now this was late in the fall and the water was freezing cold but none the less my grandfather stripped down to his skivvies and started feeling around in the water using his toes for the rifle. The water was only about 5 feet deep but it took him all day to locate the rifle in the mud. He picked it up with his toes high enough so he could teach it with his hand and brought the gun out.
After a quick cleaning by fireside while suffer for the effects of slight hypothermia he got the gun all cleaned. Bagged a moose the very next day with the rifle in fact. For some reason the scope never got any water inside as it's the same scope that is on it now.
NOTHING on that gun has been changed since the day my grandfather got the gun home in 1965!
drache, That is a beautiful rifle. I have heard nothing but good about those Parker Hale rifles.
The scope may not be so good. Variables were quite new at that time and there is a good chance the crosshairs will appear to get larger as the power is increased.
You are sure lucky to get it ins such fabulous condition. Take care of it.
The scope may not be so good. Variables were quite new at that time and there is a good chance the crosshairs will appear to get larger as the power is increased.
You are sure lucky to get it ins such fabulous condition. Take care of it.
Magnum Recoil lug: There's a spot on the order form to fill out for that. They re-inforce it, not you...
Inletting: Probably won't take much work, with a small file & sandpaper. You could have a smith install it for you for a small fee...
Inletting: Probably won't take much work, with a small file & sandpaper. You could have a smith install it for you for a small fee...
I've hunted with the rifle and scope before many times and the scope is one of the best (albiet getting on there in years) and never had any problems with it. Infact the scope hasn't needed to be sighted in since my grandfather did it in 1965!
My personal story with this rifle!
When I was 15 I went out hunting for "the last time" with my dad and went to a place called Cedar Dam Lake to hunt moose. We had gone there a couple times before and although heard lots of movement, never got to see the moose (although dad ran into the ass end of a cougar). Anyways, my dad wanted to fish the lake for a break and so I took this .308NM, slung it over my shoulder, and went walking down the old logging trail to the secret swamp we found years before. To make a long story short I got lost as things had changed since Id been there before but I remembered that all I had to do was follow the creek back up to the lake.
So as I'm walking along the creek not really paying attention I get to a point that there is thick brush obscuring the creek from view but there was a game trail broke through the section and I thought I might just cross the creek and see what the other side was like. As I step onto the game trail I come almost nose to nose with a big bull moose! We were maybe 20 feet apart and it seemed that for the longest time we stood there staring at each other. Now at the time I had never fired this rifle and grew up with "horror" stories from my dad and grandfather (shot a hot load and dislocated his shoulder) so I was sort of nervous and not thinking I could get the rifle up in time if the moose charged.
Luckily the moose was just as scared of me as I was of it. He took off running one way and I took off running the other way and I didn't stop until I was sitting in the truck waiting for my dad to come back in with the boat from fishing. He just laughed when I told him the story and said that I looked like I'd seen a ghost.
That was the last time I had hunted with this rifle.
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Is that a bad thing?
Johnn Peterson
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Chemainus B.C.
Not at all.
That's a good story, drache, it adds to the saga of the rifle.
Personally, I don't see anything wrong with the cut out rail for easier loading military clips. My commercial model Swedish Mauser has it and I have never seen anything wrong with it. I think the writer was just pointing out that he could identify it as a military action, by the cut out.
Look through your scope, as you adjust the power up (or down) and see if the cross hairs appear to get bigger or smaller, as the magnicication is changed. That is the way all scopes, at least the ones I knew of, were built to start with. I had a mid 60s Redfield 2 to 7 and it was still that way.
Personally, I don't see anything wrong with the cut out rail for easier loading military clips. My commercial model Swedish Mauser has it and I have never seen anything wrong with it. I think the writer was just pointing out that he could identify it as a military action, by the cut out.
Look through your scope, as you adjust the power up (or down) and see if the cross hairs appear to get bigger or smaller, as the magnicication is changed. That is the way all scopes, at least the ones I knew of, were built to start with. I had a mid 60s Redfield 2 to 7 and it was still that way.
Come to think of it, the Remington 30 Express that I cut my teeth on as a barely teenager, had the cut out rail, because it was made from WW1 left over Remington manufactured P17s. The rifle is still in my locker.
And Johnn, you're a pretty good buck shooter!
And Johnn, you're a pretty good buck shooter!
No, might even be a good thing. Either way, it is what it is.
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I've used that scope plenty of times and the crosshairs never changed size on me but when I get out to the ranch next time I'll look through it again.
No, I have the identical rifle, sans the great stories unfortunately. It was how PH stayed in business, they got the surplus actions very, very inexpensively (bought by the pound was the story I heard), and built up some nice hunting rifles. They used up the surplus actions by the mid 60s or so, and went looking for replacements, one of which was the Santa Barbara Spanish made Mauser actions, which were a pretty good action too (te others were the 1100/Midland actions, which aren't nearly as well made). There were some hardening issues with the last ones (SB actions), but I believe that those occurred when the unfinished stock PH had on hand was sold off on their bankruptcy. These actions found their way into the North American market, and they were used in various custom and semi custom rifles without the finish hardening that was a part of the original PH process. In any case, you have a nice, well built, accurate rifle with some great family history. If you do modify it some, you should only do things that are easy to change back. Throwing a synthetic stock on a period rifle really doesn't add to it's value, oddly enough. - dan
My grandfather's best friend has the "sister/brother" to this rifle purchased at the exact same time from the same place.
After much thought and talking with a few members I've decided that I'll just leave it the way it is now and I'm still debating on hunting with it though or instead getting a case made up for it to hang it above the fireplace and one member suggested. I'll probably hunt with it as it's my only real hunting rifle right now until I get enough saved up for a Winchester Model 94 in 30-30. My dad owns one and when we went out hunting we'd always have to flip a coin to see who got to use it....
drache, If you are wandering along the Cariboo River, above Quesnel Forks, maybe you should be carrying your 308 Norma, rather than a 94, 30-30. I have seen some pretty big grizzly tracks there! Had a good look at them, because they were scant hours old when I loooked at them.
I usually go to Quesnel Forks a couple times a week when it's not snowed in! We have some pretty large griz up here but luckily haven't run into one yet! I would feel safer squaring off against a grizzly with the .308 Norma compared to a 30-30 thats for sure! My dad was stalked by a grizzly before I was born on only had his 30-30 with him. Luckily he got away without having to try a shot but that griz really wanted my dad!
