Since I know little about Parker Hale rifles...

[Hitzy]

Looked at one today for $375, 7mm mag, detachable mag, some kind of forend tip (redish wood), a white plastic insert of some sort in the bottom of the grip, light blond stock with basket weave? checkering, recoil pad dried out...it's not pristine, but very good to excellent.
I know these are later Santa Barbara actions, it was pretty damn smooth. Not sure why I want it, but are these decent in the mag chambering? Accurate rifles?

 

[NL-Hunter]

They are a lot better than the midland rifles from same era. White line spacers were common. I am sure you will get better inputs than this.

 

[Kevan]

Looked at one today for $375, 7mm mag, detachable mag, some kind of forend tip (redish wood), a white plastic insert of some sort in the bottom of the grip, light blond stock with basket weave? checkering, recoil pad dried out...it's not pristine, but very good to excellent.
I know these are later Santa Barbara actions, it was pretty damn smooth. Not sure why I want it, but are these decent in the mag chambering? Accurate rifles?

Good rifles, a friend who is a one-gun hunter has had that same rifle for longer than I can remember and will never part with it..

 

[clk1]

I had one in 300 win mag I hunted with for years.....never a glitch.......fine rifle.

 

[Suther]

Very interested as well. I've seen a few of these pop up on the EE for very reasonable prices, and I've had a hankering for a 7mm mag since day one. (What i REALLY want is a 280ai, but I'll save that caliber for a rifle worth a bit more coin...)

What's accuracy like? Typical 1.5moa you'd expect from an off the shelf hunting rifle?

 

[tiriaq]

Dead recoil pads seem to be common.
Several different receiver patterns were used. The best have the "C" collar, with only the extractor cut through it. Then there are ones with both left and rights lugways cut through. Both of these will have the proper '98 Mauser firing pin, and boltstop/ejector box. The last version has no internal collar, a '93/'96 pattern firing pin, and the bolt stop from the Midland.
The detachable magazine system gives a detachable magazine. That's the good news. The system is sort of Mickey Mouse. Don't lose the magazine.
They shoot well, owners like them.
I got to work on a lot that my customers brought in. Rebarrelled quite a few. Standardization of receiver thread dimensions? Not really. The barrels are hard. Harder than most all other centerfire barrels I've worked on. I had quite a collection of damaged barrels - ones fired with obstructions. PH barrels were the only ones that broke. No just bulged, but broke into pieces, chunks flying off. The front sight ramp is held on by a single screw and two locating pins. These three holes create a fracture zone. Bit of obstruction in the muzzle - snow, etc., and the sight would be launched, and the barrel cracked. Or a piece 3" long broken off one side. Most dramatic was a barrel fired with snow in the muzzle that shattered into 5 pieces, all the way back to the receiver ring. Other makes would bulge or split.
As I said, they shoot well, owners like them.
$375 is a pretty good price. Factor in the cost of a replacement recoil pad.

 

[Hitzy]

Thanks for that info ####, gives me some concern....I'm really more of a Husqvarna fan when it comes to commercial Mausers anyway. The PH was neat in that it has a 70's vibe with the plaid style checkering, and heavy varnish, didn't like the shortish bolt handle so much though. I certainly don't need another 7mm mag, got that covered along with a 7x57 and 7mm-08. It felt nice and was pretty light, I'll probably take a pass. I've done grind to fit recoil pads before and hated it...just a messy smelly job.

 

[Zedbra]

I have the same rifle as my hunting rig and I quite like carrying it in the bush. Accuracy is good with my hand loads, weight is good, the bolt always works effortlessly though it is an odd shaped bolt handle and therefore requires high rings. My PH is as old as me and I hope to have it for years to come.

 

[Suther]

I have the same rifle as my hunting rig and I quite like carrying it in the bush. Accuracy is good with my hand loads, weight is good, the bolt always works effortlessly though it is an odd shaped bolt handle and therefore requires high rings. My PH is as old as me and I hope to have it for years to come.

Anyone know if most PH have the odd sized bolt handle? Im a small guy, and high rings are not a good combo for me...

 

[mkrnel]

Parker Hale Mauser 98 actioned rifles are very good, (while not quite up to Husqvarna Mauser 98 standards) budget priced hunting rifles unless you get a later model one which has a post war Spanish Santa Barbara made action (the earlier ones had wartime Mauser K98 actions) which I have been told by internet experts that are made from junk, soft Spanish steel (even though I have never seen proof to back up this statement) and are dangerous to use (which seems strange since I have never seen one that has failed).

I would have no hesitation in buying one (ignore my above humour and the ill-informed rumours, based mainly on the 19th century Mauser 93 unwisely converted to .308 Win/7.62mm NATO) and all the ones I have owned or shot have been very accurate and reliable Mauser 98 based hunting rifles.

The reason the barrels are harder than most is because they are hammer forged very early in the beginning of the technology (hammer forged rifling) and the barrel steel while very hard and hence very long lasting, was work harden a bit too much and lost any give in the steel. This has been resolved nowadays and hammer forged barrels while still harder and typically longer lasting than most cut rifle barrels but not as hard and brittle as Tiriaq has observed with the older PH ones.

BTW, the Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and British Armies issued Parker Hale M82/C3/L81A1 7.62mm NATO sniper rifles that had that crappy, soft steel, Spanish Santa Barbara made Mauser M98 actions too and they lasted many decades of regular military and police use without any real issues or any wearing out early or blowing up.