Weird or What - Parker Hale

S

sobo4303

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
37   0   0
Location
Smoky Lake, Alberta
I purchased a Parker Hale 1200 (30-06) in pretty good shape, it was a warm sunny day, so out to the range to see how it performs. I used three loads:

165 Nosler Partition with 4064 powder.
165 Nosler BT - Loaded hot
180 Factory - Remington Core Loct.

Well, started off and the thing was shooting all over the map. So I thought it was the scope. I bore sighted and still 6" groups. Figured copper fouling, so ran through 8 hot the loads. They were off target, but had a bit of tighter grouping. Shot the 180's and the groups started to tighten up again. Barrel was never hot, always allowed a cool down.

By this time, was about 35 rounds. Went back to the partition loads and 10 shots later, they are grouping at about 1" @ 100 yards. Popped off three more 180 grains at 300 yards they grouped at about 1.75". Shot my last four 165 partitions at 300 and they too grouped at about 2".

What happened? Is that weird or what? Gotta figure out where to go with loads from there. :confused:
 
It will be interesting to see what happens with your cold bore shot on your next outing. A 6" 100 yard group fired from a rested position is pretty poor under most circumstances, but perhaps something was/is loose in the scope, or the scope mount screws, or perhaps you have a parallax issue. I don't like self solving problems, unless I can identify what changed. Going from a 6" group to a 1" group suggests something changed. It sounds as though the rifle wants to shoot, (under 2" at 300 yards with factory ammo is better than I'd expect) so as long as the action screws are tight, it appears the scope or the scope mount is the limiting factor.
 
Don't get me wrong, I swabbed and cleaned the barrel after I got the rifle. The patch didn't come out crystal clean, but the rifling looked crisp to the eye and barrel was nice and bright. After the first 8 or so with the wide groups, I took out my old hot loads mostly to see how it shot them. Then the 180's. It was +2 outside, and I brought other rifles with me so I shot 4 in a session, with reasonable waits in between.

The first thing I checked was the scope, everything was tight. It is a Weaver 2x10 and pretty solid.

Going to load up another batch and see. But it was definitely weird.
 
Stock could be warped as well. Check that the barrel is free floated and that the action isn't touching either. Otherwise you could try adding some fore end pressure as well to see if that helps.
 
1.75" group at 300 yards with 180 gr Remington Core-lokt and a Parker-Hale 1200 sport weight,..you my friend have a keeper. I had the 1200C SuperClip in .308Win, it would do barely 1" at 100 yards with pet 165gr handloads untuned state, absolutely detested 180 grain loads of any kind. I believe the twist was only 1/14", and I never had a rifle torque over on a bench rest like it with 180grainers, maybe a super tight bore not sure???????.

Whats your twist rate sobo on the '06??
 
I have rebedded more Parker Hales than any other make of rifle. They seem to squirm in the stock as they get old. What the OP is describing is maybe a bedding issue. barrel channel warped/touching the barrel.
Just as John Y and Freyr have suggested. Probably the problem, but are scope base screws tight. Scope any good?
 
RememberTheSomme said:
1.75" group at 300 yards with 180 gr Remington Core-lokt and a Parker-Hale 1200 sport weight,..you my friend have a keeper. I had the 1200C SuperClip in .308Win, it would do barely 1" at 100 yards with pet 165gr handloads untuned state, absolutely detested 180 grain loads of any kind. I believe the twist was only 1/14", and I never had a rifle torque over on a bench rest like it with 180grainers, maybe a super tight bore not sure???????.

Whats your twist rate sobo on the '06??
Click to expand...

My barrel is a 1:12" twist. In all my experience, I have shot improperly bedded rifles and rifles with pressure point, no free floating barrels. In ALL cases the groups got worst - wandering, opening, that sort of thing. I have never seen them get better. I also took the advice of some on here and scrubbed out the barrel for fouling. It was pretty clean, not much fouling. At the chamber, the rifling is nice and crisp (about the same height as a new Vanguard) with sharp edges. The barrel is not free floating, at least with a sheet of paper, but the stock does not touch the base of the barrel.

I figured the scope was loose, but nothing was loose and based on it's performance - seems ok. I slugged the bore. The Bore diameter is .309". The rifling diameter is .301" - a .008" difference. Barrel only has four rifling instead of 5.

That's why I started the post, 'cause it doesn't make a lot of sense.
 
Last edited:
The parker hales were famous for cracking stocks at the grip if not tightened properly or bedded, maybe check yours for starting to loosen up. If that doesn't solve the issue i would look at the scope and bases on the rifle.

Did the rifle come with the bases? if so what type? I had a midland arms rifle years ago that was supposed to be made by parker hale, i could not find a set of weaver bases that would fit the contour of the receiver properly.

In yhe end had to buy a simular base that fit the reciever, just thoughts but maybe the bases are not fitting properly to the rifle. The midland had the same issue, but when the receiver warmed a bit from shooting accuracy would actually improve, maybe the very slight expansion due to heat tightened the tolerance a bit.

Hope you get it figured out
 
crazydave said:
The parker hales were famous for cracking stocks at the grip if not tightened properly or bedded, maybe check yours for starting to loosen up. If that doesn't solve the issue i would look at the scope and bases on the rifle.
Click to expand...

I agree with the above. I was mounting a new scope on my friend's Parker Hale .308 superclip and noticed a crack at the tang. When I removed the action to investigate, the front action screw was very loose, and the tang crack was completely through the wrist vertically from top to bottom. No doubt the rear action screw and its pillar were taking the brunt of the recoil.

I fixed the tang crack, and now plan to glass bed the rifle so that the recoil lug is actually working. The challenge I'm having is dealing with is the unusual two piece bottom metal and the magazine box. I want to take care and keep the magazine box free floating, but it has a "lip" that rests on the top portion of the recoil shoulder.

Does anyone have any tips for how to properly bed a Parker Hale with detachable magazine? The forearm has a pressure point (by design) --- any experience/advice with keeping it vs. free floating?
 
stickhunter said:
I agree with the above. I was mounting a new scope on my friend's Parker Hale .308 superclip and noticed a crack at the tang. When I removed the action to investigate, the front action screw was very loose, and the tang crack was completely through the wrist vertically from top to bottom. No doubt the rear action screw and its pillar were taking the brunt of the recoil.

I fixed the tang crack, and now plan to glass bed the rifle so that the recoil lug is actually working. The challenge I'm having is dealing with is the unusual two piece bottom metal and the magazine box. I want to take care and keep the magazine box free floating, but it has a "lip" that rests on the top portion of the recoil shoulder.

Does anyone have any tips for how to properly bed a Parker Hale with detachable magazine? The forearm has a pressure point (by design) --- any experience/advice with keeping it vs. free floating?
Click to expand...

Awesome tip, I checked and the stock at those locations is in mint condition - no cracks or even evidence of stressing whatsoever. When it warms up, I will test some other loads I worked up and see how it performs. I will post results.
 
If rifle & scope/ mount checkout good; try a load with 180, 200 & maybe even 220 grain bullets. Like another poster said, it could be too fast a twist rate for the lighter bullets. It's all a guessing game at this point, as no one can see what you can. ie. the rifle, your rest, weather conditions etc...


I remember my 375 H&H hated 235 grain Speer's, but will shoot like a sniper rifle with anything in 270 grain weight.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom