No4 mk2 UF55 accurised by Parker Hale

[ssj]

Ive just bought this, I intend to carefully strip it down and check it over to make sure its safe etc. Ive seen we have a Fulton's gun article, would there be interest if I documented what I find on my one?

Information

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[ssj]

parker hale bedding, etc peter please dont die on me.

[mrbungle]

what did they use in the fist pic it looks like wood filler.

[rickv100]

It looks like it was bedded along the length with wood putty, brass shims at the rear of the forearm. Looks like the nose cap was modified to prevent the front band from shifting.

Where the barrel guards relieved as well?

Rick

[Peter Laidler]

Parker Hale bedding...........I think it's time for a nice large glass of Scotch!

[Thunderbox]

Are you sure it was done by Parker Hale? Their work on other rifles like the T4 is very "factory" - neat and tidy. This one looks like....

I've not come across any of the major UK gunsmiths having done "solid" No4 bedding - they usually did centre-bedding as standard on SRb rifles.

[ssj]

Hi,

I dont know what the bedding material is, I dont think its putty as I do my own glass / windows and I think I'd recognise it. As its rock hard so some sort of poxy, putty I'd expect to go flaky.

I dont know for sure if it was done by Parker Hale. There is a parker hale stamp on the knox, thats all I can say for sure and it has PH sights. The front and rear of the upper guards use cork, thats very neatly done.

Looking at the forestock in the channel it looks like the bedding has been either reduced in size or removed and replaced with similar. The brass shims and brass tube seem well made / installed.

Even if its not totally original, its in very good nick and includes PH5c sights. I will take it to a gunsmith this week to make sure its safe but I cant fault it.

[Frederick303]

Does not look like Parker Hale work, such bedding would have been illegal during the time when these rifles qualified as SR(B) competition rifles.

The only bedding that was legal in the pre 1968 UK days and Pre 1970 New Zealand shooting days was free float, service bedding (front tip pressure) and center bedding. Center bedding allowed for on center bed, with the location ranging from the middle band back to around 3 inches in front of the barrel reinforce. Typical length of a center bed was only 1.5~2 inches long.

On Canadian 7.62 rifles set up after 1964 to ~1969 you will see similar types of bedding/damping set ups. These were attempts to get better perfromance out of the service weight barrel in the shorts.

Rules were relaxed once the rifles went from beign SR to TR in the 1968 to 1970 time frame. The rifle was likely set up in its current fromat sometime after 1968 (1970 if in NZ). there was a short period when folks tried various schemes to make the No 4 shoot as well as the TR, by 1973 these attempts were pretty much over and seen as failures, at least in England.

[ssj]

The front bedding looks better installed IMHO. There is also some evidence that some poxy was removed, ie the stock shows signs that the poxy was drilled and chiseled out, so yes it may well have had a considerable effort put into it to make it shoot.

I talked to a very experienced (especially 303) gunsmith (Geoff Collins in kaori, looks about 80) last night, he said the no4 phale's he's seen were front bedded aka service rifle but fultons tended to be mid-bedded. He's taking a look at it today so I'll chat to him and see what he says about the bedding. He wanted to replace the bolthead (change to a size 3 from 1 as he likes it very tight) and tune it for me there and then. I said no I want it left as is at present, I just want to know its safe.

If anyone has a pics of an original Phale modded gun of 1960s era I'd love to have some screenshots please.

[bow]

Probably mine is a stupid question.. But i feel un familiar with the area where brass shims are located :
brass shims are very useful to build firm contact between fore end and " socket". And it's OK ( sometimes in the past i used epoxy to have full bearing here) BUT:

Why fore end has not wood connecting left wood+shim to right wood+shim?