Parker Hale M82 Serial number check.

[desperatedan]

The chap who was communicating with me was from the West Coast USA. He told me he was going to proceed with the purchase - not 100% sure he did . If the current Owner can confirm the purchase and the country of residence that would be great. If the bolt that's on the rifle now was there when you owned it then it was a replacement - only 2 PH's that had the guide rib and tactical handle was the M85 and C3a1 - could be either.

Interesting history,

Ron (Canada)

Ron, If that's the case then I'm fairly certain that the bolt on my old rifle was fitted by Parker Hale when they reworked the returned C3s into target rifles and/or M82's. IIRC the bolt had Birmingham 20T proof marks that matched those on the rifle and the style and position of the electro-stencilled serial on the bolt is exactly the same as on my other M82, so I'm convinced that the "tactical" style bolt was a PH factory fit during the rework. I think the M87 (used by UK police) also had that style of bolt handle.

[rgg_7]

M87 did indeed use the tactical style handle however the bolt body did not have the guide rib like this one which was typical of m85 and C3a1. Parker Hale may have done the work - Gil - can you ask Bill Smallwood the likely hood of this being factory vs post factory.

Ron (Canada)

[desperatedan]

M87 did indeed use the tactical style handle however the bolt body did not have the guide rib like this one which was typical of m85 and C3a1. Parker Hale may have done the work - Gil - can you ask Bill Smallwood the likely hood of this being factory vs post factory.

Ron (Canada)

Ron, can you explain what you mean by "guide rib" please? Are you referring to the "rib" shown here in the middle of the bolt from the M82 that I still have?

Picture below.
Thanks, Kev
Attachment 112994

[rgg_7]

They "guide rib" is the "rib" in the middle of the bolt. receiver has a slot milled into it for this feature. Typical of Mauser designed actions. Parker Hale used this feature on 1200/M82 actions as well as M85 and C3a1.

Ron (Canada)

[desperatedan]

They "guide rib" is the "rib" in the middle of the bolt. receiver has a slot milled into it for this feature. Typical of Mauser designed actions. Parker Hale used this feature on 1200/M82 actions as well as M85 and C3a1.

Ron (Canada)

Thanks Ron. Sorry my misunderstanding, I read it from your earlier reply that it was only the M85 and C3a1 that had the rib on the bolt whereas I think you meant that those rifles had the rib AND the tactical handle and you're saying that the M87 did not have the guide rib on the bolt but it did have the tactical handle. M82s/1200s did also have the rib on the bolt but not the tactical handle. I think I get it now!

p.s. The Parker Hale UK Cadet target rifle L81 also has the "tactical" handle on the bolt but I don't think we see many of those in civilian hands.

p.p.s Unfortunately it looks like Steve1152 has updated his dealer website now and so the pics of the M82/C3 I mentioned and linked previously have disappeared.

[can14&]

I have a PH number S11889. It has the original scope mounts etc
Barrel is Black Mountain Lithgow
Got it year's ago out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Thinking about changing barrel

[Steve1152]

Hi Gil & Ron

steve1152 aka AGS Heritage Arms. Thanks for the info on the M82 I am still negotiating. I am still a little puzzled over what is original and not original. The stock is obvioisly wrong.

The M82 on my website is part of my collection it keeps my M85 company in my gun cabinet. I obtained my RFD around a year ago and I needed to put some rifles on it, so I put the M82 on to fill the space. I took it off as I now have trading history. I have plenty of pictures of it. I got the rifle restocked and bedded as the stock on it when I bought it was not correct or refurbished. I have the original iron sights and the Kahles ZF84 scope. I put the Schmidt & Bender 2.5-10 on it just to see how it would compare against the Kahles ZF84.

I am a Parker Hale fan and sniper collector.

Hope this explains and avoids any confusion.

Thanks again for your valuable information and input.

[Gil Boyd]

Steve,
Funny things specialist military rifles. There always seems to be a small nucleus of people that have to fiddle to the extreme, rather than keeping rifles or leaving rifles as they were intended in the Milsurps tradition. Sadly innocent people come along to buy what they thought was A totally original rifle and try hard to establish who did what and when, as they find out they were not as advertised..................the mysteries of fiddlers and their intentions when they set out to change things!!
I find that totally original rifles whether they are battered or damaged, with provenance make good prices, for what is a good honest piece IMHO anyway.
What grips my s*** are those who knowingly sell a rifle, having changed stuff around or ADDED stuff to try to make it what it was never intended in the first place, and the only reason is to deceive! Seen so much of that.

[Steve1152]

Hi Gil

Thanks for your comments they are well noted. The M82 performed well with the S&B on top. Anyway I agree orginality is everything. My M82 has the Kahles ZF84 back on top, although I would prefer an original Kahles ZF69. However, the M82 is still very accurate with ZF84.

[desperatedan]

Hi Steve,

Pleased to hear that you still have R31350 and it's still in the UK. Having now learnt more about its background and how Parker Hale dealt with the C3s returned from Canada I wish I'd kept it now and disposed of my other M82 ("Z" serialled), but that already had the original correct stock, ZF69 scope, etc so for me it was the obvious "keeper" of the two given the very little info I had at the time about R31350s past life. My first enquiry about serial R31350 on here in 2015 turned up very little from Gil's record search but very intriguing that your later enquiry about it brought further comment to light about it being in the middle of the Canadian C3 order range of serials.

Interesting to read about what Parker Hale did with these Canadian returned rifles as I strongly suspect that when I acquired it from a dealer in NW England it was in the same "1200TX" type spec as it left PH's refurb programme, hence the target rifle stock on it that it had when you acquired it. Not perhaps original to it's first life as a C3 for Canada but "original" as it came from Parker Hale in the second time in its life.

As you've no doubt found these are highly accurate rifles and I always find it amusing when the guys in F/TR competitions look over scratching their heads as to what this old rifle is that's giving them a run for their money!