Parker Hale 1200 Question

lcdrdanr

I have a Parker Hale 1200 rifle in .308 Norma Mag, SN Mag 70xxx that has had someones Social Security number electropenciled on the side of the receiver. Kind of detracts from the clean looks of the rifle. It also has the end of the barrel ported.

None of my reference books list the Parker Hale as being available in .308 Norma Mag but this one has a Parker Hale barrel, British proof marks and no importer marks. All my other Parker Hale's have the importer marked on the barrel, this one is clean. Since Parker Hale is basically out of the rifle business the factory was no help at all (I called) and they have no records at all.

Has anyone else seen a Parker Hale in this caliber ? Could this have been an English gun made up under a special order and then brought into this country by an individual (returning service member or such)? Or is it just an out of business gun company in a dying nearly obsolete caliber ?

Secondly, what is the opinion on trying to buff out the serial number on the receiver? It's fairly light electro pencil scratching, directly above the serial number but nowhere near as deep. I'm not sure what I could use to try to match the existing bluing that's in fair shape if I did that.

The gun is not a collector piece by any means, I just happen to like the looks of Parker Hales' and have several of them, all of them have been exceptionally accurate although I have not yet taken this one to the range. Still trying to amass some ammo for it without going broke !!

Appreciate any help and insights,

Dan R

grumpygy

Keep you eye out for Brass that seems to be the best way to get ammo. If you buy some that is loaded up it does cost an arm and a leg. I too have a .308 Norma Mag. This one built on a 1903 frame.

Have not shot it but I had one other and it was a fantastic shot. Till some idiot stole it.

There is some ammo for sale right now on the aution side. Right now I think I have enough to hold me for a while. Just bought some Brass and some loaded by Norma Plus what I had on hand from the other Rifle. Even have two sets of Dies just in case.

You could also Fire form some brass, but off the top of my head I'm not sure which caliber that would be from. Keep thinking 30-338 or something like that.

MIKE WISKEY

I cann't help with info on your rifle but I have 'removed' electro penciled #'s from several guns over the years, this requires a complete reblue. As to the .308 Norma mag., brass can be made from either 7mm rem mag. or .338 win. brass, it's still a very usable cartridge.

geeguy

From Memory (I sold Parker Hale back in the late 60's & early 70's) they did make a model that used .308 norma mag. I believe it was the Safari series (maybe others). As stated above it uses a .338 case and about a 200 grain bullet. Most had a free floating barrel and were very pretty guns. I think they also made this action and barrel available to "custom" houses.

Hope you find more information. I'll follow the thread with interest.

Best of luck

Mobuck

If you neck down 338 brass, check the neck thickness. I had a custom chambered 308 Norma that required thinning of the neck to allow it to expand to release bullets. Some of the necked up/down may be shorter than the specified minimum length so I always trimmed the batch to match the shortest case. When I was shooting the Norma I also had a 7mm mag and 338 mag. I don't like to convert cases of a cartridge that I use in it's standard form and I had a lot of new 300 H&H brass. It took a few more steps but lessened the chance of picking up the wrong ammo for a different rifle.

grumpygy

Few links for ammo.

http://www.cpcartridge.com/308NM-P.htm

http://www.pacificcoastcartridge.com/ammo.htm

http://www.qual-cart.com/308_Norma_Mag.htm

And of course gun shows.

lcdrdanr

Thanks for all the info, since I also shoot 7mm and 338 mags I probably should stick with proper headstamps. I found 3 boxes of Norma 180 grain plastic pointed .308 mag in a local gun shop that had an old price of $23.99 on it, that plus a $10 box of used brass should get me started.

I think I'll live with the electro pencil engraving since I really don't want to do a complete re-blue. I only have $300 in the rifle so I shouldn't complain about the cost of feeding it!!

Dan R

grumpygy

quote:I found 3 boxes of Norma 180 grain plastic pointed .308 mag in a local gun shop that had an old price of $23.99 on it,

You stole it.[:D]