Parker-Hale serial numbers.......

[tac]

Hi there im hoping someone can help me please, im not certain i am on the right thread, but a couple of people here seem very knowledgeable. I am lucky enough to come from a huge military family. Most members have either served in or worked for the British military at one time or another so guns are something i have been brought up with my entire life. My Father owns a Parker-Hale 1200tx and the serial number is 4. Can anyone tell me first of all if it is rare to own a P-H with such a low serial number, and secondly how much might it be worth? I am asking because my Father is considering selling it, but he is an elderly man and I really dont want anyone to try to swindle him. Thank you so much for any advice you can give us.

Bonjela! tac here up in rural Cambridgeshire, hoping to give you some resplones, most of which you won't be too happy to read.

I've just comer off the blower from Fulton's of Bisley - THE dealers in target rifles of this kind and a mainstay of Bisley since the early days of target rifle shooting in UK.

The gentleman there told me -

1. There is no particular cachet to having such an early number - even of a comparatively low-volume rifle like your dad's.

2. They would not be interested in taking it in - right now the market is saturated with older guns of this kind - even the usual auction houses are full for much of the rest of the coming year, and are accepting more more entries.

3. Obviously, as your father OWNS this rifle, he is a member of a club, or he has it by virtue of being a shooting member of the NRA at Bisley, and already shoots there. That being the case, he ought to offer it to fellow club members for a reasonable price. That price, however, is not something I can advise on - you have not shown us any images of the rifle and it might be anything from a tomato stake to a pristine out-of-the-box gleamer.

4. Target rifles of this vintage can often require extensive reworking to make them viable - target shooters, oddly enough, shoot a LOT more than those who use their rifles for game shooting of any kind - my buddy here has had the same old cardboard box of cartridges for his 7mm Mauser for the last ten years, and he still has a few left. I know, they were mine before they were his.

I'll do a bit more research and come back to you with this - right now I'M going shooting!

EDIT - I've just had a call from renowned target rifle builder Norman Clark, who is also a fellow club member.

HE opines -

1. Check that serial number - it is VERY unlikely to be 4. Where is the number?

2. Does it have 1200RX rolled on the barrel? Is that the original barrel? We'd like to see ALL the stamps on the entire rifle, please.

3. What is the rate of twist? It really matters because that governs the weight of bullet you can use in it.

1 in 14 - worthless - that was made for the original 147gr short military bullet in the 50's.

1 in 12 - better - can use a wide range of military and civilian bullet weights up to 190gr.

His take is worrisome - anything between 0 and 400 £. At the bottom end you might be able to sell off the sights which are usually Parker-Hale or A J Parker and worth some money.

Sorry not to be able to make your day.

PS - you might care to give these folks a call when you've done your research - they sell your dad's kind of rifle - https://www.emma-rifles.co.uk/product/parker-hale-tx1200-bolt-action-7-62-x-51-target-rifle-2/

 

[PHGRL]

@tac is our resident expert on these and a few thousand miles closer to you than most of us as well. We'll see if we can draw him into this discussion.

Thank you so much, I would really appreciate that.

 

[tac]

I resplone already.