What was the action on the Parker Hale 1000 Safari .375?

This particular one has the standard 3 positions Mauser "flag" safety.

(Also posted on "Gunsmithing")

Thanks!

Philip Most of the P-H model 1000 rifles were built on surplus military 98 actions. Does your rifle have the charger thumb slot on the left side of the receiver? If so it is a reworked military action . The Santa Barbra action was used (on the later model 1100 & 1200) there is no charger guide thumb slot on the left side of the receiver. Hope that helps.

Mine is a 1200 Safari and has a M98 action







I've heard that the Safari big bore series were all made on M98 actions...

FWIW, My Parker Hale .458 is apparently a Santa Barbara Action. I have another rifle on a SB action and they're both identical and both perfectly servicable. No thumb cutout or charger hump. It did come with a three position flag safety. From what I've seen the SB actions commonly have "MAG-#######" for serial numbers.

hth

After an hour or so of internet search, I'm not sure anymore that it's a 1200, like I've been told when I bought it; it could even be a 1100, probably not a 1000. PH made several different versions of Safari rifles..... The serial number is H ### M

Thanks all!


I'll check the details. It's a .375 that I want to buy as a loaner and bush-beater, will make a working gun out of it but I want to make sure it's not one of the "hard" Santa Barbara that missed a step on heat treatment.

Where did the P-H milsurp actions come from? Same Spain, or other manufacturers?

All guns sold in the UK must have passed British Proof Test. This will also apply to exported Parker-Hale rifles as these things were taken into a general stock sold as and when orders came in.

So your 375 will have been already subject to being tested with the firing of a round approximately 40% over standard working pressure.

I would have no worry about it if it has not been "worked on" since it left the Parker-Hale factory all those tears ago. This Proof Mark can be seen in the letters "BNP" with the "CROWN" over impressed on the receiver. As, no doubt, on yours.

All arms, singly and individually, had to pass this test. Not on a "batch" or "every tenth rifle" basis but each and every one.

In thirty-five years of shooting in the UK I have NEVER heard of a Parker-Hale rifle, in any chambering and not "messed about with" with whatever Mauser action failing.

Nor have I ever heard of one failing from those of greater age than my fifty years who were shooting these things from when Parker Hale were marketing them in the 1960s.

I personally think that it is a myth about the weakness of these Spanish Mauser receivers. No doubt put about by unscrupulous American "custom" gunmakers who wanted to peddle rifles built on ex-military South American sourced Mauser actions.

In other words...don't by "X" that I don't have in stock but buy "Z" that I do have in stock. Especially as these later Spanish action have speedlock bolts and no military clip guide hump on the rear receiver...so there's two custom "extras" gone off the bill!

For ALL the stories I've read about "poor" or "bad" Spanish actions I have NEVER seen a picture or report of one that has failed under any condition let alone using normal loads under normal circumstances.

Hat and tomato ketchup at hand...but I'm confident I'll not be eating it!

(Having said that AFAIK all Holland and Holland bolt rifles were (and are still) built on military actions).

(If on your rifle the rear cocking piece has a flat rather than a "V" underneath you have a speedlock modified bolt).

MarkIV (here they call all Enfields Mah'kFoh'... as good as Enfield, is it? ),

Thanks for the info.

In fact, what I read on Santa Barbara concerned one batch of actions delivered to the US, where the receiver had been left too hard (tested up to 65RC by one poster). Identifiable by a purple tinge of the receiver ring.

This very one is still at the Police Armory, but I told them to keep it for me. Will go and pick it...

A couple of photos will be appreciated...

Wildboar,

I'll post some pics when I'll take it home. Which, this being Africa, involves quite large amounts of time - and a few reams of paper to fill!

Buon calibro per il cinghiale...

quote:

Originally posted by Philip A.:
...Buon calibro per il cinghiale...

Vero!

if it has no thumb cut, its probably a Santa Barbara action. That is a spanish acion, and has a reputation for being soft, not hard (though i haven't had my first coffee yet).. if its got a thumbcut, its 99% likely to be a reworked military

there hinged floor plate, if present, is cast steel.. odd, but true

I think the whole Spanish actions being suspect stem from the old 93 Mauser 7mm actions, aka the Spanish Mauser from the Spanish American war days. Those actions did not have the meat or gas handling capabilities of the later 98 Mauser. I never had a problem or heard of problems with Santa Barbara Mauser actions, neither did Mr Bolt Action himself, Frank DeHaas. The only criticism he had was the internal parts/ surfaces needed a bit of polishing to smooth up the operation.

There was a really extensive post a year or two ago about the Santa Barbara actions. I don't remember the poster but he seemed to know quite a bit about their history. Bottom line was when they went out of business, a bunch of actions were dumped on the market that were either not hardened or hardened incorrectly. As I recall, the earlier actions purchased by arms makers to assemble rifles did not have that deficiency.