Is a Parker Hale Whitworth 375 in excellent condition worth 575$?

A far as I know Parker Hale and Whitworth are two different companies.

A friend has a PARKER HALE SAFARI 375H&H that is worth well over that amount.

quote:

Originally posted by oldun:
A far as I know Parker Hale and Whitworth are two different companies.

Ditto's

If it's a Parker Hale 375 or a Whitworth 375 if it's in good condition it is worth the price.

Dirk

on the other hand, i don't think much of the Parker hale mauser actions, as some are spanish and VERY soft.
$575 is a good asking price, to me, but they AREN"T worth anything like what a whitworth african 375 is.

even the remington 798, going for $750, is a better ACTION than the Parker hale, to me.. and that's the NEW price.

jeffe

Thanks for the info. I,ll have to think some more about this one..

Jeffe, since I own a Parker Hale 375 HH, how can I now if my rifle has a spanish (soft) action? Thanks.

i used to think that they were all markX actions, but they parkers are spanish made.. i THINK santa clara.. if its a 98, its spanish

Santa Barbara actions were made in Spain, I've got two, one was a CVA kit gun in .30-06 that I got for $20.00 when it came back to the distributer I worked for minus the action bolts and trigger. It's now a 9.3x62 and has fired hundreds of rounds without problems. The action was Rockwell'd prior to being rebarreled and was deemed fine for conversion.

My second gun is my Parker Hale .458 Win which was rechambered to .458Lott with a couple hundred rounds thru it without problems.
Some of the SB actions were allegedly soft but so far these have been as nice as some of the FN's I've seen.

YMMV

IIRC the SB actions that were an issue were the end of production that were sold off as actions only. They pop up from time to time as do custom or home-built rifles on them.

The Parker Hale would have been proofed and a soft action would have been noticed with the proof load. I don't think I'd worry too much about it.

Parker Hale started sporterizing military 98 actions. As the supply of good 98 actions started to dry up they looked for suitable actions in a few places. They purchased a number of actions from Brno and used them for a while. They then made a deal with Santa Barbra (from Spain) to produce actions. If you have a Parker Hale 98 action and it has charger thumb slot on the left side of the action it is a military action and should be quite hard. The Brno actions had " Hussar" stamped on the left side of the action and were a flat topped action. They are very good. The later Santa Barbra actions will NOT have the thumb slot in the left action rail. Some of the early Santa Barbra actions were a little soft and they received a poor rating for it. The later ones were harder but from most of the ones I have seen finish was always inconsistant.Parker Hale never used MK X actions . The Parker Hale "African" rifle was made in 375 H&H,458 Win and 404. All of the ones I have seen were made on the military actions. I have never seen the African model made on the Santa Barbra action although they may have used them near the end of production. Hopefully this will help ID your rifle.

thanks snowman

I have a Parker Hale .404 that I dote on.

My Parker Hale .458 is an "African" and it's a commercial action without the thumb cut or stripper cutout, the serial number begins with "MAG" as does one other that I saw which is now barreled in .458AR My rifle also came equipped with a three position flag style safety.

The CVA kit gun serial number begins with the letter "R" and sports a commercial bolt shroud.

HTH

Thanks for that information Rick. I have not seen the African model produced on the commercial action but obviously they did use them towards the end. They would likely be hard enough not to be a problem. I have one of the 1200 C models that is having its third barrel installed. The first two were 7mm Rem and they were shot out .The third barrel is a 8mm /338 just because I want to play with something different. That old action is as smooth as can be with no setback around the lugs even after shooting out two barrels. That would suggest that Santa Barbra made some decent actions.

A 1983 Parker Hale catalogue I have shows the 1100M African Magnum Rifle with a solid left receiver wall action. These rifles were I believe very much a working trifle, no frills as such & popular with various African Game departments so I've been told. The only one I've ever handled seemed to function very reliably.
Steve

Would some experts identify this action, please?

Hello Rick,
You know exactly where the rifle you have came from and if I remember correctly, it RC'd at 24 which is above the minimum for Douglas. I had purchased an RSM 458Lott and did not need two big bores. Would say the rifle you have has one of the best lug/bedding systems of any I have seen. Glad it is working out for you.
Martin

Martin,
I'm glad this one made it out of your stable

Maybe sometime it'll make it somewhere to shoot something worthy of it's caliber.

quote:

Originally posted by wildboar:
Would some experts identify this action, please?

It looks like a sporterised ex military Mauser 98 action ,from the markings on the left receiver wall I would guess it is a Parker Hale done rifle.Calibre?
Steve

It's a Parker Hale cal 375 HH. Referring to previus posts, it should be a M98 military altered action; I was concerned about the allegedly softness of some spanish action that PH used.

Wildboar That is one of the sporterized military actions. I don't think you have anything to worry about regarding that action being soft.

Fine! Thanks all.