MY Sporterized Parker Hale Deluxe Sporter

Mike: Jes can also do .375-303 and I think .400-303 as well. I would stick with variations of the .303 case as you won't have to rechamber it and there's the problem of getting it to feed right. And I still haven't conquered that problem with mine ,, mainly cuz I haven't been able to shoot it.

Randy

It's not how well you do what you know how to do,,, It's how well you do what you DON'T know how to do.

W.R.Buchanan wrote:

Haven't been here for a while, but a long term project has recently come to fruition and I thought I'd share it with You Guys.

Back in 2014 I acquired a Rifle, which after some research turned out to be a "Parker Hale Deluxe Sporter."

Many of you know that Parker Hale bought up Surplus British Rifles after WW2 and modified them into Sporters that they sold mainly in the US and Canada.

These guns were divided up into two classes Standard and Deluxe . The standard guns all had decent muzzles and only got the handguards removed and sling swivels . $65! The Deluxe guns got 3" cut off the barrels to get rid of the wasted portion of the rifling near the muzzle caused by over cleaning. They also got a new PH Front Sight, Sling Swivels, and a 5 round Santa Fe Magazine. $75. The mag is worth more than that!

Mine was the Deluxe Version and it had seen better days. It was also a Long Branch made in Canada and had a weird 2 groove barrel.

The build started by me sending the barreled action off to JES Reboring and it came back a .35-303. Then I got Boyd's Gray Laminated wood for it, and since I had no way to cook it after Cera-Koting it, it went on hold,,, until last January.

I have developed a Relationship with Vang Comp (Purveyors of Combat Shotguns) in Las Vegas and they did the Cera Koting of this gun and another Springfield Sporter project that has been on hold for longer.

When they came back I got busy and assembled both guns and the Enfield came out nice, and I am currently working up loads for it with both 225 gr Sierra Game Kings and 200 gr Cast boolits from a Lee 358-200RF mold.

The other addition to the gun is a Redfield Receiver Sight with one of my Adapter Plates to attach it. Some of you might remember my L39 Replica that I attached a Redfield Olympic Rear Sight too a few years back? Same concept just a little different for a smaller sight. The adapter plate attaches to the receiver with one 6-32 Screw thru the left rear sight pivot ear, and a new longer Ejector Screw, thus requiring no mods to the gun at all.

Anyway here's some pics of the completed Rifle.

Here's a pic of a completed dummy round, interested in seeing what the case looks like after fireforming. Randy

Nice looking setup; I have one of those Boyd's laminate stocks I've yet to make use of. The adapter for the Redfield is nicely done. The safety "knob" could be built out a bit by threading the hole and screwing in a bolt or machine screw with the head ground down to match the dia. of the "knob". Could be grooved to match the existing grooves too for the full effect. A rounded Mk.I cocking piece would be a slight improvement too: easier on hands and easier to grip if using the half-cock or recocking on a hang-fire, especially with gloves on. One of the two position flip sights could be added as well for a backup to the Redfield, with either the 300 or 600 yard aperture ground off. For looks the lower profile head of the standard back sight axis pin is preferable to the No.4 Mk.2 crossbolt usually used for attaching target sights to the No.4, but if the threads in your adapter plate are the same or could be made the same, one of those crossbolts could always be modified to suit for head profile and length. They allow a certain "pulling in" of the rear sides of the body as well, if a person want to try that.

The Parker Hale "Deluxe" became somewhat less deluxe over the years: at one time they had some quite decent Monte Carlo stocks and custom forends with checkering and even hardwood nose caps.