Classic Parker Hale M87

[ChrisF]

Hi Guys ,

 

Here's a quick crappy pic , ( night ) , of My Parker Hale , I just got back from smith , its a ex UK Police that was mint ( almost new ) & originally in 243 cal .

So in short , its a Parker Hale M87 action , with a new Tx1200 profile barrel , and a original PH Unertl C3A1 scope mount , and a USO MST-100 scope cammed for 308 .

 

The only thing it needs to be complete , is a McMillan A2 stock , then its done , but until I get a McM stock , I will shoot it as is .

 

Later Chris

[ChrisF]

Sorry no pics showed , I seem to have problems getting photobucket to work for pics on this forum ?

[Scotch_egg]

There shouldn't be any issues Chris.

[ChrisF]

hi Guys ,

 

opps , still cannot post pics , no problems with other forums , so if you want to see , go to snipershide , its in rifle section , under thread " Canadian C3A1 clone , almost done ' .

 

cheers Chris

[dannywayoflife]

Looks AWESOME!!

[bradders]

[brown dog]

 

 

Pics seem to post without incident! Finger trouble?!

 

 

Gat looks fantastic.

 

Not a PH afficionado; but I've always thought these were in McHale stocks rather than A2 - am I misremembering? (Had them in our sniper pl when I was on exchange with the Canucks; but didn't take much interest in the rifles at the time).

[bradders]

 

 

That'll be the M85 you're thinking of

 

 

 

[gun nut]

Fancied that scope till I did a quick google on them, they're worth serious cash, $3000-$10,000 apparently for original USMC ones!

 

Nice set up ChrisF.

 

Mike

[ChrisF]

RE : the stocks , NO the C3A1 rifle , was a upgraded M82/C3 rifle already in service , in the end , all they actually used from the C3/M82 , was the bolt & wooden stock , every thing else was thrown away .

 

So the C3A1 is almost a replacement & not a up-grade , this was done to get funds approved .

the C3A1 is a Parker Hale M87 repeater action , M82 bolt , TX1200 profile barrel ( but with a 1-12 twist ) , special PH Unertl scope mount , 6rd mag , and old M82 /TX1200 wood target stock , with a metric cammed 10x Unertl scope for Norma 308 ammo .

 

Later they dropped some of the C3A1s into McM A2 stocks .

 

RE: the McHale stock , thats the wood stock pattern on the std M87 rifles , and carried over into a Fibreglass copy by McMillan called the McHale , this glass stock is whats on most Parker Hale M85 sniper rifles , I should know , as I have one , BUT have seen early M85s with the wood McHale stock .

 

Cheers Chris

[TC]

Here is my M82 to give an example of the wooden stock.

 

I assume they modified the bottom metal inlet Chris? The footprint seems quite different.

 

I've been offered an M85, very tempted......

 

Tony

 

[TSG]

Very nice. I suspect it was a casualty of the sales drive by AI, Steyr and Remington to replace the mixture of rifles in use by UK Police Rifle Officers. Lots of units had Enforcer 7.62s which were difficult to keep zeroed with Pecar scopes. They had also been seduced into a sub calibre option following the SF lead of using Tikka 222s. 243 was a more sensible compromise. I used a Parker Hale 222 with a Pecar scope which was OK, but was pleased to move up to an Enforcer. These were then replaced with Steyr SSGs which proved a cheaper option than the AI. The UK agent was offering the Rifle and a Sworovski 3-12 x56 as a package which was a good option and quite accurate and cheaper than the AI option.

Parker Hale was done in by the move away from Smith And Wesson revolvers and the lack of interest in their 9 mm SLP.

I have shot the M85 and it is very capable of taking on the AI at long range with the right ammo and scope. It is suggested that it won the UK Sniper rifle trial to replace the Enfield, but I suspect this is speculation!!!!!

[ChrisF]

This is the only board , I cannot seem to post pics on , when I right click on post , the " Paste " option is not lit & available ?

 

Cheers Chris

[Laurie]

I have shot the M85 and it is very capable of taking on the AI at long range with the right ammo and scope. It is suggested that it won the UK Sniper rifle trial to replace the Enfield, but I suspect this is speculation!!!!!

 

 

I heard exactly the same story from a guy now in the trade who was a serving sniper at the time of the trials and had some claimed involvement. He claims the P-H M85 was superior and much preferred by the soldiers doing the testing. It was 'sorted' while the AI was still suffering bugs from insufficient development too. However, the MoD appeared to have decided that the AI was going to win come what may.

 

I have an M87 too, just like that pictured above except it now wears a heavy Krieger barrel put on by Norman Clark, currently in a long-throated .260 Rem chambering but with Osprey Rifles at the moment to be rechambered to 6.5-284 Norma. It'll get maybe 300 test rounds through it next year then will go up for sale. Anybody interested in the breed / model, please PM me as I'd like it to go to a good home.

 

It was also a police rifle in .243 Win originally. Despite an indeterminate number of rounds through it, it shot pretty well for another 1,000 before the barrel packed up. Its only fault was a tendency to shift the POI a bit after around six or seven rounds when the barrel got to a particular temperature - not an issue with a police rifle where it shouldn't see strings of shots.

[bradders]

I used to own an M85, and mine, like practically every other one that I know of, has suffered from feed problems.

There are several "fixes" available, but the mag lock up at the front isn't good

[ChrisF]

When I was shooting my M85 , I never had a feed problem with the 10rd mags I have for it , I did hear that some M14 mags are not that well made ( maybe the newer ones ) & could cause a problem when using them on a M85 , I have not had an issue with either my M85 or M87 in reguards to feeding from the mag .

I have had trouble with a TRG-21 in 308 , one mag just would not work at all , funny , that it was brand new .

I think the M85 is more fussy with crap mags than say a semi-auto M1A/M14 type rifle , after all the mag was designed for the M14 .

 

I reguards to the Brit sniper trials , the M85 did shoot a faction better , BUT what won it for AI , was the belief that the more modular/modern design approach would enable it to be easier to maintain , and that it would be easier for armourers to keep the rifles serviced in the field .

 

Later Chris

[brown dog]

 

I reguards to the Brit sniper trials , the M85 did shoot a faction better , BUT what won it for AI , was the belief that the more modular/modern design approach would enable it to be easier to maintain , and that it would be easier for armourers to keep the rifles serviced in the field .

 

 

Yup, there's not much point in reading anything into trials results as regards the quality of a piece of eqpt - so many other political, economic and human factors are at play.

Just as an example, just chatting today about Glocks. Why didn't we buy them years ago? When first looked at, re-equipping with glocks presented a purchase cost that was only 30% of the amount being spent annually to maintain the in-service Brownings.

Basic decision: Buying all-new would save 70% when compared to the amount being spent maintaining Brownings in a single year.

Decision: Nah, we've already got the Brownings.

There's nowt as odd as procurement.

[dannywayoflife]

Yup, there's not much point in reading anything into trials results as regards the quality of a piece of eqpt - so many other political, economic and human factors are at play.

Just as an example, just chatting today about Glocks. Why didn't we buy them years ago? When first looked at, re-equipping with glocks presented a purchase cost that was only 30% of the amount being spent annually to maintain the in-service Brownings.

Basic decision: Buying all-new would save 70% when compared to the amount being spent maintaining Brownings in a single year.

Decision: Nah, we've already got the Brownings.

There's nowt as odd as procurement.

Amen to that! Pitty there's no real accountability for the muppets that spend our hard earned cash!

[ChrisF]

BUT , some times a good bit of kit does get selected , me I would be happy using either , Opps , I would say that ( PM/M85 ).

NO in reguards to the Glock , too me having used the Sig 220-226 & 228 series as well as the Glock , the Glock is the most for the least money certainly , but to me the UK selection was a simple as cost , you guys already had the Sig226-228 in service in limited numbers , should have brought more of those , BUT they are 2-3 times the cost , cost does play a factor as well as Politics .

 

Later Chris

[achosenman]

I was lucky enough to have an unofficial play with the M85 and AI at the time of testing. I much preferred the Parker Hale. Maybe because it was similar to what we were using at the time...only vastly better.

 

ATB