Fred Fuller
Moderator Emeritus
...at Casa Lapin, anyway.
My latest visit to my favorite FFL (Ace Pawn Shop, 5721 Bragg Blvd, Fayetteville, NC) netted a back seat full o' pump shotguns yesterday. I had been waiting for a bit till everything showed up to pick everything up on one trip, and yesterday was the day. Plus the Volkswagen needed an oil change and was due an inspection, so I got to run several errands on one trip.
There were two transfers - a Hawk 981 and a H&R Pardner Pump, both very slightly used (can't really tell either from new) via Gunbroker. The last was a special order Winchester '97 repro from IAC ( http://www.iacshotguns.com/ ). It didn't even hurt too awful much - the 981 was $135 total OTD (that includes shipping, transfer & tax), the Pardner was $190 total OTD and the '97 clone was $385 NIB OTD.
Oh, the sacrifices I make for you folks...
This one will be yet another long term stream of consciousness type review. So far all I've gotten done is to unbox all three, field strip and clean the 981 and the Pardner, and dry out and wax the '97. Both the 981 and the Pardner still had shipping grease/preservative liberally applied inside, but a spray bath with WD40 and a good cleaning took care of that. The '97 had light oil, not grease, and only needed a good wiping down and its first coat of Johnson's paste wax. Good thing, because IMHO if it takes a screwdriver, it ain't field stripping. With any luck, as much of the inside of the '97 as I will ever see will be peering down the bore and looking through the ejection and loading ports.
The purpose behind getting the 981 and the Pardner was to be able to do my own comparison with Remington's flagship pumpgun, the 870. For someone with a 40-year ongoing acquaintance with 870s, fieldstripping the two Chinese copies was no problem at all. The two guns, almost brand new, have a little bit of a 'crusty' feel to their actions even after cleaning all the grease out. They have some sharp edges in the receiver and other places, and I believe the 'feel' of the guns is due to those machining marks. I anticipate they will smooth out over time and with use. All I have to do now is use 'em for a while.
The forearm on the Pardner was misaligned, apparently from the factory. It rubbed the barrel slightly on the left side as the forearm reciprocated. A few minutes with the Menck forearm tool straightened that out with no problems.
So far I haven't tried any parts substitutions/replacements. We'll get to that in time. Without measuring or trying, though, it appears everything except barrels and magazine tubes will probably interchange easily. And it looks as if the plethora of Remington accessories available out there will fit as well. I can't see much need for anything beyond what I usually use- a Sidesaddle, sling swivel studs and a light mount and light. The Pardner had sling swivel studs in place, the 981 didn't. I'm going to see if I can get a set from IAC for it. On both guns, the stud for the rear swivel screws into a brass bushing in the stock, and the front stud fits through a hole in the center of the magazine cap.
Both the 981 and the Pardner have 18.5" barrels with 3" chambers and 5-round magazines. LOP on the black plastic stocks is about 13 3/4". The forearm on the 981 is a short ribbed 'corncob' style that looks much like those on some Winchester shotguns, while that on the Pardner is more like the 870 'field' style that covers part of the receiver when the action is open. Magazine tubes on both are 'dimpled' in the style of newer 870 Express guns, and the same style of one-piece plastic magazine spring retainer/magazine cap detent is used as well. Magazine followers in both are plastic, cup shaped, just as on current production Express guns- in this case, they're orange.
Finish on both examples is a matte black. It appears to be a phosphate finish applied to a bead blasted or sand blasted surface, I can't really tell. After cleaning, both soaked up appreciable quantities of light oil. Both appear to be as durable as one could want, and in conjunction with the matte finish plastic furniture, they give the guns a most businesslike appearance. Both are equipped with brass bead front sights. Both have what feel like fairly functional recoil pads, well fitted to the plastic stocks. The pads are a bit 'grabby' as far as their side surfaces are concerned, a good gun mount should allow shouldering with no problem- and working from the usual low ready position is no problem at all. I like to index the toe of the stock on a particular spot on my shoulder pocket, then roll the gun down to low ready while keeping that index. Maintaining a constant index with the toe of the stock makes a consistent gun mount easy from the low ready or indoor ready position- all that's necessary is to roll the gun back up to firing position using the toe of the stock as the pivot point.
As time permits I'll be working with these guns a bit, doing some patterning, checking on parts interchangeability, etc. I'll add more as things develop...
lpl
My latest visit to my favorite FFL (Ace Pawn Shop, 5721 Bragg Blvd, Fayetteville, NC) netted a back seat full o' pump shotguns yesterday. I had been waiting for a bit till everything showed up to pick everything up on one trip, and yesterday was the day. Plus the Volkswagen needed an oil change and was due an inspection, so I got to run several errands on one trip.
There were two transfers - a Hawk 981 and a H&R Pardner Pump, both very slightly used (can't really tell either from new) via Gunbroker. The last was a special order Winchester '97 repro from IAC ( http://www.iacshotguns.com/ ). It didn't even hurt too awful much - the 981 was $135 total OTD (that includes shipping, transfer & tax), the Pardner was $190 total OTD and the '97 clone was $385 NIB OTD.
Oh, the sacrifices I make for you folks...
This one will be yet another long term stream of consciousness type review. So far all I've gotten done is to unbox all three, field strip and clean the 981 and the Pardner, and dry out and wax the '97. Both the 981 and the Pardner still had shipping grease/preservative liberally applied inside, but a spray bath with WD40 and a good cleaning took care of that. The '97 had light oil, not grease, and only needed a good wiping down and its first coat of Johnson's paste wax. Good thing, because IMHO if it takes a screwdriver, it ain't field stripping. With any luck, as much of the inside of the '97 as I will ever see will be peering down the bore and looking through the ejection and loading ports.
The purpose behind getting the 981 and the Pardner was to be able to do my own comparison with Remington's flagship pumpgun, the 870. For someone with a 40-year ongoing acquaintance with 870s, fieldstripping the two Chinese copies was no problem at all. The two guns, almost brand new, have a little bit of a 'crusty' feel to their actions even after cleaning all the grease out. They have some sharp edges in the receiver and other places, and I believe the 'feel' of the guns is due to those machining marks. I anticipate they will smooth out over time and with use. All I have to do now is use 'em for a while.
The forearm on the Pardner was misaligned, apparently from the factory. It rubbed the barrel slightly on the left side as the forearm reciprocated. A few minutes with the Menck forearm tool straightened that out with no problems.
So far I haven't tried any parts substitutions/replacements. We'll get to that in time. Without measuring or trying, though, it appears everything except barrels and magazine tubes will probably interchange easily. And it looks as if the plethora of Remington accessories available out there will fit as well. I can't see much need for anything beyond what I usually use- a Sidesaddle, sling swivel studs and a light mount and light. The Pardner had sling swivel studs in place, the 981 didn't. I'm going to see if I can get a set from IAC for it. On both guns, the stud for the rear swivel screws into a brass bushing in the stock, and the front stud fits through a hole in the center of the magazine cap.
Both the 981 and the Pardner have 18.5" barrels with 3" chambers and 5-round magazines. LOP on the black plastic stocks is about 13 3/4". The forearm on the 981 is a short ribbed 'corncob' style that looks much like those on some Winchester shotguns, while that on the Pardner is more like the 870 'field' style that covers part of the receiver when the action is open. Magazine tubes on both are 'dimpled' in the style of newer 870 Express guns, and the same style of one-piece plastic magazine spring retainer/magazine cap detent is used as well. Magazine followers in both are plastic, cup shaped, just as on current production Express guns- in this case, they're orange.
Finish on both examples is a matte black. It appears to be a phosphate finish applied to a bead blasted or sand blasted surface, I can't really tell. After cleaning, both soaked up appreciable quantities of light oil. Both appear to be as durable as one could want, and in conjunction with the matte finish plastic furniture, they give the guns a most businesslike appearance. Both are equipped with brass bead front sights. Both have what feel like fairly functional recoil pads, well fitted to the plastic stocks. The pads are a bit 'grabby' as far as their side surfaces are concerned, a good gun mount should allow shouldering with no problem- and working from the usual low ready position is no problem at all. I like to index the toe of the stock on a particular spot on my shoulder pocket, then roll the gun down to low ready while keeping that index. Maintaining a constant index with the toe of the stock makes a consistent gun mount easy from the low ready or indoor ready position- all that's necessary is to roll the gun back up to firing position using the toe of the stock as the pivot point.
As time permits I'll be working with these guns a bit, doing some patterning, checking on parts interchangeability, etc. I'll add more as things develop...
lpl