Barrel Marked Ayling G.M 7.62

[Briand]

Hi Ihave seen an Parker Hale single shot target rifle with an Ayling G.M. barrel in 7.62 can anyone give me info on this barrel
Cheers

[williada]

Briand, Geoff Ayling was one of Australia's best marksman in TR. He won Queens prizes and was a member of Australian teams. He was famous for using his No.4 converted to 7.62. He has a tertiary background lecturing in , I think physics. I believe he still mentors some shooters. He again, I think was armouring in Tassie years ago. During the 1970's shooters often used two rifles, one such as a Mauser for short range and a converted .303 No. 4 for long range. Those long range rifles were still used by British snipers and also India at that time. If the short range rifle is a Parker Hale, it is likely a Mauser style action. If the rifle was one Geoff used rather than armoured, then if you are an historian that rifle would have genuine collector status.

The 7.62 ammunition was the ADI issued ammunition and so this period marked the transition from .303 to 7.62 mm. The barrel in question would have been set up for L2A2 and F4 ammunition or it may have been used at Bisley and set for Radway Green ammo. Check the headspace to see if it was around 1.633" or less than go of 1.630". Two theories existed then. Our ammo went with a crush fit and the British was used with bigger headspace to accommodate the variances in their ammo. If the headspace was set at 1.630" the the barrel could be set for more modern Winchester loads that were introduced or armoured for somebody else. Only Geoff would know.

Certainly check out how it was put together because it was done by a master.

[Briand]

williada. thanks for the info, Pretty sure its a Parker Hale M84 single shot,

imag0884_1.jpg

[Matt P]

Briand from the man himself

Dear Matt

I imported a number of Parker-Hale hammer-forged barrels with specified amounts of treatment to remove unwanted traces of the hammer-forging process. Shooters placed orders for them, with a view to screwing them into the TX1200. That was just a reconditioned M98 or Mk X. I suppose someone screwed one of these barrels into a single-shot action. This was at a time when Schultz and Larsen and Black Mountain were all that we had (in addition to Omark).

Even though I was asking the PH factory to produce barrels with various degrees of polishing, I also managed to obtain some Black Mountain barrels which were the last on the line before replacing the cutting tool. That gave me the tightest group of all and a Queen's Prize with a score of 353/355. Barrels were just not up to what we do with them these days. PH thought they could sell more barrels by imprinting my name on them.

Check the PH barrel for wear and you might find that the treatment had reduced its life considerably. You will be able to tell this because it did not produce the same wear at the lead which we normally see in a used barrel. The barrel I was after would produce a 1 MOA group at 300x using RG ammunition. It definitely worked. But half of the English shooters were already onto this.

After all the effort, Neville Madden produce the best barrels of them all.

Best regards

Geoff

[Briand]

Matt Thanks for the Info, and especially Geoff for his comment,
Cheers Brian

[williada]

Great to see those comments from Geoff, Matt. This is why it is so important for older guys to mentor the young people coming through the sport to develop them. Mind you people should have to put in to get something out and not expect things to be just handed over. The knowledge is power. Otherwise it is like those who take a knife to a gunfight. That added to young eyes and skill, levels the playing field. This is evident in recent NZ results IMO. We are fast seeing the advantage of the technology game of a few being eroded (Britain and US) and hopefully the raw talent of marksmanship will really come to the fore and develop better wind and mirage readers. If the sport declines we also lose the skill in re-working our gear and genuine curiosity trying to understand how things work so problems can be identified when they arise. Necessity is the motherhood of invention. As Geoff said, "Schultz and Larsen and Black Mountain were all that we had (in addition to Omark)". The fundamentals don't change, only the the quality of workmanship does.

[bruce moulds]

just for interest sake, why use a mauser for short range and a lee for long range?
bruce.

[williada]

Bruce the No. 4 could be tuned to give positive compensation at long range because of the rear locking action and the lower fulcrum point of the butt. The Mausers with the ammo we used were likely to exhibit negative compensation past 700 yards. Similar to stats Alan put up a few years back mapping Queens scores. More to itthan meets the eye. Some of us stiffened the No 4 to make it compensate at 600.

[bruce moulds]

most interesting, thank you.
bruce.