Parker-Hale Ltd. was primarily a British firearms accessory manufacturer for rifle sights, gun cleaning equipment and shooting accessories establishing a reputation among civilian marksmen and shooting clubs in the UK. It also made Firearms and air rifles. It was located in the Gun Quarter of Birmingham, England. It was founded by Alfred Gray Parker and Arthur Hale.
Colour-Sergeant Alfred Gray Parker of the 1st V.B. Royal Warwickshire Regiment founded a rifle manufacturing company in 1880. In 1900 his nephew A T C Hale was taken into partnership, and the business was formed into a limited liability company in 1904 . A first catalogue was issued of arms and shooting accessories and, though limited in its range, clearly showed the company's growing trend for the development of accessories.
By 1914 the company's small manufacturing plant was well established and the Ministry of Munitions ordered training equipment from Parker-Hale. The "Parkerifling" process, coupled with the Hiscock-Parker magazine, enabled service rifles to be converted to .22 Long Rifle (.22 LR) for use as training rifles, and demand was such that the Parker-Hale factory was soon working to full capacity. During and after World War I, Parker-Hale supplied rifles and accessories to marksmanship programs and small-bore competitions, including events at Bisley Camp.
The company expanded its product range to include sporting rifles, target rifles, and precision apertures, meeting growing demand from both civilian shooters and military cadet programs.
In 1924, Hale's son, Arthur, joined the business and in 1926, at the Bisley meeting, a family record was set up when A T C Hale (Managing Director) and his two eldest sons A C Hale & F C Hale all won places in the King's final stage. This event was eclipsed two years later when Arthur Hale succeeded in winning the coveted King's prize itself.
With the outbreak of the Second World War, the available resources of the gun trade had been mobilised to recondition a reserve of Pattern 1914 Enfield rifles, and in 1940 a subsidiary the Parker-Hale Arms Company was founded. Additional premises were acquired "for the duration" of the war and, under the management of Arthur Hale, a large reconditioning programme was rapidly carried through. A wide range of additional war contract work followed, principally with the manufacture of .30-06 Springfield and .303 British drill cartridges in large quantities.
After the close of hostilities, with a fall in production contracts and no permanent premises, the company had little choice but to invest in a small factory unit, erected under the Government's emergency programme to re-house bombed-out manufacturers. Meanwhile, the Parker-Hale Arms Company was transferred to the Birmingham Proof House, where it continued with the reconditioning of .22 LR weapons for junior training organisations. The wartime subsidiary was then disbanded, and the main company resumed its commercial activities in accessories and firearms.
The immediate post-war years can best be described as a period of frustrated opportunity, since overseas markets were opened but materials of all sorts were in short supply. Nevertheless, by 1948 business abroad far exceeded the home trade.
Business at Parker-Hale remained relatively stable throughout the 1960s and into the 1980s. Sales of target and sporting rifles occurred alongside the companyâÂÂs broader portfolio of other firearms, shooting accessories and cleaning kits. Between the 1980s and 1990s, Parker-Hale manufactured the Series 500, 700, and 800 shotguns and the 600 series with the Ignacio Ugartechea factory in Eibar, Spain, they also produce exclusive rifle models.
The Parker Hale M85 rifle took part in the British Army trials for a replacement sniper rifle, along with the Accuracy International PM, Heckler & Koch PSG1, SIG-Sauer SSG 2000, and Remington 700. The rifle lost by a slight margin to the Accuracy International.
Lacking the investment necessary to enable the company to compete effectively in newly emerging markets, shrinking British firearms manufacturing and increased competition from foreign rifle manufacturers, Parker-Hale was eventually sold to the Midlands engineering group, Modular Industries Ltd. In 1992 the assets were later acquired by Navy Arms and spun off as Gibbs Rifle Company, Inc.
The Parker-Hale brand continues for gun-care products though firearms production ceased. In November 2000, John Rothery Wholesale (JRW) procured Parker-Hale Ltd merging operations into their Petersfield premises .
Source:
Shotguns: