The 1917 E.C. Simmons catalog lists the Black Beauty Special for $54.70 and the Paragon at $100.

The c. 1921 Folsom catalog listed the Leader at $48, the Black Beauty Special $64, and the NE Paragon $100.

Baker guns made in Batavia, NY are of good quality. Bakers in grades above Parogon are very difficult to find. I have seen 1 Expert and 1Deluxe made in Batavia in 50 years of collecting. Even the entry level guns such as the Batavia Brush and Batavia Damascus are scarce which can make collecting Bakers a frustrating pastime. The best article on Bakers to my knowledge was written in the American Rifleman in 1968 by Ken Shanks. One other thing that Baker did that was uncommon was dropping grades and adding grades on a regular basis. The fact that the majority of there guns built in Batavia had damascus barrels didn't help there popularity either.

There were two good articles on W.H. Baker in The Gun Report. One by A. C. Atterbury in Volume 35, Number 6, November 1989, "Renowned Gunmaker W.H. Baker" and Volume 36, Number 8, January 1991, "New Notes on William H. Baker" by H.J. Swinney. They are of course heavily pre Baker Gun & Forging Co. There was a good article that covered all of the management upheavals at Baker Gun & Forging Co. in the April 1908 issue of Field and Stream.

I would have to agree with you, I bought a Batavia Special for $430! it shoots great and IMO for an American sidelock a steal at that price.

12g, 30" barrels F/F 2 3/4 chambers.....good duck gun!

Allow me to plug Daryl, who who co-wrote (w/Don Hardin) probably the most complete article I've read on Bakers in the 1997 Gun Illustrated.

Separately, of all the guns I ever passed on, the one that eats at me the most was a Paragon with two dogs on either side that was fantastically engraved. I had my Lefever goggles on that day and was temporarily not seeing other good guns clearly.

NDG