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Unread 12-30-2018, 11:16 PM   #21
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No, this 1935 column is by the elder. Chas. Askins, Sr. was the gun editor of Outdoor Life until Jack O'Connor got the job circa 1940. Chas. Askins, Jr. was a Border Patrol officer during the 1930s, quite active in pistol competitions, and didn't enter the U.S. Army until 1940.
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Unread 12-31-2018, 07:56 PM   #22
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Back when Askins wrote his article shooters looked on guns as tools first.To his mind he was making a better tool.Now we are more collectors and originality is most important.to answer the question,the gun would be worth much more in original condition today than in its altered state.The fact that it was owned by Askins is really not important because so few people know who he was.Most of the ones that do know who he was are older and when we are gone almost no one will know who he was. Then the gun is just another cobbled up Parker.
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Unread 12-31-2018, 08:26 PM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by John Allen View Post
Back when Askins wrote his article shooters looked on guns as tools first.To his mind he was making a better tool.Now we are more collectors and originality is most important.to answer the question,the gun would be worth much more in original condition today than in its altered state.The fact that it was owned by Askins is really not important because so few people know who he was.Most of the ones that do know who he was are older and when we are gone almost no one will know who he was. Then the gun is just another cobbled up Parker.
Thanks, John. This is always an interesting issue, and one that, in the end, the person who buys the gun has the last call on.

I will say, I cringed when I read what Askins did to his gun (and it's what inspired this post), and I was happy to read that when he contacted Parker Bros. they told him to buy another gun. Still, I see provenance as an important issue to many collectors. Maybe not Askins so much, although he is certainly an important individual to the history of shotgunning, but when we look at other figures, such as Annie Oakley, Czar Nicholas, Nash Buckingham, and Teddy Roosevelt (all more prominent than Askins, for sure), it certainly seems to be the case that (a least some) collectors value provenance.

I don't like single triggers or beavertail fore arms, but I understand they are desirable features and bring higher asking prices. I also know that certain provenance, maybe not so much with Askins, also calls for more interest. I remember reading recently of how some of our members thought that the DuBray hammer gun should have sold for more than it did because of its provenance. DuBray and Askins are arguably not in the same Parker collector category, but I think it would be supportable to say that a well documented gun from Askins had more value than the same gun without this gun's history...but NOT the same as the same gun in original factory condition.
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Unread 12-31-2018, 09:22 PM   #24
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I unabashedly admit that I was one of those who believed the duBray AA hammer gun should have sold for multiples of the figure it did sell for. I had handled the gun and was privy to a lot more pictures and associated provenance than was included in the Parker Pages article on the gun. Oh well, shows ya what I know....





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Unread 01-01-2019, 08:54 AM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dean Romig View Post
I unabashedly admit that I was one of those who believed the duBray AA hammer gun should have sold for multiples of the figure it did sell for. I had handled the gun and was privy to a lot more pictures and associated provenance than was included in the Parker Pages article on the gun. Oh well, shows ya what I know....
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Dean,

I, too, was surprised at what the DuBray gun sold for, but I also believe that if it comes up again in another year, it might go much higher. There are so many vagaries to what guns sell for at auction at any given time. I can guarantee you this: the gun would have gone for a higher amount if I'd had the money at the time!
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Unread 01-01-2019, 09:49 AM   #26
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I don't care who owned the gun and wouldn't pay more for one because somebody "famous" had once owned it.

I would prefer originality vs cobbled up by anybody famous or not.
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Unread 01-01-2019, 10:32 AM   #27
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Personally ownership history is interesting. I like knowing the history of the Parkers I own. But to me that history doesn't have a thing to do with how I value a gun. A nice original gun with zero history can be just as valuable to me as one that I know a lot of its history.
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Unread 01-01-2019, 11:02 AM   #28
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I once was the owner of a V grade 12 gauge that was originally 30" It was 28" when I bought it The Parker letter said that it was sent back to have 2 inches cut off the barrels add a ivory site and make a set of 20 gauge twist 32" barrels for this gun, I remember that the frame was #2 the twenty gauge barrels were swamped to say the least, but what was interesting was Parker just cut the barrels no line on the rib, so if you find a gun with no line on the rib it may be factory work, just saying Gary
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Unread 01-01-2019, 12:29 PM   #29
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Originally Posted by Gary Carmichael Sr View Post
I once was the owner of a V grade 12 gauge that was originally 30" It was 28" when I bought it The Parker letter said that it was sent back to have 2 inches cut off the barrels add a ivory site and make a set of 20 gauge twist 32" barrels for this gun, I remember that the frame was #2 the twenty gauge barrels were swamped to say the least, but what was interesting was Parker just cut the barrels no line on the rib, so if you find a gun with no line on the rib it may be factory work, just saying Gary
It's interesting that Parker would cut the barrels from the gun you mention, Gary, and not for Askins. What year was your V grade sent back for the barrel work?
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Unread 01-01-2019, 12:33 PM   #30
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Not to me personally, but there are pllenty of gun guys who chase guns attached to Askins Jr or Sr. In 1935, it is entirely possible Jr. had already started ghost writing for his father in outdoor life.

Anyway, I would argue that for the askins folks if the gun could be verified as the correct gun, it would bring a nice premium over a gun he had just owned that was original.

Heck, just look at a few of the colt border patrols that have sold on occasion that were documented as having been modified by Jr when he was the armorer for them.
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