The One That Got Away

[Mike Franzen]

While talking with my good friend Jim DiSpagno this morning we got on the subject of great guns we missed out on and let them get away. It brings back bittersweet memories but made for interesting conversation. I thought it would be interesting to hear about Parker guns others let slip through their hands. Tell us your story about the one (or ones) that got away...

[Dean Romig]

Mike, trust me - they are countless....

[Bill Murphy]

There are not enough years left in my life expectancy to retell all those stories.

[C grade]

I had greatly admired a high condition B grade 16 hammergun owned by a fellow member. He was gracious enough to have let me shoot it at Sanford and it fit me perfect. I begged, badgered , pleaded, pliled him with wiskey butt.... he did promise that if he ever decided to sell it I would get the first call. Well, the call came on a Friday evening and he said I could have it for what he paid Jack P. for the gun. If you have done business with Jack you know the guns are great but the price is absolute top $$$. I told him I would have to think about it overnight. You guessed it-called back the next day and Jack had repurchased the gun to never bee seen since. There are others but that is the most vivid. I later had a chance at a beautiful steel barreled 20ga D grade hammergun. Similar story but when Mark gave me a price I wrote the check!!
David

[George Lander]

Originally Posted by Bill Murphy

There are not enough years left in my life expectancy to retell all those stories.

Bill is correct, but the one that comes immediately to mind was the 1911 Colt Automatic that belonged to Nathan Bedford Forrest III (grandson of the Confederate General) who was an Air Force pilot shot down over Germany near the end of WWII.

Best Regards, George

[Phil Yearout]

Not a Parker story, or even a fine gun story I guess, but very early on in my doublegun interest I found a pair of "Fox" Model B guns, one in 20ga and one in .410. They were identical, nearly mint, and were very early guns; they had the nice duck hunting scene (I assume acid etched) on the bottom of the receivers as opposed to the simple outline of a Fox head that the later Model B's have. I don't even remember the price but it might as well have been a million; I was broke as a dude ranch pony, but I really wanted those guns! Ultimately I tried to buy just the .410 but the seller wouldn't split them up. Seems kinda silly now; lots of folks wouldn't look twice at a Model B. But I lamented those guns for a long time.

[Researcher]

One of the emporiums my Father and I frequented, on those few Saturdays we weren't out in pursuit of some critter furred, feathered or finned, was Webb Hilgar's on Rainier Avenue down in south Seattle. For quite a while Webb had a nice little unmolested Damascus barrel DH-Grade 20-gauge with original skeleton butt. Webb was firm at $125 and my Father was equally firm that he wasn't going to pay over $100 for a Damascus barrel gun!! Not that my Father didn't shoot Damascus barrel guns on a regular basis.

I could have discussed the B-Grade Ansley H. Fox serial number 8 that neither Mr. Murphy or I bought when we had the chance, but this is the Parker site.

[Dean Romig]

These will all serve as Lessons Learned. I think what we can all take away from these "lessons" is 'Write the check!'.

I was a a yard sale in Augusta, Me. one Sunday morning and had examined every item (I thought) on each of the eight-foot banquet tables there in the side yard. When I got back to the first table I did a double take.... there lay an early Colt 1911 in really nice condition. Beside it lay an early Colt revolver in .38 S&W in abut he same condition and of about the same vintage. I was not much into semi-auto pistols at the time so I left it there... even with the $50 price tag on it. The revolver had a bit of rust in the barrel so I left that one too - also with a $50 tag on it..... I can't write any more... I think I'm going to be sick...

[Craig Larter]

Jack Puglisi had a high condition Fox XE many years ago that I looked at a 100 times, on the 101st look it was gone----never seen a better one since. I learned my lesson and as Dean says now I just write the check-----my son can sort it all out some day!

[MarketHunter]

Mine is a little 20 gauge Model 11 with a solid rib 28 inch factory cylinder bore barrel on it. Weirdly that's the one I think of when I mull over guns I missed out on in my mind. I've got a 32 inch solid rib 20 gauge barrel that I've been saving for years waiting on the right gun to make a two barrel set. That was the gun, I don't really know why I didn't buy it......

DLH