The One That Got Away

[Bindlestiff]

The same 16 B grade David posted, I missed out on too; not once, not twice but three times!

I first saw it in an ad for a Butterfield Auction in CA. and arranged to be a phone bidder. I was in deer camp and somehow managed to time the auction. The B grade QUICKLY hit my limit and kept right on going. I got one bid in and then I was out of the running.

The next summer, we had a PGCA meeting in KY and I saw it again. It was on Jack's table and the asking price almost knocked me over. I picked it up, fondled it and put it back down. I came back several times and was warming to the idea of starting to dicker with Jack when someone walked up, paid for it and it was gone.

A few years later, it was at our PGCA meeting and entered in the banquet's gun display. It won best gun on display that year. So, I talked to the owner and then knew where it was. It was for sale and sold again some months later. I don't know where it is now?

[charlie cleveland]

my storey wood be a4 ga double that was in theshotgun news priced at 400 dollars.i did not even have 2 pennies to rub together in my pocket at that time..i wore that old newspaper out loking and dreaming of that gun or the lc smith 8 ga that i passed on a coupla years ago...charlie

[Bill Zachow]

Mine was a 12 gauge VHE, two barreled set, in a saddle leather trunk case that was covered with the old time ocean liner shipping labels. This was at the Syracuse gun show, two weeks after 9/11. I was talking with a friend at his show table when an elderly couple stopped with the case and asked my friend if he could appraise it for them. They opened the case and he said it looks like a Parker and my friend Bill here can probably give you a value as he collects them. I took the gun and its' two barrel sets out of the case looked them over. It was obvious that the gun spent much of its' life in the case as it was easily a 95 percent gun--colors, bluing, and wood finish. The first set of barrels were the normal 30" full and full. The second set, properly numbered "2" were original 25" barrels with what appeared to be improved and modified chokes, using a plug gauge. The 25 inchers were right as rain with keels and matting end line. After looking everything over very carefully and explaining to the couple what they had, I told them the set was easily worth $3,000. They smiled happily and then asked If I would like to buy them. For some idiotic reason, I passed. Where are you going to find a 2 barreled set with a set a 25 inchers????? Later in the show I saw the set on another dealer's table. Argh!!!

[Autumn Daze]

Like everyone else I try not to think about it..... The first one that always comes to mind is back in the Vintagers at Sandanona days. My son and I had just gotten there and were walking the tents. Lo and behold a G grade Parker try-gun without the tools. Price $1500.00 My sons says "Dad buy it" I told him well lets finish looking through the tents and if I don't see anything that talk's to me we will go back and get it. Sooo we went back and guess what......damn it.

[John Truitt]

First is a:
32" DHE 28 ga straight grip vent rib beavertail FE in about 2000 or 2001. This was for sale in the DGJ for about 2 journals. I don't recall the serial number.

Second is:
#207429 which, is a 34" 20 gauge DHE #1 frame no safety gun. I bid on at Julias in 2009 but it quickly went out of my comfort range.
BTW if anyone has this gun and wants to sell it PM me.

[Mike Franzen]

I had wanted a Win model 42 for YEARS... it had to be an early model with the "corn cob" forend. I was standing in line waiting to buy my ticket to get into the big gun show in Louisville. I saw an off duty police officer exiting the show area with a gun case tucked under his arm. As he was passing i hollered, "Hey, watcha got in the case"? He walked over, unzipped the case and there was a model 42 with a corn cob forend. "How much you want for that?", I asked. $400 he replied. It was in good condition and the numbers matched. As I handed it back, I thought to myself, there must be some great deals in there if he was walking around with that and couldn't sell it. My uncle kept saying, "buy that gun now!" No, I'll get one inside. The least expensive one I saw the rest of the day was $900. It took me 10 years later to finally get one and that was last month. When I showed it to Unk he said, "I hope you didn't pay more than $400 for it"

[David Noble]

1981. 20ga AAHE 32" PG DT SSBP like new $17,000. A lot of money for the gun at that time but I had it. Used the money to buy a house instead. House long gone, never saw gun again......

[OH Osthaus]

the Parker I missed is the reason I joined this fine group, a very light good bore honest 12 gauge top lever hammer gun at a heck of a price.

i knew nothing about the serialization book at the time, and passed on it at an antique show because the seller said it came from a duck hunting family that had had it since new.

too light and short for a duck gun, I joined here did some research and found out it matched the specs, called the guy back- he had sold it at the new show.

[Double Trouble]

My haunting memory is of a nice German sporter rifle, built on a Mauser action. It was unmarked as to maker, but had that great half octagonal/half round barrel with integral rib. Typical German engraving, butternife bolt handle, slim forend, side panels on the stock, horn buttplate (with a little worm damage). It was chambered in 8x57J (0.318 bore diameter).
It was the only thing that caught my eye at this gun show. My wife was with me & insisted that she buy it for me - for my birthday. The gun wasn't perfect, and I wasn't very educated on such guns - so I said "No." That's the last I saw of that gun...

What in the world is wrong with me ????

From that day on, I've been convinced that I must have been dropped as a child !

[CHE]

Mine was a Browning superposed 28ga Midas grade. I was walking around the gunshow and when I got back to our table my friend said a guy came by with the gun and wanted $1400 for it. I said why didn't you buy it for me? that was a great buy! I went looking for the gun and found out a friend of mine near the end of the show bought it. It made it all around the show and nobody would buy it. I guess they were afraid it was stolen. It turns out it had salt wood but heck it was still a bargain.