Originally Posted by Craig Larter (Post 445772)

Part of the fun, besides shooting an 8ga, is just keeping an obsolete gauge alive, it's part of our heritage. If 8ga guns were allowed for waterfowl hunting, my sense is they would be more sought after.

Originally Posted by Arthur Shaffer (Post 445765)

I find the first chart interesting. While a lot of things affect pricing (grade, production numbers, condition etc) it appears to me that the Parker 8 gauges are one of the best buys within the collectors market. There were fewer total 8 gauges made than either 28 or 410 gauge guns, yet my impression of watching sales over the last couple of years is that the 28 and 410 easily bring higher prices than the 8. Probably more higher grade smaller bores and maybe higher condition on average, but at the tiny end of production I have to think that the useability is playing a big part in the pricing. From a true collector standpoint this shouldn't be true. I have seen the same thing with rare variations. What is percieved to be useful trumps rarity. Currently longer barrels currently bring a big premium over rare combinations. A gun made in an odd short barrel length with only 4 or 5 made generally carries no premium over an equivalent condition common length. With the exception of the very top tier guns, it seems that rarity is not really as big an issue in price as personal desirability.