Babe Ruth's Parker?

[Forrest Smith]

http://www.gunsinternational.com/detail.cfm?id=100083945

[Dave Fuller]

Hmmmmm... looks like the Bambino should have kept his gun in a dryer place. Showing the better condition gun along with the Babes rusty hulk is an odd marketing strategy.

[Dean Romig]

I would want to see empirical evidence of that claim.

Sure was 'rode hard and put away wet' wasn't it.

[Bill Murphy]

"BEFNAST"

[Ed Blake]

I think that gun has been offered before, or another Parker claiming to have belonged to Babe Ruth.

[Russ Jackson]

I think that gun has been offered before, or another Parker claiming to have belonged to Babe Ruth.

Ed ;I believe you are correct on this ,I remember it being out there before ,and the condition looks as poor this time as the last ,I would think it is the same gun !

[Angel Cruz]

This gun was out earlier in the year. At that time it was offered with a second Parker and not for comparison. Supposedly the second Parker also belonged to Ruth and not used like the one that's being offered now.

Angel

[Norm Growden]

Murphy:

Amazingly, it doesn't say that. Maybe in a few more months?

[Tim Sheldon]

I wouldn't pay $500 for that pile of crap.

[Bill Murphy]

Good catch, Norm. You get a big "Thank You" for your post.

[Bruce Day]

I have no idea what "BEFNAST" means. Maybe I am computer conversation illiterate, but I'm lost.

You know that little 20ga D hammer gun that was brought to the Vintagers and shown in the PGCA tent and at dinner was found in a chicken coop in Nebraska, feathers in the barrel, covered with a fine coating of rust and with a metal doubler strap to cover a stock wrist crack. While some would have turned up their noses in disgust, within a few days of work the gun was looking much better and it received much attention and admiration at the meeting. I suggest that now that gun is a high collector interest Parker and perhaps the only D hammer 20 known.

While I don't know the provenance of this alleged Ruth gun, if I was in the market for a historically interesting Parker, I'd be looking at this gun and considering what could be. I haven't examined the gun in person, can't tell the depth of the rust, but to me the gun looks merely neglected and not abused.

Just my thoughts. Wouldn't it be nice to have the Ruth gun? I sent a PDF file photo of Ruth in a Yankees sweater holding what may be this Parker. I was unable to manipulate it to post.

Here is the 20ga D hammer after it was fixed up. Rust gone, barrels refinished, stock crack fixed.

[Bill Murphy]

Bruce, my main collector interest is in provenanced Parkers. I would love to own a Parker owned by a famous baseball player.

[Brad Steinfeld]

I spoke to the owner when it was listed several months ago and at that time there was no substantiated connection between the gun and Babe Ruth other than past friends and family verbal claims to such in addition to a photo of Ruth holding "a" Parker that was to be this gun.

Happy Holidays.

[James T. Kucaba]

I hate Stick-Ball and wouldn't go to the World Series if it it was being played across the street and tickets were free ... That being said, I'm with Bruce, I've seen photos of Babe Ruth holding a shotgun, and if this Parker proves to be Ruth's gun I'm sure someone, not me, would willingly pay big buck$ for it ... Find me a Parker, or any other gun, that was owned by Ray Nitschke, Bart Starr, or A.J. Foyt and I might mortgage my house to bid on it ... Just my opinion ... So take it for what you paid for it.

Jim Kucaba ... AriZOOna Cactus Patch ... Email: JimKucaba@aol.com

[Forrest Smith]

The Babe had a sporting life, much like Tiger's I hear. There were some Parkers in the mix, among other guns...

[Dave Suponski]

Forrest,Thanks for the Ruth photo's a nice treat. We,re a big baseball and Yankee's family here. As far as this "so called" Ruth gun goes without any hard provenance its just a Parker shotgun.

In fact in a couple of weeks I can come up with a couple G Grades with Babe Ruth engraved on the trigger guard ! Or any other "Hall of Famer" for that matter....:rolleyes:

[Dean Romig]

Okay, I'll ask for myself and most everybody else . . . What is "BEFNAST"??

[John Dallas]

I don't know either, but I can make an educated guess on the "F"

[Dean Romig]

Bruce, is the D hammer 20 bore the same one with the silver half-moon on the grip knob?

. . . No, that was a sixteen, wasn't it?

[Francis Morin]

[QUOTE=Angel Cruz;9582]This gun was out earlier in the year. At that time it was offered with a second Parker and not for comparison. Supposedly the second Parker also belonged to Ruth and not used like the one that's being offered now.

Angel- I loved the Bambino, although my favorite Yankee is the also late Joe DiMaggio. But what's to keep some gun hustler from switching the trigger guard to try to authenticate this well used Parker. Babe was pitching for the Red Sox when this gun was given to him circa 1919-1920, right? Any paper trail by serial number from a Boston sporting goods dealer who handled Parkers- A 12 gauge GH with 30" barrels, whether Damascus or Parker Special Steel, would most likely have been an standard inventory item I would think back then--

I won't disparage the seller, but I have seen his multi-page ads in Gun List- Executive Buying Service- as compared to maybe - Blue Collar Buying Service-and his trade mark line of "Because I buy, sell and trade I can pay more"- sorta like the P.T. Barnum approach in my viewpoint. I once wrote him about a 12 ga. DH no. 2 frame frame that supposedly had been restocked by Remington in about 1940- asked him for documentation and any stamped code to verify that claim- I never received a reply from him, you can draw whatever conclusion from that as you see fit-:duck:

[Kevin McCormack]

Like a lot of other "Famously Owned Parkers", it was but an interesting aside to its original owner. They didn't coddle and preserve it for future collecting value for guys like us, who dwell on either its art form or mechanical sophistication and durability. For many former original owners, they took as good a care of it as they did their Model 12 Winchesters, Remington Model 32s, and/or their A.H. Fox model BEs. E.G., "A a gun is a gun is a gun." Little did they know we would be waiting in the wings to deify their former ownerships, nor much care where they went or who wound up with them. We are very lucky to have salvaged what we've found over the years. Consider the original (but "rode hard and put away wet") condition of the great Max Fleischmann A-1 Special 20 ga. 2-bbl. set before "restoration." Had to be one of the greatest and hardest hunted Parkers of all time. To this day I remain thankful that I saw it in all its glory prior to being put in "new gun condition."

[Francis Morin]

[QUOTE=John Dallas;9620]I don't know either, but I can make an educated guess on the "F"--- I am in the same camp with Col. Day- but as the Military loves those alpha codes- I am going to take a SWAG here and guess it is in the same sector as BOHICA- maybe not. Perhaps Mr. Murphy will enlighten us at a later point in time.

As others have mentioned their love for my two favorite sports teams: The Yankees and The Packers- here's a true Babe Ruth story- circa 1925. Miller Huggins was the Yankees manager then, the owner was Col. Rupport of the Genesse Brewing Co.- and he was a stickler for his players "toeing the line"

The Yanks were playing a double-header against the Indians at home- Babe misses batting practice, shows up 5 minutes before the game, a Zigfeld blonde on each arm, a big cigar in his mouth, and smelling like a brewry. The Colonel tells Huggins: "I want you to have a word with the Babe"- and of course, Huggins says "Yes Sir"--

Long story short, the Yankees beat the Tribe 14 to 2, Babe has two homers and 5 RBI's- they head for the locker room and the Colonel taps Huggins on the shoulder and reminds him about that "word thing"-- Oh, yeah, Huggins exclaims- Hey, nice game there Babe"!!

I love baseball and the characters of those days- and Babe and Mickey Mantle- two great players who never took care of themselves and paid the price too early. And Lou "Iron Man' Gehrig, who did, and got a bad break and never complained about it to the end.:rolleyes:

[Russ Jackson]

Probably a foolish question ,but don't you suppose this day and age we live in ,there could very well be a " DNA " test that could be done on the wooden parts to see if there is any of the Babes DNA on the gun ?Just thinking out of the box here ?

[Dean Romig]

I once bought a sixteen gauge top-action 0-frame hammer gun from him. It was not as he described it and I told him so. We discussed all of this in a short phone conversation, we arrived at an agreeable price and I didn't send the gun back to him.

[Christopher Lien]

Anyone can tell a good gun story, but backing it up is an entirely different "ball-game" - Pun intended... Over the past few years I've read many claims of guns and photos of said guns attributed to the "Sultan of Swat", but to date all photos I've examined have fallen far short of the center field fence... Holding a double barrel shotgun in a "raccoon skin coat" is by No means 100% confirmation of anything. I want to see a well defined Parker hinge pin, a dolls head, forend hardware, or "G" grade engraving in a photo before I accept the fact that "maybe" it "might" be George H. Ruth's Parker... A couple years ago someone was selling an L.C. Smith Specialty grade said to have belonged to Babe Ruth backed-up by a photo they claimed showed Ruth holding the same long barreled Smith after a hunt, however the story quickly lost credibility when the photo was closely examined by those in the know.

When someone claims they are selling a gun of significant historical provenance along with a photo of a famous person holding the same gun, I would strongly encourage buyers to examine every possible detail of the photo, and if not sure, ask for help before you write the check based on a hopeful guess and a sellers well rehearsed promise... I'm still waiting to see a Russian staff officer, or any Russian in a photo with the Czar's Parker...:corn:

Best, CSL
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[Forrest Smith]

http://www.sportingcollectibles.net/fs-blk-wht.htm

Scroll down toward the bottom of the pictures, and alas there is the Babe with a Parker (with some noise about the stock in the same area as that advertised). There are quite a few photos out there of the sultan of the swat with a Parker of some kind.

I don't have a dog in this fight-but would not a PGCA Letter reveal a reference to an order with a trigger gaurd notation?

[Francis Morin]

[QUOTE=Dave Suponski;9615]Forrest,Thanks for the Ruth photo's a nice treat. We,re a big baseball and Yankee's family here. As far as this "so called" Ruth gun goes without any hard provenance its just a Parker shotgun.

In fact in a couple of weeks I can come up with a couple G Grades with Babe Ruth engraved on the trigger guard ! Or any other "Hall of Famer" for that matter....:rolleyes:[- great fotos- and afew observations- on the three man line up foto, the Bo-Sox player to the far right of Babe- he's using his middle finger on the trigger of his double- the gent in the middle- a Colt's .32 autoloader perhaps- and Babe shooting as a leftie with a double- but a Parker? Not sure--

The next foto of the Babe with the deceased alligator/crocodile- well, the Yankees had their Spring Training grounds down in Avon Park, FL. back then, in the great "Murder's Row" era- wonder if that's where the foto was taken?:duck:

[Ed Blake]

Heck with the Bambino's Parker, I'm waiting for Plaxico Burriss' Glock.

[Brian Dillard]

Heck with the Bambino's Parker, I'm waiting for Plaxico Burriss' Glock.

I almost wet myself...Ed, that's funny!

[Chris Travinski]

I spoke to this guy last year about a DH that was supposed to be in about 90% condition. He wouldn't send me any pictures, he told me I wouldn't be disappointed and if I didn't like to sent it back. I figured if he couldn't be bothered with the pictures I would never get my money back. The deal seemed too good to be true, so... I let it go and hoped it wasn't.

[Dave Suponski]

Ed,I gotta tell ya..You are by far the KING of the one liners on this board..:bowdown: That was great!

[Dean Romig]

Heck with the Bambino's Parker, I'm waiting for Plaxico Burriss' Glock.

I don't get it . . .:vconfused:

[Christopher Lien]

I may have spoken too soon about the Russian Czar and his questionable association with Parker guns... Maybe ol'Czar Nicholas and his staff officers were Parker enthusiasts after all?...:D:D:D

Merry X-mas, CSL
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http://www.webpak.net/~dslcslien/1CzarNichP.jpg
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[Tim Sheldon]

Chris, this day and age if someone won't send pictures, I agree, something ain't right.

And that Plaxico deal, being a reciever you'd think he would be way more aware of the safties. :)

Tim

[Dean Romig]

The only known photo taken mere seconds before the assasination of Tsar Nicholas and the Royal Family . . . but I never would have guessed the deed had been carried out with a Parker :shock:

[Francis Morin]

[QUOTE=Dean Romig;9631]I once bought a sixteen gauge top-action 0-frame hammer gun from him. It was not as he described it and I told him so. We discussed all of this in a short phone conversation, we arrived at an agreeable price and I didn't send the gun back to him. Huum, Deano- maybe he doesn't answer snail mail, as back then I didn't have my daughter's Dell-gizmo as I do now. But just for funzies, as I agree with Bro. Sheldon here, I wouldn't pay $50 let alone $500 for that documented GH, unless I knew it came with a LOM case and had a 1924 Honus Wagner card stashed inside in collector's condition-- I e-mailed him from the GA site and asked some questions- serial number on the inside back of the guard bow matching the rest of the gun, etc- also provenance- we'll see what (if anything) he replies-Glad you were able to deal with him and came out ok- I prefer to buy from private parties and not dealers whenever I can and have the cash..:bigbye: