28 GA PARKER

[David Long]

28 GA on gunbroker what do you think ?

[Bill Murphy]

I like it a lot, but would like to see pictures of those pits.

[edgarspencer]

Righthand side of the frame looks pretty rough. What a shame that it's been cut too. Still, a nice little woods gun.

[Bill Murphy]

I guess you're referring to the forcing cones. It gets pretty thick in that area on a #0 frame 28. Sold for $6450. Not a bad gun for that price. I used an expensive Clymer combination rim cutter/2 3/4" chamber reamer/forcing cone cutter into two 2 1/2" chambered, totally original 28 gauge Parkers a couple of years ago. Oddly, the tool didn't cut any metal other than the rim recesses. To see if I was imagining things, I ran the same reamer into my own 28 gauge 2 1/2" original chambered gun. Again, no chips. I don't know what conclusion to draw except that that Clymer reamer was very conservative in its dimensions. Just as well since all I really wanted was for the shells to fit in the gun.

[Russ Jackson]

Bill ,I thought at first it was the gun you are referring to ,but I believe it is GB Item # 277336708 ,Take a look ! Best ; Russ

[gregg conley]

I saw this gun in person. Barrel,frame,rib matting all deeply pitted. Screws buggered on bottom of reciever. Trigger plate does not fit well to reciever, doesn't look to be original to gun. Wood looks like drift wood washed up on a beach. Sling swivels in stock and barrel. Bores pitted and show roughness. Stock cut with old rock hard pad, Barrels 21" long. Gun is locked up will not fire or cock and safety does not work. Who ever gets this one better be have one wish left from his genie in a bottle. The previous owner named this gun "Lucky"

[Bill Murphy]

Yup, this is not the gun I was referring to. I was referring to the little sweetheart, gunbroker #276876930 which just sold for $6450.

[Justin Julian]

This is the auction for the 28 ga at issue....which certainly appears to be beyond salvage...

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=277336708

[Jim DiSpagno]

With a half hour left, price is over $1,800.00 They have got to be kidding!!!! Does anybody else think so?

[George Blair]

Over $2400 now. A fool and his money soon part!:rotf:

[Jim DiSpagno]

Final price $2,476.00 Plus s/ins. What were they thinking? After restoration, you will NEVER get your money back. Better to wait and spend a little more.
But that is just me.

[Justin Julian]

Is there really such a strong market for sawed off 28 gauge "coach" guns???

[Dean Romig]

I made a few mistakes buying Parkers when I started out doing this. I suspect this gun will make quite a spike in the learning curve for some 'newbie' out there.

We can't save everyone...

[Jim DiSpagno]

As P.T. Barnum said......... That fools $$$ on the LIRR right now and it is a oneway trip.

[Russ Jackson]

:shock:WOW !!!!!!!!! I bid low early ,I have a set of Briley 410 Tubes ,I was thinking may work with the old girl !

[Jim DiSpagno]

only if you were going to use them as crutches Russ LOL

[Russ Jackson]

Jim ,I decided they would be sticking out about 4 1/4 " so I gave up on the idea :rotf: ,Never thought about crutches !

[George Lander]

P.T. Barnum was also quoted as saying: "There's a Sucker Born Every Minute"

Best Regards, George

[charlie cleveland]

beat up and all but thats the cheapest parker ive seen sell in 28 ga...even if it was rough it will be a while before we see a 28 ga sell at this price again..just my opinion.... i gave 3000 for a 32 ford coupe that had burned completely down and had been setting for 20 years...people laughed at me...12 years later that car brought more than a good 28 ga woulda brought and all i done too it was a little priming and put a set of tires on it....so who knows the high bidder on this gun may be the last one to smile... charlie

[Daryl Corona]

If that poor gun could talk it would probably just cry.

[John Truitt]

I agree the final price is more than I would have paid but the gun has much potential for someone like me.
Base gun $2400
sleeve barrels to 34" 28 ga $1800
mechanical work and clean up action $500
restock to my diminsions $1200

so for about $6000 you can have a custom 28 ga shooter just the way you want it. i dont think you can find another long barreled 28 ga custom stocked shooter for that or less.
just my humble opinion. :)
no i did not buy it. just giving my thoughts.

[George Blair]

John, thinking the barrel work is going to run a bit higher than your estimate. Don't forget the ribs and the matting. If you have a guy that can give you a quality job at that price I would like to have his name. Thanks, George

[Jim DiSpagno]

Gentlemen, let us not forget that this was on an "O" frame, not a "OO" so for a lot less money, any beat up "O" frame V grade can be made to the above mentioned dimensions and probably save a thousand dollars or more. There is a "O" frame 16 VH on GB for @ $1,600.00 no reserve. and is still there. You all do the math and that gun is in a lot better shape. Just my humble opinion of course. Thanks. Jim

[Steve Huffman]

Lets not forget some people have more money than they will ever spend and just dont care. I find no fault in having money as long as you earned/worked for it in a honest way.

[Chuck Heald]

Let's not forget, some buyers are gunsmiths themselves and may have a plan for the gun. A TIG welded sleeve job, some donor ribs from a blown Parker barrel (saw one yesterday), Restock and refinish the metal....someone might pay a good amount for a well done gun like that. Or it could end up being a poor gunsmiths shot at owning a small gauge Parker he couldn't otherwise touch.

How many of you doubt that someone with the skills of CJO, Dewey, or others could make this into a stunning gun in short order?

[edgarspencer]

Honestly, I think Jim is right regarding the cost to salvage that 0 frame vs just buying an 0 frame 16 as a donor. The pitting was so severe on the right side of the 28, it would require countless hours of welding, flat filing, repeated times, before you get to the point of re engraving even the simple V grade borders, let alone the name, re-milling the screw pockets, and hope there is no distortion. It's only my opinion, but I think a gunsmith would agree, the estimate of $500 would be eaten up very quickly.

[Bill Murphy]

Dr. Truitt can buy a donor gun in great condition for his 34" sleeved 28 gauge for just a few hundred dollars. The sleeving and the stocking would be the only expense. I would estimate the value of a zero frame 16 or 20 with severely pitted barrels and nasty wood at about $600.

[Chuck Heald]

I didn't see the frame, so I dunno how bad it was. But welding and filing goes pretty fast.

Are 28ga 0 frame firing pin centers the same as a 16ga or 20ga 0 frame?

[Mike Shepherd]

Yep, but I expect the fences are different. The 28 should have smaller fences.

Best,

Mike

[Chuck Heald]

Just my opinion, but having filed annealed recievers before, it goes really fast with a big flat bastard. I think those pits looked shallow enough for an afternoon of work with any welding needed too. Maybe some of you have had different experience? The polishing always seems to take longer than filing and welding for me.

[Justin Julian]

But after all that is done, whatever it is that you have at that point wouldn't be a Parker any longer. If its a classy looking 28 gauge shooter that one wants, there's plenty of better options out there in the $6,000 (or less) price range, and without all the risk and work....like a Parker 28 gauge Repro, with $2K left in your pocket. No matter how one analyzes it, that purchase just doesn't add up.

[Chuck Heald]

Justin,
Some people have more time and skill than money and a different vision of what they want than others. Then there's a huge amount of pride in taking a gun like this and making it into a beautiful working gun again with your own hands. When you do something like that, it feels really good.

My opinion is; if I was looking for such a project, I'd much rather spend $2400 on this Parker 28ga and fix it up than $240 on similar condition Nitro or similar. The Nitro will never be worth much no matter how pretty it gets. The Parker 28 ga has such an inertia of followers that it stands the best chance of a the most ROI, if that's what the guy is after. But I'm guessing this is a project monger who bought this gun.

[Bill Murphy]

Yup, a project manager who likes 21" barrels or is on real good terms with a sleever.

[Chuck Heald]

It'd make a heck of a kid's skeet/upland gun.

[edgarspencer]

This thread reminds me of another, a few months back, when we were talking about "My Grandfather's Axe; 3 new handles, and 2 new heads".
I'm certainly no one to question the motives of someone who wants to restore something that could easily (or at least with less trouble) be replaced. I spent 5 years, and more money than i'd care to admit, restoring an 1892 steam launch. I didn't learn from that lesson and am now having a 1928 Old Town canoe restored. The company in Maine, doing the restoration could have built me a new one for around a grand less than the restoration.
Chuck, with all due respect, I can't help but think you're over-simplifying what is involved in restoring this gun, or at least, restoring it properly. The welding required to bring the frame back to it's original dimension will require post weld heat treat, to relieve the stresses. This will bring the basemetal to a soft, annealed condition, and then require another heat treat cycle to get it back to a suitable tensile strength, and ductility. The temps required, as Brad pointed out, are way higher than whats involved in simply renewing the colors achieved in re coloring an action. Distortion of the already machined surfaces are more than a likely result. This is all before getting to splicing in a new set of tubes and fitting new wood. In the end, anything that can be built, can be re-built, but at what cost?

[Chuck Heald]

Edgar,
I have done this type of work and found it simple, albeit time consuming. First on the list after disassembly and degreasing is annealing, then the file and weld work, polishing, any engraving needed, then out for casehardening, since I don't do casehardening myself. If you don't have the skills to do this work yourself and have to pay for it, I agree, it's a money pit. For someone who enjoys taking something unusable and making it a nice thing again, it's a rewarding project that would not cost much to accomplish.

[Mike Shepherd]

Must be one of those things like those people who spend tens of thousands of dollars each year to take birddogs out to the wilderness and walk behind them amongst the rattlesnakes and cactus from Sunrise to Sunset in the hopes of shooting a bird and netting twelve ounces of usable meat on an average day.

Best,

Mike

[Chuck Heald]

Who would do that? Sounds like a waste of money.:duck:

[charlie cleveland]

mike you hit the nail on the head...good train of thought... charlie