The rib matting and that rib legend should be big tip offs too.

Dave, Jim Goergen's pictures did not make it easy to study the rib and the rib inscription. Shame on you, Jim. Maybe $250 is too generous. We turned down similar guns in the sixties for $75.

Del Grego case colors. Perhaps they are source of this thing.

PML

What is rib matting, the engraving? And the legend you mean the "Parker Bros" on the top of the rib? I imagine that gives a lot of info (that I'm not well versed on yet). Thank you.

Andy this is what the matting (the wavy lines if you will) and the rib legend should look like on a V grade.

Thank you Randy. I need to find a book that has all this stuff in it. I have the older Parker story book, but have been mulling the thought of that two volume set if that helps with the whole Parker picture. I think spending that money to prevent mistakes is money well spent if that has such information in it. I wish it wasn't crazy times because I'd rather go to a SxS event and handle them and talk to real humans about them.

The Parker Story is a must for any Parker aficianado IMO. Tons of useful information. Reading it is sort of like drinking from a fire hose I would suspect. Get yourself a copy, you will not be sorry.

Personally don't see how anyone could shell out 5K plus for an old Parker, without having it expertly appraised first.... I readily admit to not knowing an awful lot about them, it's part of why I signed up here. But, if I am spending that kind of money to buy a gun off the internet... I wan't to know EXACTLY what it is.

I don't mind taking a chance on a sub $1500 gun, but that's about it. I've done that a few times, and ended up with some nice guns, and some others that were not so nice. But at the sub $1500 price, you can usually sell them again and not get burned too bad.

I have to say, I find these threads like this very informative. There is so much to learn.

If you're spending $1500.00 on a Parker without knowing what you are doing, you had better have a serious Parker student standing next to you, unless you are willing to chance a $1300.00 mistake. You should not spend $5.00 on a Parker without knowing what you are doing.

Most places give a 3 day inspection which isn't enough time to get an appraisal or opinion unless you have someone near you. I'm not sure I have anyone near me in Upstate NY (or Northern PA). The other part of it is I hate to put people out and inconvenience them. I've scored some nice sub $1500 guns and a few duds but haven't been hurt too much. I would be sick to my stomach if I bought something like this gun in this thread.