I would imagine it in part had to do with Parker needing to sell guns in 1935.

DuBray isn't a name with broad recognition. Charles Askins, Jr or Sr, crosses a lot of different areas. Gun writer, Colts, Parkers, Law enforcement, brownings, military. Plus both are far more well known regarding their work with shotguns then Dubray is in the mainstream gunworld. I could post Dubray on most gun forums I go to and no one would know who he was, just about every foum I go to has had discussions about Askins jr or sr.

I'm getting the feeling you guys just don't have a proper appreciation for Askins the elder or the noted gunsmith Gladstone Blake Crandall. One of the longest running threads ever in the Browning section of Shotgunworld.com was on Major Askins Browning Superposed --

http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/view...?f=53&t=124719

Of course Parker Bros. told him to buy a new gun, they wanted to move some product! I know from the collectors point of view these modifications old Chas. had done are abhorrent, but the gun just could be a great shooter and have some great stories with it.

Bill,

A very reasonable assertion as far as I can see. Askins did a great deal of consulting with some of the double gun makers, at least as he tells it. History has an odd way of valuing individuals, and is quite fickle over time. I wonder if Askins might be on par with, say, McIntosh, a hundred years hence. McIntosh's guns were available after his untimely death, and as I recall there was a bit of a mark-up for his having owned and written about them.

On the Colts; I know absolutely nothing about them, but over the years of attending Rock Island auctions where they frequently have lots of Colts, I am very intrigued with the prices they command and the obvious interest in them. I still have a Colt double barrel shotgun on my "list" to buy. I'd sure like to sit by someone like you at an auction and learn a little more about them as they sell. Guns are fascinating fragments of history.

Indeed. Those guns which have been owned by the various characters of history are, to me, the most valuable. Otherwise they are more or less commodities.

Thus, to ME, a gun modified by Askins is imbued with a story about the hands and times of a great shooter. It's a part of America's sporting heritage. More so than a perfect gun in pristine condition. To ME, perfect guns are merely a time capsule of production standards.

To cite but a few, I've owned double guns once in the collections of President Theodore Roosevelt and Sir Winston Churchill's father. They were far more than guns. They were tactile connections to great men and great times. Men who held these very guns in their storied hands. And they were not perfect. The guns, nor the men.

But they were HISTORY!

Nash Buckingham's famous BoWhoop started life as an HE-Grade Super-Fox with XE-Grade wood and engraving.

Attachment 68632

Attachment 68633

By the early 1930s it had been worked over and restocked by Burt Becker to more nearly match his "Bartholomew" gun 33059 (lower gun in the above pic).

Attachment 68654

When found, BoWhoop's Becker stock was broken, and it was subsequently restocked and still sold for big dollars.

Cutbarrels
 

Garry, here is a copy of the letter with the aforementioned gun, It has been a while since I owned it and was wrong it is not a 12 ga it was 16 gauge

Do not know why it is sideways maybe someone can fix that, Gary

Oh I don't know squat about suctions. I just know what I have read. Regarding the askins border patrols. He modified and adjusted all of them they received while he was armorer. Some of the ones that can be linked to his time as armorer bring big bucks if still in correct condition. It probably also helps that many people don't seem to realize that col and maj askins are a son and fsther as opposed to one long lived individual.

As to the point on McIntosh, I have gotten a great deal of pleasure from his writings and while I could never afford it, I would love to own a parker that was his...or Rutledges or Buckinghams.

Just as I am certain Dean would rather own Burt Spiller's parker than a similar grade in factory mint condition?

Gary,

Thanks for posting the letter. I always find the letters interesting, especially when they chronicle guns returned for some kind of work. I still wonder about Askins reporting that Parker turned down his request to cut the barrels. I'm sure there's a bit more there than "meets the eye."

BTW, are you still in Floyd? I grew up in the Williamsburg/Yorktown area, and then lived in Mechanicsville for some years before leaving Virginia for good in pursuit of an education...and a job. I still miss Virginia.

Thanks again for taking the time to post that letter.