A .410 Parker Story with No Yard Sale
 

What seems like a PGCA lifetime ago, my phone rang very late at night. Usually, that would be Jack Puglisi in a dither, but this time it was Ron Kirby. Things had not always been smooth with Ron and me, so I was very curious. Ron had received a call from a Parker owner who needed advice and an appraisal of his late uncle's gun. He asked if I would call the man and try to give him a hand. Yup, I can do that. The next day I called the gentleman and asked how I could help him. He and his brother jointly own their uncle's gun and want to sell it and split the money. I asked where the gun was located and was given an address in Bethesda, Maryland. When I was fourteen years old, I bought my first Parker, a 28 gauge, from a young man in Bethesda. From my then place of employment, The Gentleman Hunter gun store, I could have seen the Parker if the owner had held it over his head. We made an appointment for a visit with the Parker and its owners. It turned out to be a wonderful, all original, field used VHE Skeet .410 with a scarce capped pistol grip zero frame size stock with original checkered butt. The sale was not immediate, requiring my hand typed four or five page appraisal, which was presented to Butterfield's for approval. Apparently, Butterfield's pronounced my appraisal complete and honest and suggested that the brothers pick a number and sell the gun to me. Wow, that was a piece of news. A number was selected from the appraisal, agreed on by all parties, and the deal was done within a few days of Ron's call. In my junk pile, I had a nice 28 gauge Abercrombie and Fitch VC case which Kevin McCormack elegantly refitted for the .410 and presented to me with a gift wrapped box of .410 skeet loads, which still live in the case with the gun and snap caps. The crack in the forend was repaired by Dewey Vicknair and everything else works as new. The brothers told me the gun had never been fired at a clay target, its only use being as a Northern Virginia bird gun. The gun is pictured on the cover of the August 2004 Skeet Shooting Review.

Thanks for posting that story

Great story Bill ,would love to see some Pictures !:corn:

Nice story Bill.

Pictures? Bill? Just bring it to the Southern Bill, we'll save you the trouble of trying to emerge into the 21st century.:bigbye:

Funny; that's not who called me when I finally got a shot at my first .410!

Seems I was born in the heart of Parker country at the Bethesda Naval Hospital. It must be kismut:rotf:

You were born in Bethesda and have conservative values? Now that's kismut!

bill thats a good storey...to have a parker 410 is the ultimate in my book.... charlie

Charlie, I know you would rather have another eight.

to be honest my heart does go out to the 8 ga but the pretty little 410 would look nice setting beside a big ole 8... charlie

Bill, I love your reading your stories, but you need a camera. Want us to start up a collection for ya?

Bill can afford the camera what he would need is a tutor on how to use it:rotf:

A .410 Parker is a fantasy gun to me. Not a necessity, but something that stirs the soul.
I can't afford one at the moment, but I can imagine opening day doves, or bird ranch quail hunts with the Barbie Doll of the shotgun world.
I say keep the .410 reports flowing.

I have longed for, lusted after, dreamed of a Parker 410 for decades but spending that kinda of cash on a VHE just wasn't as apealing as the actual gun. I did the next best thing and bought a CSM Fox FE 410. Its a great gun for the money and satisfies my 410 craveings.

I have to be honest ,I love my Parker 410 ,there is hardly a day goes by ,I don't get it out just to take a look at it ! They're not cheap by any means but how do you put a price on that much enjoyment ! It was a major decision to purchase it ,and I had to trade some other very unique guns to make it possible but ,with that said , there is no buyers remorse here I would do it again today ! :) Russ

till i find my parker 410 the little stevens 410 will have to do.... charlie

My Stevens .410 is one of my favorite non Parker guns too. It took me almost as long to find just the right one as it did for me to find my Parker.

Owning Parker .410s are like owning a boat....two of the happiest days of your life are the day you buy it and the day you sell it. Currently, a worst-kept secret is that the 28 gauge is the new .410.....they are definitely 'wispy' guns (as in, "Will O' The Wisp").

My dad gave me a single barrel 410 when I reached the age of twelve (12) it's a Springfield made by Stevens I believe and I have it today and it probably holds as much memory and meaning (or more) to me as my Dad's (and his Dad's) 16 VH which I have also. The 410 single will go to my grandson.

Kevin, as you know, I like the 28s too. I just took out my "first Parker" to the skeet range this week and was impressed by my "muscle memory". Although it is bored modified and full and I am nearly blind in my right eye, I had moments of glory and probably broke 15 in the first round. I quit after that. I probably haven't shot the old girl in ten years.

Bill I took a 28 to the Sporting Clays range today, a first for this one. thought I'd better try it out befor the Southern:rotf:

I'm happy to hear that the 28 is the new 410, maybe 60 will become the new 40 but with less work ahead:whistle:

Don't kid yourself on that my friend. I always thought life became easier when you get into "the autumn of your life" but it's not turning out that way. Maybe retirement will prove me wrong - I sure hope so.

Thanks for all the "Thumbs Up" for my story. It's the only way I know how people feel about my my attempts to share my Parker life. I have had a heck of an experience with Parkers, both before and after PGCA. I'm not much of a seller, more of a student and a buyer, so I still have most of the great guns I have found over the years.

Bill, I know you sold at least one gun.....In fact I shot it yesterday.....:)

Linda will be the seller...but not anytime soon I hope.