Time Capsule
 

This gun just walked into a local shop out of the blue. I went to check out a CHE, and after seeing this 1928 VH, sn 228118, completely forgot about the C.
I have occasionally used the expression 'new' or 'mint' in describing other guns, but seeing this was as exciting as seeing the Parker Order books, or going to the Smithsonian for the first time. I can now say, without reservation, that I have held a new, unfired Parker. The gun was made in 1928, and is, undoubtedly the closest thing to a gun as it left the factory. It is 100% in all respects; Blueing, Wood, and Case Hardened Colors.
I could have, and still can buy the gun, but after soul searching, decided it would be wasted on me in fairly short order. I have to be able to enjoy my guns in all aspects of owning them, which means being able to shoot them. It would be like falling in love with a virgin who could spend the rest of her life with you. After you got over the fact that you were loved in return, what would you most want to do with her?
These pictures simply do not do the gun proper justice. That's Gary Herman holding her.

...thanks for a rare glimpse into the past!

I am amazed at how bold the checking looks in the pictures. Nice to see a new one. Thanks Dave

Could youn put me in touch with the seller? Please send P.M. thanks Kenny Graft

David, that's exactly what I thought when I first laid eyeballs on it. Every facet of the gun set new benchmarks in my mind for what the factory did. Even the checkering on the safety button is sharp to the touch.
Gary and I have had a couple discussions about this gun since yesterday, and we each were giggling about it. To put any minds at ease, I've decided to at least take the girl to the dance. I'll be on my best behavior.

Sorry Kenny, There isn't a seller anymore. I couldn't resist.

As one poster said, "a rare glimpse into the past", wearing a pink shirt.:):)

congrats Edgar on the nice find. That must be a pretty nice gun shop what with the cased doubles in your first picture. So what about the C?

Beautiful, any story behind who or why this gun was preserved in pristine condition?

What a gun! Great find Edgar and hope to see it soon. Congratulations!

It takes a real man to wear pink, Bill. In fairness, it's more like that preppy Edgartown Red (other than summering there, no relation to me, Though my daughter Martha still refers to Marthas Vineyard as "My Vineyard")

Rich, that pic was back at Gary's house. Finding this gun was incongruous in that the shop is a little 'hole-in-the-wall' kind of place where you go to get .22s and general stuff. The owner has turned up some nice Parkers, including a 75% DHE that I bought a while back.

I'm going to get as much back-story as I can. That the gun was handled so little in the 85 years since new gives me hope the box may be kicking around.

Way to go buddy! I'm sure you felt just as I would have with a quickening pulse, dry mouth and rapid heart beat when that beauty was pulled out. Nice find and it proves that they're still out there. Now, I would'nt do this for anybody but I happen to be a self taught authority on virgins so if you would like to send it down to the Southern next week I'd would be happy to examine her thoroughly. For what's going on in Ct. with those crazy gun grabbers I feel she is not safe. By the way, nice shooting with you and the Ct. boys at Chuck's shoot.

It is cool to have a reference for the original case colors. You do not get to see that very much. I say shoot it. These guns were not made to sit in a box that is just my views anyway. First the 410 at a yard sale and now a mint VH in a small gun shop. What is next guy finds an A-1 in his attic?

Egger, We spoke of this great gun yesterday and I just knew then that you would talk yourself into it. Congratulations and thanks for sharing it with us.

Congrats, it is nice to know she is going to a good home where she will be appreciated and cherished . Edgar, glad you decided to take it! Andy

Edgar
I sent you a PM. Craig

Wow! Saying that is pretty just doesn't say it.

I know everybody says this, but it looks like the one my grandfather had when I was a kid. Not that nice I'm sure but that's the color wood and metal I remember. Of course I haven't seen the gun in over 40 years. Oddly enough I remember him telling me he bought it in 1928.

I'm going to have to stop by my uncles and ask him about his gun.

Blasphemy :shock:

They were made to be shot. If you want a closet queen/king, go to Vegas.

I must agree with Dean in that I wouldn't shoot such a gun. To remain new unfired is a rarity in the gun world and should be respected as such. To shoot this and render it to used condition woulld be a shame, ther are other guns that can be used.

Guess I should step in here and have a say. As most of you guys know I have a new unfired VHE skeet gun in the box that I care for. And that's what my job is, to care for it for the next caretaker. A gun unfired or in mint condition needs to be preserved to show others what real case colors look like (not what they think they should look like).... At one of the annual meetings the display theme was 16 ga Parkers Jimmy Hall's A 1 16 ga took first place (as it should have) and a lowly VHE skeet gun that was new in the box took second due to it's condition. All I am saying is, if you have a gem like that you are only a caretaker of it and you owe it to future generations to keep it in the condition that you found it. Just my two cents but you can find a gun in 80% to 90% condition if you want to use it and fire it but you only find a 100% gun once. Eric

As more and more people jump on to the "Shoot it! That's what it was made for." bandwagon fewer and fewer 100% guns will remain. (They are already as scarce as hen's teeth.) It is an unspoken trust when we buy such a gun to be its custodian only and to make sure it remains 100%.

I agree with Eric, Dean, and much as I hate to say it, Rich too. A new, unfired gun in the condition it was dispatched from Meriden is a benchmark to which many, including future collectors, can look to as a guide. To say it was made to be shot so go and shoot it is precisely what I would have said 50 years ago, when I began to accumulate guns. I never had an opportunity to see something made by a company, long, long gone, with a reputation such as the Charles Parker Company has, in precisely the condition it was in, as handled by the final inspector. I have more than a dozen pieces in the same configuration as this gun, and they are most likely the same in feel, and performance. A 1933 $20 gold double eagle was minted to be spent; The Flying Jenny 24 cent airmail stamp had the center plate mixed up, and the plane got downsideup, but it was made to be licked and stuck to a letter. If you're stupid enough to take a gun like this out and shoot it, you're gonna go mail Aunt Matilda a letter with the $825,000 airmail stamp, then go buy a burrito and a six-pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon with your twenty bucks.

I would not shoot it!!

I don't have a dog in this fight. I've never owned and never will own a gun like that. But if my rich uncle in the poorhouse was to die and leave me one in similar condition, I know I wouldn't shoot it.

Not only do they not make them anymore, they didn't make many that got to here in that condition.

I know it is a "bitch" to own a gun that you can't shoot, but, when you get to show it to others for comparision or just for knowledge, it's worth it. I know a couple of years ago, after I showed the skeet gun at the annual meeting, a man contacted me about selling the gun, after talking to him I found out the only reason he wanted to buy the gun was to shoot it and tell his buddy's he was the first to shoot it.......:cuss: As you know I turned the offer down. It's hard but when you show it to someone that has never seen an original gun it makes up for it.. Eric

Eldon, There was an AAHE 20 ga. attic find in the last Julia's auction!

I personally would shoot it if it were mine, but I understand the other side of the argument. My view is that nothing lasts for ever that stamp, that double eagle gold coin, and this mint parker will not be around forever. This gun is 85 years old what is that to the grand scheme of things. Will this gun be in this condition in 100 years or even 50 most likely not no matter what you do. Even our most treasured possessions like the declaration of independence and the Mona Lisa with all the money spent to preserve them continue to degrade. It is inevitable.
That being said I keep coming back to this tread to stare at this gun. The checkering especially is amazing.

From a monetary perspective you make an excellent point. If the value is deminished from shooting it you would be stupid to shoot it. I was not thinking in terms of money.

Eldon, If you appreciate the condition of the checkering, and the opportunity to come back a few times to look at it, it seems incongruous that you can't appreciate that I, and the others before me kept it this way. If I took your position, went out and shot it because "that's what it was made for" it would rapidly become just another 30" VH, and you, and all the Eldon Goddards after you wouldn't be able to be 'amazed'.
I have already been offered the chance to make a very significant profit, so that part of my thought process in deciding to buy it has been validated. I seriously doubt If I went out with a run of the mill VH and knocked down a pheasant, or busted a clay pigeon, it would feel any different than if I did the same with this gun. Eighty five years is very relative. The gun one serial number before, or after this one may be at, or beyond it's useful life. This one is still new. Given the same care for the next 85 years that it got for the last, it will still be new. Given that there are many here who feel as I do, and a few others who have PM'd me wanting it, I know that same process could go on indefinitely. Yes, it can be restored to new later on, and many times over, but then what gun can't be? They're just not the same anymore.
I may not keep the gun forever, but I get to choose who gets it next and that sure beats the joy of cash in the bank any day.

Eric, I am wondering if the casecoloring has a varnish like coat on it?
I had a 90% vh that had remnants of that type finish on the standing breech and was wondering if that is what the factory did.

I am glad to live in a time where Parkers are still around and that there are still some in original condition. However this will not go on indefinately no matter what we do. That was the point I was trying to make. One day all these guns that we love will be nothing but the iron oxide they came from. We can delay this but it will happen eventually.
I think you have convinced me that some should be put aside for preservation as long as possible. The others that are no longer in original condition can be used and enjoyed.
Luckily for everyone there is only one Eldon Goddard in the world.

No, you're right; it won't go on indefinitely but given care and attention, it can go on a long time. That's better than nothing.

Tom, I'm not sure Eric will be able to answer with respect to this gun, but I can. It has no coating on the outside of the receiver. There was a fine film of old dried oil on the breech face and water table. The gun appears to have been stored broken down.
It was an old practice to wipe tools down with linseed oil when they weren't going to used for some time. Farmers would wipe their harrow blades with linseed also, as well as most hand tools. This accounts for a lot of the dried film seen on guns too.

Mine does not have any type of coating on the receiver, I do know a lot of people who put finish on the receivers to cut down on wear of the case colors but I don't think that they came from the factory like that.

According to Lawrence DelGrego, whom I discussed this with when I was considering coating the case colors on my 16VH that he had just reconditioned, Parker did not coat their case colors when they left the factory. When case colors were coated,(by owners) it was usually with a shellac and this made the frames susceptible to capturing water underneath the coating which led to rust buildup. So the coating of case colors is a practice to be discouraged.

I have never heard of using shellac, but many people use Linspeed (boiled linseed oil and Japan Dryer)
Purdey and Holland both coat their receivers.
Most damascus barrel people use something akin to Linspeed also. In fact, I'd have to ere on the side of using it, as opposed to not using it.

Allen, you seem to be in pretty tight with the Delgrego people. why not get them to give up their ill-gotten record books. Seems to me they get enough business out of the PGCA, it's the least they could do.

It's always interesting to see these threads pop up. You never know which way they'll go. 6 months from now it could have been a case where everyone is harping about how guns were made to be used, not sit in a closet, and it's his gun so whatever he chooses to do with it is his business. But this time around everyone is taking the 'preserve it' tack. Oh well.

I once knew a guy who bought a '78 corvette Indy Pace Car with 7 miles. This was in the 90's. It still had the plastic wrap on the seats and he pulled it around on a trailer to show it off. Then, he couldn't resist driving it a little but he first disconnected the speedo cable so it stayed at 7 miles. After a while, the plastic got ripped up so he removed it, and one couldn't help notice the tires were getting awfully low on tread for being used just 7 miles. His plans really went south when he missed a turn and drove it under a barbed wire fence which put about 7 miles worth of scratches on his hood and fenders. Oh well.

Then there's a guy I know who was quite proud of his new girlfriend, he slyly confided in me that she was 'almost a virgin'........oh well.

Some 'almost virgins' perform very well. Oh well. lol

Here's another one
 

12ga, 1&1/2 frame, 30" VHE. Some day I'll get the lighting right.