Trojan vs Trojan
 

Recently a true auction just ended that featured the two Trojan’s described below, in the auctioneer’s own words. I watched with interest to see which gun would attract the most interest and sell for the highest amount. Conventional wisdom states that refinishing a gun lowers it value and decreases its desirability. The market place might beg to differ. What’s your conclusion?

(1) “Parker Trojan, 12 ga. side by side shotgun. Serial #205455, mfg. 1923. Professionally reconditioned to excellent condition! Looks factory new with fresh barrel blue, case-color and new wood. Nice! 30" ribbed barrels have nice bores. Action has been tightened. Double triggers. Extractors. Dogshead hard buttplate. Rescrewed. Nice checkering. Vivid markings. Gorgeous!”

(2) “Parker Trojan, 12 ga. side by side shotgun. Serial #222015, mfg. 1926. Good condition. Neat old Trojan from the "Roarin' 20's" with 28" Trojan Steel barrels. Left bores is nice and shiny, right bore has just one or two rough spots that could scrub out. Choked M/F. Fading blue on barrels. Vivid markings. Wood is good with hunting marks - Pac pad has been professionally fitted. LOP is 14 1/8" over pad. 25% case color on receiver. Tight action. Double triggers. Extractors. Shows plenty of field use - freckling on barrels in places and some patina starting on the receiver carry area. Checkering is good with some smoothness. Plenty of zip left in this American Classic!”


#1 had 37 bidders and sold for $900
#2 had 16 bidders and sold for $490

Mike, both guns were a buy, but the original was a steal :shock: You get it ?

The first gun's price reflected it's refinished condition. The amount it brought is what I would have expected.

The 2nd gun's barrel length, added pad and well used condition held it back. Had it had 30" bbls., original butt plate and higher condition it's auction selling price would have been undoubtedly much higher than the first gun's selling price.

I didn't get or bid on either gun. I just watched to see what would happen. Thought it was interesting

I have seen the refinished gun on the site three times in the past year plus. That is the lowest price at which it has closed. The site is listed as the seller.

Might be wrong, but I would expect to see it again until it sells for the price wanted, unless someone really got it this time. It had no chokes listed and I called and twice they said they would get back with me but they did not, so I did not bid. No use for a 30" cylinder and cylinder if that is what it turned out to be. You never know about the chokes or if a gun has been honed to paper-thin on this site as they have no way to accurately measure them. So they are always a big gamble. You'll notice that most of the guns do not mention choke.

"Action has been tightened" What does that really mean? A hammer to the barrel lug as many old timers did?

Those are good points Jerry. I didn't know the gun was previously listed. Are you saying they are straw man bidding?

I can't say that because I don't know. But if the last purchaser relisted it, he lost quite a bit of money this time. It may be sold this time, maybe to someone here as the same bidder got another Parker VH.

I saw a 16 Sterlingworth I was interested in, and it sold cheaply. I kicked myself for not bidding. But one never knows how determined the other bidder is so one can't say they could have gotten it for $10 more. Well it showed up again, same gun. This time for far more money at which point I was not interested. Have not seen it since.

An individual buying their own gun back when it does not bring what they want is not something I have a problem with; it is only 3% so one can always try to sell again later. Stay tuned.

That's true. I guess the auction house is getting paid either way.

Paid--You betcha
 

They are akin to whorehouses- they always get paid, and they are run by pimps- Three things that will always prosper in hard times- funeral directors, auctioneers and mortgage bankers who go "short"! Bet on it.:shock:

Please tell us which auction site?

The guns are listed on gunrunner. Page 1 has both trojans

I have felt that there were straw bidders on
Several sites. I was buying 1 to 2 Parkers a month and fixing up most of the guns that needed a little work. Several times I noticed
That an unknown bidder with no history would bid in the last few seconds and keep on bidding no matter what price. I would follow up and I suspected that the seller would register a fake bidder. This caused me to lose interest. Have others had this experience?

The simple lesson here is that you can't look at a sample group of two of anything and expect to come away with 'proof' of anything.

That's a good point too, Greg. I know that collector interest on either gun would be nil. But,
I thought it interesting to watch these two guns go head to head.

The $900 gun was a full Del Grego restoration. It was a great buy at that price.

Jerry, how did you determine that "The site was listed as the seller"?

Bill,

You go to bid history and the seller is listed there. Sometimes it is the site and other times an individual. You can ask the "seller" a question.

Thanks for the information.