Looking for Best Collectable Parker SxS
 

I am looking to invest in several Parker SxS guns. Would appreciate any recommendations as to which guns and reasonable price range.

welcome to the board

are you a hunter.shooter and will use the guns

or are you using the term "invest" as in speculation/profit


if the first - let us know how you plan to use them

if the later- buy the high grades in remarkable condition and there may be some chance to call them investments.

you can get an idea of what they sell for by following gunbroker and watching what the actually sold guns went for

Better yet, as for high grade, high condition, small bore Parker investment values, get some recent auction catalogs from Julia's, Rock Island, Butterfield's, Morphy's, etc. and you'll see what you're looking for.




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First, thanks for your replies. I just love collecting great guns so mostly will keep them in safe but may shoot once or twice.

Go to the March Julia auction and buy all the Parker .410s. This will be a great start. Let us know how you do.

If you're not actually going afield and truly experiencing the gun, consider only the highest condition guns before thinking about grade or gauge. There's still hope you'll see the error of your ways, and actually get out there and shoot them.

Yeah you're probably right about shooting and hunting. Maybe one for hunting and one for safe keeps.

One and one? Yeah, Your wife will really believe that. Not around here though.

I would suggest you buy the Parker Guns by Ed Muderlak and read chapter 8 Collecting Parkers about three times. Also pick up DGJ Vol 5 Issue 1 and read Charlie Price's article Parker Economics. Both give excellent advice on collecting Parkers that is still valid today. Don't count on making an investment return it is extremely difficult and your education can be very expensive. Still it is a great hobby that returns much more than money.

Well said Craig, The joy of the hunt and pleasure of owning a Parker for me is what its all about , Gary

Don't leave home without your checkbook. Parkers are where you find them.

Ralph,I see you live in Vienna Virginia,you may find a Parker at the Nation's Gun Show.The next show Feb.12,13 & 14 at the Dulles Expo Center,look for John Allgood on aisle 8 John always has Parker's for sale. J.J.

Thanks all. Really appreciate your advice.

This thread reminded me of Donald Rumsfeld (ex Secretary of Defense, etc) in a way. I remember him talking about "knowing what you know" and "knowing what you don't know"--the one to worry about is "not knowing what you don't know"
You can read a couple of books, a few articles and maybe even go to a few gun shows--at the end there is still a lot that is not known That is when buying anything for investment gets risky. Maybe get some assistance from someone that can help?

Ralph,
Buying classic side by sides without a strong knowledge base upon which to rely to judge condition, originality and real value is a sure fire way to make big mistakes and lose a lot of money.
Read a lot about Parkers and look at many before even buying one. Get help from those who are knowledgeable and willing to help. You will find that assistance here on this site and everywhere the PGCA is found.
Good luck and good hunting!!
Bob Jurewicz

Investment Potential
 

Here is my best Parker, a nice G grade, that I hope has good upside investment potential. Maybe the experts can tell me how much this will be worth in twenty years when it becomes available to some lucky buyer.

Its not every day you find a gun like this. Do you think it will lose value if I take it hunting?

BD, if you tell us where you live, we could possibly recommend a good gunsmith in your area:rotf:

Mr. BD, I have a baggo Parkers like you pictured. I like them just fine, but don't plan on making a large profit on them. Thanks for the pictures.

I already have a Good master gunsmith and next I will be looking for an auction service.

And I'm not telling anybody where I live because Obama's minions will come track me down and take my prize.

Yes sir I couldn't agree more !

I used to buy stuff I didn't plan on shooting . But not any longer :whistle:

Nice gun Bruce! I'd recommend a few more coats of Behr Liquid Rawhide log house finish for that beauty.

I've seen and heard that said for many, many years now from Charlie Price, Austin, and a number of others and I think the order, as I remember, is Condition, Gauge, and Grade - but there may from time to time be overriding factors that skew that order. A low condition CHE 8 gauge, or a AHE .410 in very used condition (auctioned at something like $119k) would certainly skew the order.





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Dean makes excellent points. Rarity certainly plays a role in desirability as does some provenance. Weird rarity (4"drop, 12"LOP etc) kills value even if condition is high. Just one friendly piece of investing advice-----large bore large frame waterfowl guns with damascus barrels are a very poor investment stay away from them at all costs.:rotf::rotf::rotf:

8 gauges are bad investments too :rolleyes:

Much as I like my Parkers can't say any are investments. About the only way I can see to make money on guns is buy low and sell high. Might have done that twice after 50 years enjoying fine vintage firearms. Enjoyment they have given me is priceless.

William

i agree with william....charlie

A pocketful of Benjamins are probably better in this day an age rather then a personal check .

The learning curve in buying collectable Parkers is steep and expensive. I was lucky and was befriended by a long time collector and received some great advise from an honest dealer. It is really easy to make a very expensive mistake that can cost you half of the price paid for a gun.
If you just want an interesting investment there are several available without the hazards of Parkers. I love the guns, owning and shooting, and am happy to just get my initial investment back when I sell. Good Luck
David

While most of us could probably sell our guns for more than we paid, I wouldn't call it a good investment. Compare the annual increase in value to a passbook savings account, and you might not be very far ahead. Advantage of selling guns is that if it is done privately, your rich uncle in Washington need not know. The problem is the awkward problem of dying with a safe full of guns. Unless she is a very involved wifey, she will have to wholesale out the guns, and there goes your appreciation.
From a non-financial standpoint, our guns are more fun that stock certificates, and have led many of us to meet a great new group of friends

If you are looking for an investment, look to real estate, the stock market or something more traditional.

Trouble with any investment they all have a "load" Sell your house it's going to cost you 12 % sell a fine double through one of the Auction Houses 1/3 of sale price gets skimmed right off the top. You need a lot of appreciation to make up for the load.

I have a neighbor that has always bought and sold guns. Started with Colt SAA's many years ago when he was in the service in the Pacific Northwest. Spent his off time looking for them. Long time significant owner of SSA’s well known on the circuit. Sold them all moved into Henry Rifles fewer guns much more money tied up. Now says he has the market cornered on Colt Burgess Lever Actions. Must have 3 dozen. He still has a load it's the expense traveling to gun shows buying cheap and meeting up with interested buyers. Never goes through Dealers.

He get his pleasure out of the deal. Honest I don't think he likes guns that much at all. He never shoots them.

William

And then there are the 'hoarders' who buy any and all they can find regardless of the grade, condition, or price, and the vast majority of the guns they hoard will never see the light of day until the day they die. Then the market becomes flooded thereby causing a devaluation of the ones we have in our comparatively meager collections.





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Right, Dean, we're going to lose our asses when we try to sell our "junk". :rotf::rotf::rotf: On a more serious note, William Davis brings up the subject of the "brand switcher" who really has no love for the guns but wants to be where the action is. I am not real fond of those guys.

I kinda thought a stable full of hookers and some good farmland in Columbia had a better turn around although a bit more chancey LOL's !

I dunno if I'm a hoarder but you can bet your backside if I can buy it right I'm gonna do so . It may stay with me a few days months years or my life . But I'm not adverse to buying one or two keeping them a bit and rolling them over for a profit and buying something else .

Seems to me the majority of yawl do the same thing .

I probably sell a dozen or so each year . And most years I acquire that many or more .

I won't deal with any of the auction houses as a seller . Nothing against them I just don't care for the cut they take and yes I realize they need to make money as well . I sell exclusively on Gunbroker and generally if I sell a $1000 gun GB gets $18 a $2000 is usually about $30 . I can deal with that . Sold a couple in the $7000+ range and never paid GB more then $250 .

The whole thing is like someone told me before I went to the Baltimore Show the first time , keep your eyes open for anything that's priced at a good buyers price . Don't be focused on one particular thing as you'll overlook others .

Now granted if you don't buy and sell and want say an AHE 20 gauge that's what ya want and that's all you're looking for .

Am I really going to be the first to recommend The Parker Story, 4 pages in to the thread?

Acquiring vintage american made side by side shotguns is about little more than greed and gluttony - we all want them all. Investments? I wish I had started buying ammo several decades ago. Now that would have been a good investment. Perhaps good enough to justify the expense of my guns.