DuBray Gun
 

Hats off to Dean, on a great article about the DuBray AA Hammer gun, just got my Parker Pages and read the article first, Did OR Dickey have it for a while on loan? Gary

I don't know the answer to that question Gary but my impression is that he certainly knew of its existence and had probably examined it.





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i got my parker pages today and this was a fine hammer gun and mikes storey is really good..dont like much finish reading it....great job and well done you folks that put the parker pages out....charlie

Great article on an amazing hammer Parker!

Is this the gun found in or around Newport, Ky?

No Mike - The duBray AA came from a family in the Northwest. Great, great grandson of duBray.





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OR Dickey was a Parker "Potentate" and acted as a conduit for many of his wealthy friends who expressed an interest in Parker Guns. He bought, sold, traded and kept a small "library" of better grade guns for his friends to examine, borrow, shoot and many subsequently placed orders with him for nice Parkers. As with other active promoters, Parker Bros. kept up a lively commerce with these individuals, and it is not unusual to see continuing entries ongoing in the Order Books for the same gun being sent back and forth between Parker Bros. and these "unofficial" reps, always hoping for a firm order for a high grade gun. The transit of the DuBray hammer pigeon gun between him, Parker Bros. and Dickey is a good example.

Really Enjoyed it Dean

There are some very historically important duBray/Custer documents that will be auctioned in the same auction with the AA hammer gun. I was asked not to publish those because of their uniqueness and the information they contain. But interested folks should watch the JDJulia/Morphy auction coming up at the end of October.





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Orren R. Dickey jobbed many Parkers in the same realm and quality level as the DuBray gun. He was a high volume Parker dealer as well as a high average pigeon and trap shooter. He was the epitome of the Parker Brothers insider. Of all Parker people I would have wanted to meet and spend time with, I rank them DuBray, Orren Dickey, and William Wagner, possibly not in that order. All three of these guys came up in the very early days of competition shooting and all three were hard core competitors as well as Parker shotgun salesmen and promoters.

Ok. I was thinking about another hammer gun of his that surfaced maybe 8 - 10 years ago. It was featured in a DGJ article. It will be interesting to see what the 3 barrel set goes for.

It certainly has the potential to be the top selling American SXS we have seen since 168304 - the Czar’s Parker.




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The first report of Dickey competing in Sporting Life was 1895
http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrar.../SL2425017.pdf

1895 DuPont Live Bird Championship
O.R. Dickey, of Boston, Mass., used a very handsome Parker Bros, hammerless gun, of the Pigeon model, and his load consisted of 50 grains, or about 3 1/2 drams by measure, of American “E.C.” powder, 1 trap wad, one 3/8 inch pink felt, one 1/4-inch pink edge, and 1 1/8 ounce of No. 7 chilled shot in the United States Cartridge Co.'s “Rapid” shells (he was a USCC Rep), 2 3/4”.
http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrar.../SL2606012.pdf

He won the 1896 GAH and used the same load and gun
http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrar.../SL2701022.pdf

He also operated a shooting park in Wellington, Mass., and marketed a "Dickey" target (not the "Dickey Bird" out of K.C.)

He was still a Professional Rep in 1916
http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrar.../SL6722021.pdf
http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrar.../SL6823021.pdf

Isn't this the same gun of DuBray's that Ed Muderlak discovered and eventually bought? It was a very good article by Dean.

Thanks very much Mills.

Ed never discovered it but rather researched and uncovered it's whereabouts. And Ed never bought the gun either. It has come from the Great Grandson of A.W. duBray to finally be auctioned in late October.

I think Ed understood the historical significance of the gun and the artifacts that were with it and I'm sure he understood the potential value of it all and it's my bet that he never would have made an offer on the gun but rather would have delighted in seeing it come to auction to reach its full value.

Too bad Ed didn't live to see this happen.





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The gun Ed bought was a AAHE Pigeon Gun, sn 83550, engraved and signed by Henry Gough. Ed had some trepidation about buying a restored gun vs. one in original condition and we had several discussions back and forth regarding same. My bottom line was, "you could always wait for the next one to come along." Ed being Ed, he wrote the check.

An outstanding piece of Parker history and a well written article Dean. It will be interesting to see what it hammers at, I may have to go watch!

I may bid on it just to say I did....






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Watch out, Dean. Judging from today's RIA auction, your trivial first bid may buy you a gun. I had no idea the market had sunk this low. As I recall, Ed's AA grade gun was owned by another Parker salesman, not Gaucho.

Kevin may go down in history for the greatest line ever muttered about the collecting of rare Parkers with a wart or two. "You can always wait until the next one comes along." When, exactly, do you plan on finding "the next one"?

Bidding was slow on Rock Island yesterday.

Tell me about it. Were you there, Mills?

I was online watching. To answer the question you want to ask, I won an early Remington GH

Assuming you won the straight grip GH with special steel barrels? Don’t go calling that a “beater,” at least until you beat the heck out of it in the duck blind. Great article, by the way. And great gun/buy.

-Victor

+1, I finally got around to reading that yesterday, great article.

Thank you all!

Muderlak visited DuBray's last living Grandson and viewed all the Custer documents years ago. He had several of the originals on loan and I handled them when I was visiting him one time. He knew of the gun, I believe examined it on one occasion, but never wrote about it for one reason or the other.

The pigeon gun Ed owned was a hammerless and had been the personal gun of S.A. Tucker.

I looked at the photos online and I see what looks like a weep hole in one of the barrels. Hope no one hot blued it. Will be very interesting to see the hammer price

Right Destry, Muderlak's letter to that grandson is included in the article. The grandson actually sent the original documents, letters, and such to Ed and he and Nancy were blown away that the originals (not copies) were sent for his examination.And I believe you're right in that Ed had personally examined the gun.

I think Ed was gentleman enough to have discussed with the grandson the gun and its provenance and that it should someday go to auction in order to realize its true potential among the collecting public and that he would keep a lid on it until such time.






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Yes, he mailed them to the house, that's where I saw them. Then Ed flew out to California and returned them so he could look at some other things the old fella had. The guy lived in an ancient trailer on a piece of land that was worth millions of dollars. While Ed was there some Real Estate Scalper actually came beating on the door and the guy threatened to call the police before he would leave. He told Ed it happened daily, that his land was worth millions, but he had no reason to sell and didn't need the money.