What Horror Is This?
 

Attachment 91078

A 28-gauge for only $7950 down from $12,500. Wonder what gauge it was when it left Meriden?

:eek:

I wonder what the serial number is?





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148781

Originally a 16 gauge, hmmm...





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Such guns were common in the sixties when various US and European firms were making those faked up barrels and guns. Where was this gun advertised?

Guns International Bill.

I looked at this one earlier in the week and thought to myself, Oh my gosh I hope some unknowledgeable buyer doesn't get separated with his money.

Seeing things like this makes a good case of why you need to educate yourself about Parkers before you take the leap. Just because it's technically a 28ga now, doesn't mean it can bring anywhere close to Parker 28ga value. "Buyer be Ware"

I thought Jim Goergen was more honest than to display a gun like this for sale with no comment about its originality. Missing its original barrels, this is at most a $250 gun.

Can I use this as a learning lesson from you folks?? Maybe someone like ME would look at this and buy it, but the point is how does one learn what to look at before buying? Ask on this forum? (at the risk of sounding like an idiot maybe?) But anyways, without a serial number search when I looked at the listing (with my minimally trained eye) there are THREE things I noticed off the bat. Please correct me if I'm wrong or tell me what the more experienced folks noticed that I missed so I (and maybe others) can learn:

1. First, why such a huge price drop? That always makes me wonder what is wrong
2. The barrels look too small for the action and I would ask about frame size (but not sure I would have noticed this right away without the OP and others saying this was not a 28 originally)
3. The dolls head doesn't seem to fit?

Other things obvious to others may not be noticed by me and that's my list so far.

A perfect doll's head is the first thing I look for... if nothing else is glaringly wrong.

There are plenty of examples of a perfect doll's head fit out there.

Further, the earliest 28 ga. Parkers were built on the 0-frame and the light 16's were also built on the 0-frame. A practiced gunsmith should be able to seamlessly fit one to the other with no discernable "horrors".


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The rib matting and that rib legend should be big tip offs too.

Dave, Jim Goergen's pictures did not make it easy to study the rib and the rib inscription. Shame on you, Jim. Maybe $250 is too generous. We turned down similar guns in the sixties for $75.

Del Grego case colors. Perhaps they are source of this thing.

PML

What is rib matting, the engraving? And the legend you mean the "Parker Bros" on the top of the rib? I imagine that gives a lot of info (that I'm not well versed on yet). Thank you.

Andy this is what the matting (the wavy lines if you will) and the rib legend should look like on a V grade.

Thank you Randy. I need to find a book that has all this stuff in it. I have the older Parker story book, but have been mulling the thought of that two volume set if that helps with the whole Parker picture. I think spending that money to prevent mistakes is money well spent if that has such information in it. I wish it wasn't crazy times because I'd rather go to a SxS event and handle them and talk to real humans about them.

The Parker Story is a must for any Parker aficianado IMO. Tons of useful information. Reading it is sort of like drinking from a fire hose I would suspect. Get yourself a copy, you will not be sorry.

Personally don't see how anyone could shell out 5K plus for an old Parker, without having it expertly appraised first.... I readily admit to not knowing an awful lot about them, it's part of why I signed up here. But, if I am spending that kind of money to buy a gun off the internet... I wan't to know EXACTLY what it is.

I don't mind taking a chance on a sub $1500 gun, but that's about it. I've done that a few times, and ended up with some nice guns, and some others that were not so nice. But at the sub $1500 price, you can usually sell them again and not get burned too bad.

I have to say, I find these threads like this very informative. There is so much to learn.

If you're spending $1500.00 on a Parker without knowing what you are doing, you had better have a serious Parker student standing next to you, unless you are willing to chance a $1300.00 mistake. You should not spend $5.00 on a Parker without knowing what you are doing.

Most places give a 3 day inspection which isn't enough time to get an appraisal or opinion unless you have someone near you. I'm not sure I have anyone near me in Upstate NY (or Northern PA). The other part of it is I hate to put people out and inconvenience them. I've scored some nice sub $1500 guns and a few duds but haven't been hurt too much. I would be sick to my stomach if I bought something like this gun in this thread.

Knowledge is learned. Go to the PGCA's home page and educate yourself by studying all the links on the left. That's the place to start. Build from there by physically seeing and handling as many Parkers you can and comparing them to what you have learned from this site. I'm always learning new things I didn't know.

Lets just put it this way, NO gun should look the way that thing does. Forget parkers. No gun. Even the lowest quality ones.

A person is at risk and not serious about Parkers unless they own , read and study The Parker Story. We are fortunate to have that available.

Andy
Your not far from Hausmann’s Hidden Hollow, typically you’ll find a bunch of us there end of the first week in June. We all missed being there together last year. Some of us hit Rock Mountain the Sunday after, also Rock Mountain had a great side by side shoot last August.

Your not out in the desert, there are a lot of Parkers in those mountains.

I think I'd go $250.00.

Easy enough to say Bill. 5$? Hyperpole I hope? In the real world most of us have made mistakes as well as good deals. That is called learning.

Being new to the forum, I have relied on a few members expertise before making a decision, they have all saved me from mistakes and I thank them all.

We sometimes buy things because we may want to flip them and make a little, others we buy because we want them.

I joined to learn about these fine guns, so that I may hopefully learn and pass onto others.

Hi Brett, I planned on attending those until the COVID hit and hopefully this year will see some events. I'm ordering the book today. I've wasted that much on a bad dinner before with friends, a book on my shelf is probably money wisely spent. Thank you everyone for the great information.

I feel I know enough about what I am looking at, to feel comfortable spending up to that price on a gun. I did talk to some other people about the gun, had them check it out, and it all matched the books, etc. I had 3 days to look it over, and it was as I expected, actually a little bit nicer than I expected.

I would never spend more than that without first having the gun in hand, or a solid inspection period, etc.

I have bought a couple guns that were considerably less than $1500, and ended being a lot nicer than the price I paid. A 16ga Philly Fox comes to mind... If I make a mistake, that's on me, but I know that going in. Everybody has that price point where it becomes high enough to warrant a more thorough examination than just some pics on the web.... And for some guys it might be $5000, for others $200.....

I am not a serious collector, and buy guns I plan to use in the field.... So, spending a huge sum of money for a collector grade & condition gun has no interest to me. I would love to have guns like that, but not for the amount of money they usually require to own... Probably why I don't own a 28 or even a 20ga Parker right now. :D

That's the worst "roll stamp" I've ever seen. Outrageous.

Andy, If you are in Upstate New York, you are within 5 hours max of either Brian, or Delgrego, or even Turnbull.
All these people would be able to evaluate a Parker, and inform you of any issues with it.

I’ve purchased cars and had a pre-purchase inspection before taking delivery. I’m not sure how it works on a gun when you have a short window of time and these guys are all very busy. Do I call spur of the moment and ask them to evaluate it and pay them for their time? Anytime I’ve dealt with anybody who has knowledge of guns they are extremely busy but I consider it money well spent. I’ve bought a handful of Porsches and had dealerships do pre-purchase inspections and I’ve rejected a few before I took delivery based on issues. But in this case its different because I take delivery first and then have 72 hours to return it if I don’t like it.

Yup, that's the way it is, 72 hours. Except, of course, a purchase made at auction, which is not returnable if you believe the auction blurb. I have never read an entire auction blurb, so I can only assume that a gross misrepresentation is an exception, but I don't know that for a fact. Auction blurb goes to multiple pages. I have never tried to return and internet or auction purchase, been very lucky, I guess. I look real close at the pictures.

I don't think the Parker in question will get better when in hand. There are too many other nice guns available for this kind of money (ridiculous), I wouldn't consider buying this gun, even with a three day inspection.

Bill I bought my Parker Repro and of course it had a "no shooting" 3 day inspection. It looked fine and was as promised. However, when I got to shoot it a week later, it doubled, or wouldn't fire the second barrel. So I called the dealer and told them and they paid for the trigger repair rather than take the gun back. So there was some wiggle with them and I did appreciate that. I always wondered why there was a no firing period and that seems a bit disingenuous.

Because there are always the few who will indiscriminately stuff anything into the chambers and touch it off, sometimes to the detriment of the gun, we need to protect ourselves from those few.





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I guess I see that point Dean, thanks.

Andy, the Parker Serialization and Identification book is a good investment too. Very handy and plenty of photos to help you along.

Should be here this week : )