Selling Parker for Grandma
 

Hello Parker Forum,

My Grandmother recently asked me to sell her late husband's Parker. One of my friends is interested. I need to determine a fair price for the gun but feel overmatched after buying a couple of pricing guides and visiting a couple of local shops that didn't seem to know much about Parker. Can anyone help? Thanks for your time. Here's what I know:

20 ga, serial 157205, 1911, hammerless, VH, Pat'd Mar 26 1878, big 3 & little 1 under barrel, vulcan steel, pictures attached (I hope). Unfortunately was refinished and the stock was replaced years ago.

Thank you for your time. Chip Sutton
P.S. I have no financial interest in this gun.

Chip,

In the past this forum did not allow selling of firearms on this forum but recently a new section was added for just that purpose. To gain access to that forum feature, you will need to become a member of the Parker Gun Collectors Association. Buying and selling here is one of the many benefits of being a PGCA member.

Hi Robin. I wasn't trying to sell here, just looking for price help to do my Grandmother a favor. From reading past posts, it looked like it might be available. I understand if not. I'm not a gun collector. Either way, you all have a great site. Sorry for not quite following procedure. I was trying...

Chip Sutton

Chip: I have a soft spot in my heart and soul for guns with family provenance. Those I do not sell. But, that's just me. If grandma wants/needs the $$, I would of course help her too. (I think I would give her some cash and keep my grandfather's gun, but that's just me). Anyway, to get an idea of value, check out gunbroker.com and search for Parker 20. Recognize these are asking prices and sales often go for somewhat less. You have a plus in it being a 20 gauge and, for some, a minus because of a replacement stock. If a friend gave my grandma $2000 for the gun, I would be happy. A stranger would have to pay more :) Hope this helps you a bit.
Cheers,
Jack

Chip,

It is hard to tell from the pictures how good or poorly the Parker was buffed before being blued. It looks like a good job of restocking. If unmolested a 20 gauge VH should fetch about $2,500.00 or better if in good shape. Hard for me to put a price on your grandaddy's Parker. If it had been my grandfathers it would stay in the family.

Kindest, Harry

chip i agree with what jack and harry said about your grand mothers gun.....from 1800.00 to 2500.00 would be a fair price for gun....look on gunbroker and you can get a fair idea of what your gun is worth...beware of high prices for low grade guns...they never get any bids.....myto cents worth.... charlie

Chip: All of the foregoing is good sound advice, especially giving your grandmother the cash and keep the Parker in the family. I've bought & sold a lot of guns over the years but one that I will NEVER sell is my Dad's Fox Sterlingworth. A few years before he passed I had it restored to "like new" and presented it back to him. You should have seen the look on his face! It took him back 40 years.

Best Regards, George

Thanks to all who have responded and kindly offered advice. It has been very helpful and added some needed perspective.

Best wishes,

Chip Sutton

Chip if you have no interest in the shooting sports or any sentimental attachment to the gun then by all means sell it. If you do enjoy the shooting sports then follow the advice and give Grandma her funds. My road into the world of Parkers was inherited by a man I never met, my Grandfather. He was a trap shooter and a bird hunter. He came home one day with a Parker A1 special (my mom remembers the argument with her parents to this day over this purchase) but he died and Grandma GAVE the gun to one of his friends per his request. I wish I had Grandpa's Parker or any other shotgun he had.

It can always be sold...once gone it's probably gone forever.

Another thought on this. Even if you have no interest and even if there is no one else "yet" in the family with any interest, there will be future kids who may have the interest and would be ecstatic to have a great-grandfather's gun. I'm actually in that boat right now. I will retain family guns for the estate and if at that time there is still no interest, the executor can dispose as seen fit. Like I said, I have a soft spot for family guns.
Cheers,
Jack

Jack in regards to Family guns just an FYI I'm open for adoption and willing to retain your legacy for future generations. I'm potty trained (most of the time:rotf:), employed (except during bird season and deer season then its part time), live in a different country (only sporadic visits during bird season), when you consider all the positives it's a no brainer:clap: I'll have attorney call your attorney and get the paperwork started....what ya say....Dad:cheers:

Well, son before anything happens with the guns, clean your room, take out the garbage, help Mom fix the old mix-master (no desserts 'til done) and finish your homework. And please quit bugging me about the car. You can take it for a spin but you're puttin' gas in it. Be back by 10 or no huntin' on the weekend. If you can live with this, don't call a lawyer, call Madonna, as she has experience with international adoptions. If she gets this approved - welcome to the family. :rolleyes:
Cheers,
Dad

Jack,I know Rich and you have no idea what you are gettin yourself into..:biglaugh:

Dad-Just to clarify a couple of things. I have my own home so you can rent out my room (but not during bird season as I'll need it when I come to visit), I'm horrible with tools (I have a gunsmith on speed dial) so the mixmaster is toast, you have had it since the 50's Mom needs & deserves a new one, I have my own car and a truck and buy my own gas. Madonna is from Bay City, MI not far from me and she visits her parents regularly:whistle: so we will get the adoption completed in a timely manner. Other than the obvious dates of celebration another one for you and Mom to mark on the calender is October 30 as this is my birthday...just in case the Boswell doesn't work out.

Happy New Year....Dad:bowdown:

This little family discussion put a smile on my face.....

Chip,
You can find quite a few examples for sale with pictures at The Gun Room, www.doublegun.com. They are all dealers but you should be able to find some comparable 20 gauge VH Parkers and get an idea about the value. I do however very much agree with the philosphy of keeping such a wonderful heirloom in the family.

Perhaps before we all get off on a crying tangent over Chip selling "grandpa's gun" you might re-read his original posting where he says his grandmother wants to sell her late husbands Parker. Just by the wording I'd say that this perhaps isn't a family gun to Chip but I could be wrong of course.


Destry

Let's not forget the OP's follow-up statement. Mr. Sutton may not have had any interest in the gun his grandmother wanted to sell. He may or may not have changed his mind but says he has added some perspective to his thinking. By definition, the gun could be a 3 generation family gun at the moment. If sold outside the family it becomes a non-family gun. Not going to make much of a difference in the overall scheme of life, as most Parkers are no longer in the multi-generation family category. Those that are retain a special connection to the past that is lost once sold outside the family. Again, not a major calamity. I don't think any of us will shed a tear if the gun is sold outside the family, in fact some among us might just want to help out grandma. The discussion simply gave Mr. Sutton pause to think it through, which it appears he has done.
Cheers,
Jack

Jack, There is one thing left unexplored in this post and that is your assertion that you don't know if the next generation will take a real interest in your guns. I fear that many of us face something similar. We need a plan to focus the attention of the next generation on what really matters- my tool pile, my exceedingly large supply of gun stuff, my unfinished projects of a large and diverse nature, not to mention the holy dust that collects on all the previous. I look to you for leadership! David

I won't make any recommendations, but allow me to recount some experiences. I'm at Pheasant Fest in Omaha displaying a bunch of Parkers. We have so many people come by, maybe as high as 20,000 in the past , and we hear over and over about how grandma or grandpa had this wonderful Parker , wasn't much engraving but sure was a nice gun, and it got sold. They wished they had it still in the family. So we hear these regrets about lost family guns all the time.

Family stuff should be kept as family stuff unless money is an issue or some other personal reason it needs to be liquidated. Someone in the family one day will be thrilled the gun is still around. Jerry Andrews

I agree with Bruce and Jerry, if you can keep it in the family. Eric

I wish I had Grandpas Parker trap gun. He had only the best according to my mother but the Parker was his favorite. The PArker was given to a friend of his and the rest sold when he died 10 months befor I was born.

The gun would be nice to have known him would have been better.

Granddad was dead 16 years when I was born, but I'm still shooting his E Grade Lefever. My uncle kept it for me, or somebody, all those years without once firing it.

i still shootmy graeat grand pas gun but its asingle barrel hopkins and allens...so hard on trigger you canot possibly stay on target...started to fix it but it was known by all how hard the trigger was tp pull so i left it as it was.... charlie