Best Deal on a Parker in your Buying Career
 

Craig's thread on grades was very entertaining. How about your best deal ever made on a Parker? I'll chime in after a couple of posts.

Mine was a modest one, but the first Parker I took delivery on. A 16g VH on 1 frame, 28" barrels, uncut but choked C/IC. Pretty worn field condition, lots of bluing gone, wood rough but sound, a few fixed dents. After a trade of a Browning Citori it cost me nothing from Robin Hollow and it has been my go to woodcock and grouse gun. Not the prettiest but the most satisfying to carry. I wonder about its history.

I have several that were bought for a couple hundred a piece , but they’ve been in the accumulation for over forty years . In the last ten years I got a very nice Grade 2 3 frame 10 gauge for a few hundred . Two years ago I picked up what has turned into a very nice gun an original VH 12 2 barrel set for a few hundred bucks . Still to date my best deal money wise has to be the recent DH 10 that turned out to be an DH 8 .

I picked up a 16g skeet gun at the Kenton, Ohio coon dog trials many years ago. A kid was walking around with it on his shoulder, said it was his grandfather’s. Not collector quality, very little case and thinning blue on the barrels but an honest unmolested specimen.

I haven't made any screaming buys because all my Parkers have come from major dealers, major auction houses or knowledgeable collectors. I have made two good auction buys for considerably less than market price, a high condition DH 20ga 28" damascus and a near mint DH 12ga 28" damascus. I have made one good dealer buy that turned out to be a 1898 Boston show gun a AH 10ga 32" damascus.

I consider all of my Parkers deals! Glad to own them all!

My best Parker deal did not happen just once, nor twice, but rather three times. None of these three Parkers cost me a dime -- a 12ga. DH w/30" damascus, a 12ga. GH w/30" damascus and a 12ga. Trojan w/30" bbls. All were Lewis-Class prize guns won at S X S events, two at the Yooper and one at the Great Northern.

Went to a local auction that had 6 VH 12 ga. advertised. Looked them over and the last one to come up seemed the best to me. The first went for 1800.00 after spirited bidding and i had 400.00 in my pocket and the start was 600.00 on each. Sat there dejected as they sold the next 4 above what i had. the last did not get a bid at 600.0 or 5 or 4. When the auctioneer said 3 i i raised my paddle and bought my first Parker 35 or 40 years ago. Today i may have waited for him to say 200.00 but would not take that chance then. It is still my most often used 12 ga.

A "Best Deal" is not always about money. Mine was a long sought after gun that sold before I could contact the seller. I happened to run into the seller about a year later, and he told me the gun was coming back to him and that I could have it if I wanted it. I wanted it.

The Best Deal for me was the first Parker I bought after having long wanted one of my own. I first used a borrowed Trojan 12 for a few years when I was about 13 but had to return it when its owner was about to move to the Boise area.
The first Parker I bought was in about 2000 or 2001, about 40 years later. It is a beautiful 12/30” Titanic DH with F/F chokes that has been my preferred turkey,waterfown,trap,5-stand,and sometimes SC gun. I have shot this gun more than any of my other Parkers. It fits me like it was made specifically for me and is certainly one of my favorite Parkers. The late Russ Bickel correctly tightened the Titanic barrels to the frame and reblued them and I also had him refinish and fit a set of 30" Damascus barrels to it with chokes of IC/MOD.
I bought it at Kittery Trading Post for $2000 which was probably too much money but the gun dept. nanager wouldn’t budge from the price and I simply had to have that gun. 90739 resides in the front row of my 47-gun safe and comes out often. It truly was the best deal I ever made on a Parker even though I did pay full retail for it.





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I was pretty much spoiled my early years as my pop had Parker’s , Fox’s and Smith’s . And of course I used them all . Only one I ever lusted for over a long period of time was a VHE 20 gauge 28” gun that belonged to a family friend who happened to have a gun shop . He and my pop had known each other for many years and I’m sure I started asking our friend if the gun was for sale when I was 10 or 11 . Very rare was the time I went in that shop that I didn’t ask if he was ready to sell the little 20 . Finally got it about five years ago , can’t say I stole it but I wanted it and had been trying to get it for over forty years .

I lucked into a VH 1/2 frame 2 barrel set at a small firearms auction in the Pocono's around 2012. Made in 1937, the gun is all Meriden made with 28" barrels choked mod and full. The gun was returned to Remington in 1938 for the second set off 28" barrels choked cylinder and improved cylinder. This set of barrels are Remington made and the gun has the repair codes from 1938. Did i mention that I have the hang tags and 1937 price list too? Pictures are in my PGCA album. Didn't pay much.

I bought this 0 frame 16 gauge for 200 bucks.
Attachment 102479

Back in the mid 1970's, I was able to meet the acceptance of a high end collector of some of the best side by side shotguns imaginable including Parker, Fox, L.C. Smith, Syracuse Lefever, etc.

And luckily, I purchased some very nice high end Fox's from him as Fox's were my primary collecting interest.

An unfortunate event occurred in his life when his wife died. He sold his collection to a high end dealer who purchased all but one gun, a damascus barreled Parker.

Back then, 1981, damascus barreled guns were not popular and I'm thinking that's why the dealer didn't want it.

So, I bought it.

An AAHE 16 gauge, SN 112920, that in addition to having the owners name "Terrell" engraved on the gold grip cap, his name was repeated many times in the damascus pattern on the barrels. The Terrell gun.

Unfortunately, I don't own it anymore.

My best deal was on a #2 frame GH Damascus, 32" from a member here. I love the gun and enjoy shooting it. Its a really nice gun

We know the gun Bill - one of the most, possibly the most, unique and amazing Parkers ever made.





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Yikes! How do you get rid of an AAHE 16? :)

It wasn't easy Garry, but I traded the Parker for 3 very minty high grade Fox's: a 12, 16 and a 20.

I've always looked at my hunting & gun pursuits as a hobby for my enjoyment. My career was what I did to make money so I could pursue my hobbies.

On the gun end of this hobby. I consider the best purchase I've ever made was my Parker Reproduction 16/20 combo set.

I purchased the gun new in box for $4000.00 back in the mid-90's. Then when Galazans first offered their 16ga barrels I purchased & fit that set to the gun for another $1300.00 making it a three-barrel set with the 26" 20ga & the original 28" 16ga barrels both choked Q-1 Q-2 & the CSMC 28" 16ga barrels IC-Mod making it a very universal upland gun.

What really makes it special though is all the memories attached to it from the miles of carrying it back in the CRP heydays hunting with friends, all the great people I met along the way and the seven great dogs this gun shared the fields with.

The gun has a several well-earned warts on it from the years of use which reminds me that I put every one of them on it. Every time I pick the gun up, the memories of those great times come flooding back making this gun priceless to me. It was a good deal up-front money wise, but a great deal value wise to me!

Seems to me you got he better end of the deal Bill.:bowdown:
Merry Christmas my friend.

A 16 gauge Parker Trojan in 95% original condition but advertised as refinished and priced accordingly.

My first Parker is my favorite deal. A VH 28 gauge I bought on a skeet field for $130 as I recall. The longest search is an A. P. Curtis Parker try gun that I first saw as a very young man and finally pried it away from the owner probably thirty years later. The best financial deal was a near gift from a shooting friend, an AHE double trap with a long Maryland history. I said "near gift", but that was a bit of an understatement. I told the owner that the gun was worth over ten thousand dollars. He insisted that I write him a check for $2200.00. I don't know his motivation, but I have had decades of enjoyment from that gun.

Almost 20 years ago I bought a DH 12 gauge off one of the internet gun sites. Bad pictures and no mention of the grade, but I could tell it had substantial engraving. Price was $400, so I bit. After receiving the gun, I ordered a letter. That revealed the gun had been ordered by a guy named Fred Kimble of Peoria, Illinois. The rest is history.

man what some good stories...my best buy was my first parker to see it was in a gun shop it was a ph 10 ga with 32 inch barrels...750 dollars it has taken many turkeys and deer.......charlie

I saw a BHE 20 with 28 inch barrels listed in a local classified Athens and contacted seller and met him same day Closed the deal and owned it next day! I cannot seem to hold on to high grade guns long and sold it in a couple of weeks for nice profit. Bobby

Bill's A.P. Curtiss Try-Gun.


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The Fox addiction never really goes away, does it Bill?

I have a GH 16 I got for $255 and is all there. A case of looking worse in the online photos than it is in real life

It sure doesn't Stan.

Might even get worse!

My best (and favorite) two Parkers were free to me. They were inherited from my great grandfather who was the first purchaser. Somehow family guns go to the head of the line. I hunt with them regularly. A real bit of old Iowa.

By far the most valued, my Virginia VH 12ga Dad bought for me in Farmville, Va. for $45!

My best deal was when I traded my pump 12 ga, to my dad for grandfathers DHE 12 ga.

I recall what was probably a very bad deal. In 1960, my father traded a pre-war Smith & Wesson .38/44 Outdoorsman with the original box, instruction folder and cleaning brush for an average 1901 vintage 2-frame, 12-gauge, 30-inch, VH-Grade. Upside, he probably shot the VH more the first fall he had it than he had ever fired that revolver.

Attachment 102613

Dad's Remington and his Parker with my Uncle Irv's Colt Woodsman he passed on to me on my 21st birthday.

Attachment 102614

My best buys
 

My two best buys are my only ones so far but I consider each a good catch. My first was a CHE 1 1/2 12 ga 98% DelGreggo restored condition with SST, Beavertail, Vent Rib 30" Beautiful Circassian Walnut stock was for sale at Cabela's store in Missouri, looked at it for two weeks online and was wondering why it was so cheap, finally called them, made an offer that was even lower and they took it, when I got it nothing was wrong. My second was a VH "0" frame 16 gauge 28" 5# 13oz pistol grip in very nice condition, got a smokin deal on that one too. The search continues.....

My best was Inheriting my grandfathers 16 ga VH.

In the late 70’s through the early 2000’s we has a local weekly want ad paper called the Swap Sheet.
I think in the 70’s it was 25 cents by the time it ended it was $1.50
I found out the first place it was delivered to was a store in the city called World Wide News. It was delivered between 10:30 and 11:00 every Wednesday.
Most of the time I was able to get the first one off the stack.
Now back then phones were land lines. No Cell phones very few mobile phones.
And unless you paid a premium for an unlisted number your phone number was listed in the phone book.
Back in the day most people did not even have an answering machine, you were either home to answer the phone or it would just keep ringing.
So if there was a deal on anything, it was a crap shoot as the first person to get there would get it.
I was always the first call, so if someone was home I would be on my way to close the deal. However if no one was home, the edge I had was called a Criss Cross book. This would cross phone numbers to addresses. It was used by Police and Fire departments.
So if no one answered the phone I was able find out the address and get to nearby pay phone,and wait for someone to get home or just call every 15 minutes until someone answered.
The best Parker I got was a VH 20 gauge for $75.00. I still remember the phone ringing in the background while I was counting out the money!
He said the phone had not stopped ringing since I got home! Lol!
I bet it was a long week for him!

Great story Scott

That looks like a trapshooters fantasy gun ;-)

Best deal was in Greensboro NC gun show several years ago Went by a fellows table and saw this Parker 12 ga fairly decent shape ask about the gun was told someone had changed out the butt plate said price was 200.00 I knew what the butt plate was and bought the gun it had the Folsom flying pigeon trap butt plate letter said it was ordered that way! Gary

Nice find Gary!





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