Upgraded 8 ga
 

Was making the usual rounds this morning and seen this.

https://www.proxibid.com/Parker-Upgr...00478#topoflot

Nice looking gun. Would be a great shooter.

2023 PGCA Raffle Gun. A welcome change from V Grade guns. I will buy 100 tickets and I know five or six guys who will also buy 100. The Pheasantfest participation will be even more enthusiastic.

I think the estimated value is a tad low... :shock:





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Seems kind of odd to put that much time and money into a gun like that and not commission a new set of barrels, though im wondering if they decided to blue the barrels for the engraving on the breech. Ive seen a few examples of damascus barrels engraved and it always looks off.


On a side note I see Crosnoe recently knocked 10k off the asking price of their DH titanic barreled 8 ga.

To each his own . I think the low 3-6K estimate is about right . Granted it's had a bunch of work done but to me that takes away from the net worth .

In the book the gun was a PG gun not straight .

The biggest selling point to me are the 38" barrels .

But I'd like it a damn sight more if it were in orignal PH pg configuration even if it were only a 10% gun .

The 2023 raffle gun will be a Damascus GH 12g. So maybe 2024. But I would not expect the raffle gun program to go with something that tarted up and dripping with artificial bling.

I like that idea!! Even with this gun being tatted up, the majority won’t care as it looks nice and will be a good shooter. Even for $6-8K it is within reach of enough shooters. I would probably buy 100 of those tickets too. I could suffer through the gold treatments to own an affordable 8 bore.

I am really holding out for my first 8 gauge to be a hammer gun. But I could be tempted by this one at the right price. I would have to have the barrels refinished in black and white though...

Ugly, but I'm a guy that likes to see a gun with history/warts..

Wait until Sanford you might be tempted more :whistle:

Wonder if Breck Gorman could bring back the barrels Twist glory?

He sure could!!





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I suspect the wedge engraving will look better with the barrels blued . Otherwise it would be kinda busy with the twist pattern beneath the engraving .

Not sure I agree. I have seen Damascus barrels with wedge engraving and it looked pretty darn nice.

there was over 400 parker 8 ga s made....them chambers are probably 3 1/4 inch not 3 1/2 inch...good looking gun....charlie

Personally it's not for me but I have always wondered how a 8 gauge Invincible would look.

Not sure if it's just my eyes or what but the bluing on the screws and hinge pin look weird as if matte blued. I prefer how fire bluing looks when it comes to screws and small accent parts.

Well, we found out what the market thinks of the estimate (6-9K). I placed a bid with Cowan directly last week, above the estimate, and have been outbid on Proxy bid before the auction started. If it goes for the current ask, it will be in total the most expensive Parker sold by Cowen's in their searchable records I believe.

It would look just like a 12g or 16g invincible. Just larger.

This gun was on Cowans table at the Southern. It was pretty shiny and glitzy no doubt about that.

Darn, I missed it at the Southern. At the Baltimore Show, at the Fifth Regiment Armory, in the mid sixties, Jack Puglisi had an upgrade Invincible 8 gauge on his tables. That gun reappeared a few years back, but I don't remember who was selling it. Does anyone know how to get a picture of that gun? Also at Baltimore in the same time period, there was a Parker eight made into a lamp with the wires routed through a breech ball and up the barrel to the light fixture. Today it is probably a working gun with a visible (or nearly invisible) repair to the breech ball. However, if it was a hammer gun, it could be wired through the plunger hole. I don't remember if it was a hammer or hammerless gun.

My great uncle had a bunch of shotguns made into lamps. When I was 5 years old, I recognized the crime. Not sure what became of all of them.

Well damn , I didn't see Cownas there . I spent a lot of time at the Guyette & Deeter tables looking at the stuff for their upcoming auction in February .

I may someday be guilty of upgrading a gun, but in my opinion only, an upgraded gun is worth the most to the original owner (or relative perhaps)

I looked the gun over, but it was a little gawdy IMO.

The 38" barrels are intriguing. I would like to see the barrels with the wedge engraving after Breck Gorman has his way with the barrels!

Stan

Something like Russ Jackson's BHE 410 or some of the Del Grego/Runge GH upgrades that appear from time to time kinda appeal to me. Otherwise, I will stick with originals

The subject of upgrades and their values is one that, in my opinion, is completely dependent on the quality of the work.

I will say it again, this subject gun is not an “upgrade”. That term is used far too often and very inaccurately. An upgrade is a lower grade gun that is reworked to accurately replicate a higher grade gun. This is a custom gun, made to the owners taste with no regard to accuracy of a given original grade.

As for value, I personally feel that a faithful reproduction of a AA or A-1 parker can be executed for far less than the market value of a comparable original. When we see asking prices of original A1 specials in the $50-$150 range, a well done upgrade could still bring a profit over cost to make when sold. Fully disclosed and well done upgrades have been getting more attention and their asking/sale prices reflect that.

It is the opposite for a custom gun. I would say that in most instances, the investment to create it would not be recouped. And that is ok too. As long as the person commissioning the project does not care, nobody else should.

It's a beauty, and looks like a fun gun. That should be enough for some.

Just watched the Cowan auction. The winning bid was 13000, 15990 all in. That was a higher than 20 percent premium that they charge, so it must have come from Proxibid or someone outside. Don't really know why someone does that instead of placing a proxy direct with the auction house. Anyway, prices were really strong overall. Most Parkers were about what you would expect. One del Greco-Roman BHE went for 4800 all in, and reproductions were pretty reasonable, but overall the prices were really strong. Seemed like a huge demand for old stuff and much European. Things like muskets, pepperboxes, derringers, flintlock were very often tripling the high estimate, before premium.

Knives tanked, for what it's worth.

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I was planning on bidding on the BHE Delgrego had redone but forgot about it . I see the BHE went for 4K plus the extras .

I wasn't planning on bidding on anything, but bid on the BHE at the last minute and then got outbid.

I had thought on the Repro DHE 20 since it was 28” M&F with 3” chambers and it went for $3750 before the add ons . Oh well I have more than I can shoot now :rolleyes:

Great gun with great provenance.

Which the BHE or the messed with 8 gauge ?

8 gauge

Hmmmm