Sucks to be poor
 

Now here's a work of art. Can anyone lend me $30,000.00???
http://www.gunsinternational.com/MAG...n_id=100209978

Extraordinary is an inadequate word to describe that beautiful shotgun.

I owned that gun ! Then I woke up !

Is that stock original?

I don't think that gun would have sold at that price a couple of years ago. It looks like a lot of shotgun for the money, but what do I know?

Joe, According to the "book" it originally had a straight stock. It is sure a beauty. Don't think I've seen an A grade with complete engraving coverage like that. Ray

I have but that one is about the pinnacle of fine deep relief engraving on a Grade 6 Parker.

YUP! a cool gun

Sure looks like a restock as that is black walnut in the buttstock.

That gun was at the Fall Southern last weekend and it is spectacular!! Replacement stock by Brad Brachwlder I think. Chuck had several beautiful Parkers there and was willing to "deal".
David

A day late and a dollar short
 

Angel,

If you had been around between 1920 and 1922 you could have bought this same Parker at Von Lengerke & Detmold (#173979) as a used gun for $275. It was sold three times during that period. The sale recorded in the photo below shows that it was sold as a consigned shotgun in 1921. It came in from J.A. Sloan who wanted to net $225 from the sale. The parker was sold to Gus Diderrich who was a chef for Alice Vanderbilt and, later, for Peter A.B. Widener, a very wealthy Philadelphian. Gus Didderich was one of the most frequent buyers of very high end firearms (Purdey, Boss, H&H, Parker, etc) between 1910 and 1930. He must have been a darn good cook. But to keep things in perspective, $275 would likely have bought you a new Ford at that time.

http://pic80.picturetrail.com/VOL213.../399169133.jpg

Compliments of Griffin & Howe

Bob Beach
Records Archivist

Bob, thanks for that bit of history, that's real neat. I'm only 89 years too late.

Mr. Beach, was that the Sloan from Sloan's Sporting Goods up the street? I take it that maybe Sloan's didn't deal in used guns? Sloan's sold some wonderful new guns but I don't know about the used ones. I once lettered a Parker gun from Sloan's that was sold to Annie Laurie Crawford, a serious shooter who once inherited something like 31 large, only one of her sources of income. Bill Murphy

That gun was obviously ruined by some unthinking boob replacing the stock.
(Let's call that a small jab at the "purists" amongst us.)

I agree with the previous poster that some modifications of original guns don't seem to affect the value. However, Mr. M., try to sell a restocked VHE or DHE for the big buck. It all depends on the individual gun. We don't object to your jab. It is a good comment on our hobby. I have a clue that this Murphy fellow may be "one of us". Time will tell.

Bill,
I'm probably the guy who would buy that restocked VHE if it was restocked with a nice piece of walnut with a 2 1/4" DAH and 1/4 cast off, instead of the beat up stock with the 3" drop that it probably had. Only point I'm making is that sometimes a refurbishment or rebuild is the best thing a particular shotgun can have happen to it.
I also appreciate quality firearms that have been reasonably cared for and show their "history" and life story in their patina and scars. I've got both and i wouldn't necessarily want to be refurbished. :)

It is indeed a fine and beautiful Parker and to some, the replacement stock (looks to me like Del Grego's stockwork) wouldn't be a problem but to others would be a 'deal breaker'.
The eventual sell price (which would allow for the price of a restock by a contemporary artist in the field) would be the determining factor to the gun ever ending up in certain collector's safes...

It seems an awful lot of high end Parkers on the market have been restocked, from this gun to the Czar's gun.

At $30K, if the gun were still wearing its original wood, I'd be having a sit down talk with my wife. The kind where we openly talk about our feelings. Like, "I feel like buying another Parker - go get the big checkbook." With the restock, to a PG no less, I won't.

I did just that last night ! You know what I was told, NO GUN IS WORTH 30K. Oh well

I tend to agree with her.

30K gonna have to have bernard barrels and hammers with SG I'll stop there take a while to describe the perfect girl I mean shotgun.

This post is going to show you all how truly uninformed I am but here goes. In the market place, how much does a restock affect the value of a Parker?

Personally, I'd rather have a gun with a broken wrist then one that has been restocked regardless of how great the restock is. I just like guns with the original parts!

Another question I have is whether the value of a gun is affected if it was restocked by Parker as opposed to a modern restock. For example, I have a gun the was built in 1890 and was restocked by Parker in 1893.

Thx, Ray

Ray
Really good question. I think it depends upon the collector and this is a collectors gun. To me a gun high grade Parker that is nor all original , a factory restock is all original, due to a replacement stock is 25-30% less valuable. The higher the condition of the gun the more a replacement stock diminishes the value. It will be interesting to see others answers , especially those that actually collect HG , HC Parkers
JMHO
David

My first wife had her Masters degree in Fine Arts. She'd get all giddy when she saw a Peter Paul Reubens, and all I saw was a fat broad on a couch. On the other hand, show me something, anything, from the Hudson River school and I'm thunderstruck. I'm of the opinion that without variety, we wouldn't be able to recognize what's beautiful to ourselves. The more I see my neighbor's wife, the more I love my dogs.
Whether that AHE has more engraving than other AHEs, I couldn't comment, and it's best left to the experts to debate. I don't claim to know much about too many things, but I do know what makes me go 'oh my'. (actually, I doubt I ever said 'oh my', more like 'damn' or holy s***)

Likewise, If a gun is restocked, and not with a piece of lumber, but with a nice piece of wood that is pleasing to the eye, I can't see how that's a bad bad thing. I couldn't afford that gun, but when placed along side some of the fine Parkers recently put up for auction, It strikes me as nicely priced.
Probably only a couple of PGCA members know what a Land Rover Defender 110 is, but I have been driving one for a dozen years. All 500 ever imported were white. I hate white. The 2nd time I refreshed the truck, I spent a ton to repaint it a proper Land Rover green. I rarely go to car shows, but never to the one that are judged by rivet counters. At people's Choice show's it almost always places first in the Land Rovers, and twice, Best-In-Show. Those are my kind of shows, and those are my kind of people.

Probably, a line-counting checkering expert won't buy that AHE, but maybe someone who says 'oh my' will. Personally, I hope the guy, or girl, that does buy it says "Holy Sh*T"

If I take the asking price for that gun and look it up in the Blue Book it comes out at 10%. That is adding 37.5% for ejectors. The notes say to add between 25% and 50% for ejectors.

95%-$40,000,
90%-$37,500,
80%-$35,000,
70%-$32,500,
60%-$30,000,
50%-$28,500,
40%-$25,000,
30%-$22,500,
20%-$20,000,
10%-$18,000

The above prices are for a gun without ejectors.

Best,

Mike

These are the prices above with 37.5 % added and rounded off to the nearest $100.

95% 55,000
90% 51,600
80% 48,100
70% 44,700
60% 41,300
50% 39,200
40% 34,400
30% 30,900
20% 27,500
10% 24,800

Checkbook gun collectors may pass on that restocked AHE, but a real Parker guy would be pleased to have that gun in his barn.

Edgar,
You crack me up.:rotf::rotf::rotf:

Didn't say I wouldn't be pleased to own it....but everything has an opportunity cost. At $30K that gun would need to possess its original wood for me to not own $30K worth of other Parkers.

Would I be a better collector if I paid in cash?

If the fair-market value of a well-maintained 58-year-old left testicle was $30K that shotgun would be mine.

John,
Not really. Since the initial investment was zero, the entire Capital Gain of $30,000 would be taxable by the federal and state governments. You'd be one nut short and still wouldn't have enough money for the Parker!

Now that's funny! :rotf:

...and that's even funnier! :rotf: :rotf:

The $30K in proceeds would have to be classified as a long term capital gain, and the marginal rate is what, 20% now? I could scratch up the remaining $6K that the Feds (unfairly) take. That baby would still be mine!

Well maintained ???

No accidental jabs by the tailor fitting a made-to-measure suit
No mauling by a medical professional during an annual cough test
No briefs
Temperature controlled environment - ideally 97 degrees
Routine fluid changes

Haven't seen a maintenance manual but there's a starter.

Cheers,
Jack

Jack's got the idea. Gotta take care of Big Duke's buddies.

Sooo... has anybody stepped up to the plate on this gun yet, hmmm ?

Didn't think so.

If it had the original wood it would be long gone by now I'm quite sure.

I have been looking for some time for a AA grade hammer gun, that said , if I found one with the stock replaced and it was done well I would still buy it in a heart beat! But alas there comes into play the little thing that is being discussed here money, Well I guess I will not have to worry about that because I do not know of any for sale! 5 total made.

Well Who Got It