[Big Friend Ten (BFT)]

I admit that presently $35,000 is a little rich for me for one gun. Thinking about it 10 years ago I did not own any gun valued at over $4,000. Then, the thought of buying a $10,000 gun wasn’t something that I could comprehend. At least not for me. Today my safe has several exceeding that figure. Those five-figure guns are perhaps the only ones that appreciate in value! I’d be better off selling off most of my guns valued at less than $10k and investing those funds in high dollar guns.

What if today were yesterday? Let us suppose that it was the year 1900, give or take a decade. Most of us mature men would be shooting one or two DH grade Parkers or comparable grades by other makers. Those DH Parkers would have cost us the equivalent of $10,000 in 2015 dollars. Okay, I admit this is a hard comparison because there are so many economic factors to consider. For the sake of this please work with me… : )

At the pigeon or trap club there were a few gentlemen who sported AH grade Parkers which cost three times as much as did our DH. And heck, we could outshoot them DH vs. AH! Those AH shooters didn’t much care because they loved having the top of the line Parker. They let us handle and shoot their AH Parker and we think that maybe when the son has finished college and the daughter is married that maybe we would treat ourselves to an AH Parker. So a few years later we sit down with Arthur W. DuBray and lay down a year’s salary and order a custom made AHE. The AHE is delivered 6-12 months later and we shoot it on nice days for the rest of our life. Our wife may have lost her loveliness long ago, as did we, but the AHE never did. Beauty in our hands gave us pleasure as an old man as holding our lovely fiancée did decades ago.

Forward that scenario to today. We can purchase an AH, AHE, Fox DE, or other 100+ year old highest grade SMALLBORE vintage shotgun for $20,000 to $40,000. If we could find a 20 gauge AHE unfired, it might cost us $50,000.

Now, here is a guy who wants a gun made especially for him. He demands the finest wood, engraving, balance, and workmanship made to his specifications. A bespoke gun comparable to a London best. Okay, maybe a CSMC Fox doesn’t compare to a modern $100,000 London best gun but it is still a heck of a nice custom made for him gun. He orders a CSMC Fox and doesn’t look back.

For me, I do look at CSMC Foxes on the secondary market which sell for $15k and up. Maybe someday I will buy one just for its loveliness. To hold it in my hands as I slowly walk an upland field behind my aging dog. That alone for some reason will bring me pleasure and inspire memories and dreams of my younger days…