[Big Friend Ten (BFT)]

Carolyn,
I recently purchased (at auction) a Grade 3 two-barrel (2 seperate barrel sets and 2 foreends) 10 gauge Parker in very good condition. That transaction gave me a little knowledge of the market price for such guns. I agree with Dean that if all your late husband's Parker is in good to very good condition that it should bring $3k. At least that would be a good asking price. The gun market is like the stock market and for many brands of guns it is very low. Parkers have held much of their value but they can take much longer to sell. Also any flaws such as the name in the stock will lower the value. That stated if the name is of the original owner as documented by a research letter from the Parker Gun Collectors Association (PGCA which runs this site) then it MAY not lower the value. Collectors like "Provenance" of which the root word is PROVEN. A research letter will prove what we think or someone claims. It an owner of the gun was famous that bit of provenance may add value. Certainly Teddy Roosevelt's AH Fox is worth many times more a similar gun because it was Teddy's!

To purchase off the Internet I would need to see MUCH better photos. Those should be easy to obtain. When you have high resolution photos please post them to this site for pricing opinions. Remember one cannot sell a gun on this site. Once you have a good idea of it's worth post those photos and a good description of your gun you may post it for sale on the For Sale forum of the BBS (bulliten board) on doublegunshop.com A guy named Dave runs that site and ask for $10 per gun sale via the honor system.

Alternatively and probably a better idea would be to send it to George Lander (or a reputable and NATIONALLY Known gun dealer) and let him sell it for you. George will make a commision of perhaps 15% which is reasonable and you will receive as much as you would have if you sold it yourself. Why? Because if it is a nice and rare gun George may have collectors like me waiting for such a gun and ready to pay top dollar. Now it doesn't have to be George but he is a regular contributor to this forum (and this thread) and although I do not know him I always read his posts. It is my impression that he is fair and honest in his business dealings. Also, Kirby Hoyt of vintagedoubles.com has always treated me fairly. There is also Steve Barnett who my very "Shrewd" Parker collector friends have bought from and they say the same of him. So take your pick of reputable and NATIONALLY known gun dealers. Whatever you do DO NOT sell a highly collectable Parker via the local gun shop!!! Most are honest but some are not. Even with an honset local dealer chances are that a collectable gun will not sell for as much locally as it would fetch in a nation-wide Internet sale such as Steve, Kirby, or George would provide to you.

If I inherited a very collectable car I would serach for a Collector Car dealer of the reputation as George or Kirby have selling guns. What would I know of selling a 1953 Rolls Royce?

I hope this helps.
Mark