What would you order?

[Eldon Goddard]

I was reading the thread about Cliff Greens Parkers and it got me wondering what I would order if I had been around back then. I think the best return on your investment would be low grade sub gauges. Knowing myself I would probably order something rediculous like a grade 7 8 gauge or a 7 frame 12 gauge. Well if you had a time machine and a big hunk of vintage cash what would you order?

[OH Osthaus]

The reason small bores are valuable now is that they were ordered less then.

I doubt many, even the higher grades were bought as investments

[edgarspencer]

D grades. Every possible configuration, in all gauges.

[George M. Purtill Member #28]

Time Machine huh?
I like this.
I'm going down to A&F on Madison Avenue this afternoon. I am gonna wander around on the first floor, look at all the dead animals. Then I'm taking a deep breath and telling the elevator attendant who probably looks like the friendliest guy on earth, to take me to the 7th floor.
After I look over the rediculous racks of English guns I head straight to the Parkers. The salesman approaches.
I'll place my order: 28 gauge DHE skeet gun, 28 inch barrels, double triggers, BTFE, engrave name plate "GMP", include VC case with accessories, same initials on case. How much would it cost for an extra set of 20 gauge barrels?, I ask.

[Pa SxS]

Just send me your money along with the order. I have the Order Books and some blank pages so I will be happy to enter your order. Just be prepared to wait for the finished product. These guns are hand finished so it may take some time until you receive the gun.

Please no phone calls asking when your gun will be shipped

[Bruce Day]

[quote=George M. Purtill;98531]Time Machine huh?
I like this.
I'm going down to A&F on Madison Avenue this afternoon.....]


While I am not an easterner, I remember going into the A&F on Union Square in San Francisco as a boy and walking around in wonderment and thinking "maybe someday". That was before it became part of The Gap and a place for urban gender ambiguity and pseudo stylish edginess. I also remember being on the Hollister ranch and hunting quail when old man Hollister was a tough old horse riding cattleman of land grant heritage and well before his name lived on the butt of teen aged girls hotpants.

[Bill Murphy]

When I first went into the wonderland that was the seventh floor at Abercrombie and Fitch in 1960, when I was about 14, there were two aged Parkers on the floor racks. They were both Whitworth barrelled Pigeon Guns. They were both brown and worn, the ejector gun more brown and more worn than the non ejector gun. The extractor gun was priced at $650, and the ejector gun was priced at $600. In my youthful opinion, neither were worth another thought. I don't remember coming out of the store that first day with any catalogs, but I put myself on the mailing list, and when I got the predated 1961 Used Gun catalog in the mail, there they were, still for sale, with details. I had never picked them up in the store, but I dogeared the catalog over the years going back and looking at them in print. The floor racks were free for gun handling, even for 14 year olds. My first trip to the store was by myself, but before that New York trip was over, I dragged Dad up there for a look. Now that I revisit our old catalogs, I find that my Dad's name is on some, mine on others. I guess we were both on the mailing list. Today, I would have a hard time explaining to my grandchildren how a 14 year old was turned loose to wander the streets of Manhattan with a notebook full of gun store addresses and a verbal tutorial of how to navigate the New York street system. I have another story about my teenage adventures on the seventh floor, one I have probably told here before, but I will save it for another time.

[John Truitt]

34" D grade hammer gun in 28 ga titanic barrels round know with gold cap overall wieght 7 3/4 to 8 pounds balance pinot one inch in front of hinge pin choked full and full.
Maybe with a matching D grade hammerless (sans safetly and DT no ejector of course) if funds would allow. BTW would request reinforced forearm lug for both even though they would both be splinter forearms.
Maybe scroll engraving only with no game scenes.

[Ray Masciarella]

I'm with Edgar in that I would need more than one!

16 ga, 1 frame, D6, 30" with the nicest wood in stock. The floor plate would have to be engraved with something cool, not the three stag stuff.

10ga, 2 frame, B5 (wouldn't that be cool), 32" with wild turkeys on floor plate.

8 ga, big frame, B4, 36" with ducks on floor plate.

How much money do I have? Can I keep buying!

[Bruce Day]

The big hunk of vintage cash is the sticking point, seeing as how a really finely made Parker AHE 28ga is still being made today, with few takers. Most people today have more disposable income than they did in the time Parkers were being made in Meriden and Ilion. My first job as a second lieutenant, I started at $6500/year in 1969 and thought I was doing well over contemporaries. Now what is that, a couple weeks income for many still working?

Still, its pleasant to consider. If you look at the production figures, 12ga guns were way more popular than small bores, popularity decreasing with bore size, but there were a significant amount of mid to high grade small bores that seemed to have been bought by knowledgeable sportsmen. Some of those had details that I think were likely specified.

So, assuming I had the money, $125 back then, a lot, I'd still get a C small bore. And I'm fortunate to have gathered exactly what I wanted, from top, CHE 20, CHE 16, CHE 16, with PG, 28", standard weight, SSBP, DT's, splinter forend, in 1904-5 fine scroll engraving detail, as these are. But I'm missing that 20ga Bernard, none found yet, so I'd order one in 26" game gun, tapered rib, long lever, ribbed safety slide and specify not only early century engraving style, but additional engraving details on the frame, butt plate and TG, and upgraded PG French walnut. Of course a 16ga Bernard top action hammer would be nice too if i could put together another $125, a month's pay for many. Too bad none were made.