Future of Parker Collection and Double Gun Collecting

[John Allen]

I believe there will always be a demand for high quality shotguns,both for shooters and for collectors.The demand is changing though.We are fast becoming more like Europe with put and take shooting preserves and more emphasis on target shooting.As we progress in that direction,the "average" double will decrease in value.However,I have seen a huge increase in demand and prices for top of the line guns.By top of the line I mean high condition as well as high grade.The best thing for us to do is to show as many younger shooters as possible that a gun is not a tool,but an expression of your love of tradition,nature. and sportsmanship.The collectors clubs like PGCA are the perfect vehicle to pass the message on.

[Philip Peart]

Originally Posted by Dean Romig

Right on Dr. John!

Key words are certainly "exposure" and "the future of double guns is bright and full of possibilities." but it is our (every one of us) responsibility to expose young folks to these guns and the activities and fun that goes along with it... or the 'possibilities' will be very limited.

So right you are Dean, I myself am a 31 yr old Parker collector and appreciator and ALL 5 of my children ranging from 13yrs old to 5 yrs old can identify a Parker from 10 ft away and LOVE shooting. my 3 boys (13, 11,9) all shoot a VH 12g 2 frame happily and occasionally knock off a shot or two with my OLD 10g hammergun and my girls (7,5) love to benchrest my 20g vh for a couple shots. Waiting patiently for them to get older.
Its all in what we teach them to appreciate. My kids are 5th generation shooting Parkers.

[Dean Romig]

"5th generation shooting Parkers" is a great legacy!

Thanks for the encouragement.

[C grade]

I greatly appreciate and respect the work and dedication of the BOD!! I thought the approach was to supplement, not add, to the work the BOD was already involved in. My comment about last nights BOD meeting actually came from a BOD member, not me. This discussion, unfortunately, seems to have gotten a little contentious so I am going back to enjoying life.
David

[William McClintock]

There are several ready made youth shooting groups which could be interesting target marketing groups: the NCAA college level shotgun shooting programs the 4H shotgun shooting programs. I know nothing about 4H shooting, but have been to the NCAA shooting championships at the NSCA/NSSA grounds in San Antonio.
The kids were well coached (coaches, the guys to talk to first,) the kids were very enthusiastic and pretty darn good shooters. These kids are going to be in the gunning world, hopefully for a long time. Get some of them to be Parker Ambassadors to their own age group??

Originally Posted by Ed Blake

At best, most kids view old SxS shotguns as novelties. I am a Scoutmaster with a troop here in Richmond and we take the boys out a couple times a year to shoot clays. This is in addition to the shooting merit badges at scout camp in the summer. I always bring a couple Parkers with low pressure 7/8 oz handloads, as well as blackpowder for a #1 frame hammergun. They LOVE it. However, in the final analysis they opt for the Benelli or some other modern contrivance because these things are convenient, can shoot off the shelf shells, and their friends and fathers have them. Plus, any kid who is serious in the sport wants a O/U. The care and proper feeding of a vintage gun takes time and effort, something their fathers can do but they cannot. Kids have numerous distractions nowadays. We see scout membership falling because of the myriad of sports and other activities dividing their time. These are facts. Sorry to be a downer, but this is my experience. Your mileage may differ. I think the PGCA should support existing efforts like Bruce noted. Special efforts to get kids shooting at events like the Southern are great, but that only happens when fathers/grandfathers are involved. Edward and I will be at the Southern. He's 18 now and first shot at the Southern when he was 12. I don't know how many more he will be able to attend with college, sports, etc. getting in the way. I'm hoping he will stick with it. If you ask him to choose between his Benelli and his 32" #2 frame DH 20 he would have to think about it.

[Gary Laudermilch]

William, you are right. There are already present structured shotgun shooting programs that are ideal places to introduce kids to the world of sxs shooting. I am most familiar with the Scholastic Clay Target Program(started by the National Shooting Sports Foundation and supported by the MidwayUSA foundation) and the NRA Youth Hunter Education Challenge program. Both are national in scope. Our local club sponsors an SCTP team and we provide logistic support to the YHEC national event held in Mansfield, PA every other year. Both are prime opportunities to sneak in sxs promotion.

The SCTP program started a collegiate level category a few years back. It is growing in leaps and bounds. Schools like Yale, Harvard, and MIT have teams among others. These are not exactly bastions of conservative shooting values and yet they are thriving. Talk about kids that will one day have the discretionary income to become a Parker collector/shooter! The opportunities exist. We just have to reach out and touch them.

[Keavin Nelson]

As I wandered through the Baltimore antique arms show with my son, looking for the Parkers amoung the various tables, I asked my son what he thought the average age was at the show. 63 he guessed. I wouldn't debate that. At 30 he has a great appreciation for the old doubles, and has a Parker P grade 16 ga I put together for him. He also has an AR, and other more modern guns. Appreciation for finer things only comes with access and ability to own such. I think our generation will need to work hard to draw the next from the video sticks, and black guns to the finer traditions of Parkers, Foxes and LCs. Absent that, I am not sure the value will survive.

[William McClintock]

Gary et al,

Today I went out to the National Sporting Clays & Skeet Shooting HQ in San Antonio to shoot some sporting clays with my Parker.
The SCTP Championship was going on: sporting, trap, skeet and 5 stand I believe. Colleges and universities from Harvard, Yale, Texas,to Schreiner and Connor were there.
I spent some time with Bruce Hering, who runs the South Eastern Illinois program. He has been involved in youth shotgunning for many years. A coupla years ago I spent the day out there with his team and was very interested and impressed. Bruce has several world class shots this year. One of the kids shot a 96 at the trap range yesterday. THE VERY SAME KID really went over my Parker 16 gauge DHE today and loved it. So did a number of other kids. Here is a great resource for us as lovers of classic American shotguns, especially Parkers.

Bruce, for those who don't know him has these credentials:

Bruce A. Hering; NSCA Lev III Inst.
Program Coordinator/Lead Instructor
Southeastern Illinois College
Shotgun Team Coach
2011 Division I ACUI National Champions
2011 SCTP Collegiate Champions
2012 ACUI Div II National HOA Champions
2012 SCTP Collegiate Champions
2013 ACUI Division II RU National Champions
2014 SCTP RU Collegiate National Champions

This guy knows what he is doing. He knows how things really work and how to get things done.

We talked over the idea of the PGCA getting into supporting youth shotgunning. Bruce is willing to kinda be the idea guy for this effort. He knows about everyone the leaders of this effort will need to know.

Email Bruce at : huntschool@aol and he will help.

I volunteer to help here at the San Antonio shooting center, where all the collegiate championships have been shot so far. They are now breaking into regional efforts.

Best Regards!

Originally Posted by Gary Laudermilch

William, you are right. There are already present structured shotgun shooting programs that are ideal places to introduce kids to the world of sxs shooting. I am most familiar with the Scholastic Clay Target Program(started by the National Shooting Sports Foundation and supported by the MidwayUSA foundation) and the NRA Youth Hunter Education Challenge program. Both are national in scope. Our local club sponsors an SCTP team and we provide logistic support to the YHEC national event held in Mansfield, PA every other year. Both are prime opportunities to sneak in sxs promotion.

The SCTP program started a collegiate level category a few years back. It is growing in leaps and bounds. Schools like Yale, Harvard, and MIT have teams among others. These are not exactly bastions of conservative shooting values and yet they are thriving. Talk about kids that will one day have the discretionary income to become a Parker collector/shooter! The opportunities exist. We just have to reach out and touch them.

[Kensal Rise]

Originally Posted by keavin nelson

... Appreciation for finer things only comes with access and ability to own such. I think our generation will need to work hard to draw the next from the video sticks, and black guns to the finer traditions of Parkers, Foxes and LCs.

Keavin has swerved into a worthy thought here. But I do not necessarily agree that you must afford a good double to appreciate its character.

What helps a great deal in the realm of the double gun is an awareness that these things are not just guns. They are a unique confluence of form, function, craft and art. Their worth is intrinsic, not simply practical. The fine ones have a soul. If you doubt that, check the For Sale section of this forum and take a look at the Mortimer offered there.

This is what allows the SxS double gun to stand apart from a Remington 1100. Or even a Citori.

Ergo, the character and sophistication of a double gun must be presented to and appreciated by the young shooter as well.

Easy to say. I know...

[Ed Blake]

Get them started on a Remington 1100. If they like it the SxS will come in time.