DelGrego Restoration

[Patrick Butler]

In the vintage market (i.e. furniture) it has most always been unquestioned that unrestored is valued above even the best of restorations. The one exception to this until the last decade was rare automobiles, but now the market has moved to placing a very high premium on unrestored cars that have just been brought back mechanically.

I have only restored two Parkers. One was the first Parker I bought, late VHE 20 that had great wood, but someone had blued the case along with the barrels! yes, and I was dumb enough to buy it. Collecting Parkers has certainly been a learning process and joining this association reading these blogs most every day I am home was as valuable as buying "the Parker Story" and a few other books on the subject.

Anyway, I really had to restore the 20, as I now know hot bluing weakens the parts-and looks like, well a 21...DelGrego did the full restoration and opened the chokes from F/F to IC/ M to use as on sporting clays. I would never change the chokes, but this is go-to gun and it is what it is. The restoration price was high and he did not do the butt-plate. It looks very good but my only criticism is that the fore end latch is just a bit proud. He offered to fix it but, I never bothered to send it back.

The second gun was a 10 gauge grade two Hammer that Brad now has that was covered with Linseed oil and I just wanted to see the nice Damascus pattern pop. I lucked out in that it had very little use and no cracks in the stock.

The rest of my small collection are unrestored Parkers and most are a bit worn, but they all tell a story. The high condition ones cost a lot, as I started on this road a bit later than most collectors.

One last comment- How do you value a documented Parker factory restoration? To me that is an original gun.

[Dean Romig]

Originally Posted by Patrick Butler

One last comment- How do you value a documented Parker factory restoration? To me that is an original gun.

I agree wholeheartedly.

I once had a CHE Double Trap made in 1929. It was an exceptionally nice gun but it had Remington repair codes, a 'Remingtonesque' splinter forend (almost the same width from one end to the other) recut checkering with the Remington-style borders on the forend as well as the grip, and cyanide case colors (but nicely done, not tiger-striped). All in all it was a very nice Parker and, though redone by Remington well after the Meriden days, I considered it factory work.

Value on this gun?...... I sold it for a PILE more than I paid for it.

[C.O.B.]

Value is determined by the agreement between seller and buyer. I would rather have a nice original gun that shows it's age gracefully than a refinished gun that looks factory new. I have had stocks and Damascus barrels refinished to either bring out the pattern in the barrels or take 100 years of dirt and oil build up out of the stock. I have a CHE Damascus 20 that the barrels fairly shine and have considered having them redone but as they say "it's only original once" and I have decided to leave them as is.
At the end of the day the value is what your willing to pay for it and if you like it than that's what counts.