Parker Display at NRA Convention-St. Louis

[Bruce Day]

The Tulsa show had a good variety of Parkers, mostly ordinary but a couple unusual ones, like 410's. Good dealer turnout and huge crowds, and the crowds were buying. Was a good show. The usual assortment of beef jerky, Pakistani knives, Christmas ornaments, fake Nazi stuff for the skinhead and Timothy McVeigh crowd, survival manuals, knife fighting manuals for the wannabe crowd, black guns. Interesting overweight woman wearing a Twin Peaks t shirt. I knew I shouldn't look but I did.

Hung out with Doug Turnbull, talked to Tony G and Lou Frutoso, Jason from Puglisi's, chilled with George Caswell and my buddy Rip Watson, saw nice Brownings, Winchesters, Colts, some Parkers (nice but nothing compelling for me) , Bob Skeuse, bunch of old buds. Listened to Jay Shachter tell me how he was at an eastern gun show and one of our experts came by with beginner Parker people in tow and grabbed a gun off Jay's rack and proceeded to teach his students that the barrels were clearly cut because of no distinct rib matting end, until Jay measured the barrels for him right at 30 and produced the research letter specifying 30. Listened to another gun dealer just outright lie to a friend dealer about a gun ( "its not really loose on the face, the factory made them that way") . Typical gun show.

[Dean Romig]

Funny stuff there Bruce - but kind of sad too.

[Bruce Day]

Bringing this notice back to the top about the NRA show in St Louis, starting on Friday. We expect 70,000 to 80,000 attendees. We'll be along with other vintage gun exhibitors such as Frank Finch and the L C Smith people. We have Charlie Herzog, Dave Weber, Wes Stueber, Ed and Dick Morgan and me at our PGCA booth. We'll have 30-40 Parkers of all grades and gauges and the pre Czar Czar's gun shown in TPS.

Sometimes people mention that they have little opportunity to see fine Parkers unless they travel to PGCA and other events on the east coast. This NRA convention is another opportunity, as was the Kansas City Pheasant Fest in Feb.

[Dean Romig]

Thanks to Charlie, Dave, Bruce, Wes, Ed and Dick for stepping up and being the "face of the PGCA" and in representing us all as nicely as they do.