BH Again, Help with Value, Restore or not?

[Robert Delk]

Yeah, some people with the big bucks buy a lot of properly restored Parkers for large sums and those same people have been known to have the very best restorers redo guns and call them "original." One late collector comes to mind in regards to Parkers and another in regards to Winchesters some of which recently went to auction.A few decades go by and who is to know?

[C.O.B.]

I have restocked a couple, made straight grips out of PG on two but have never had one restored to factory original. I like the aged look of worn (or none) case color, a dent or a scratched stock brings back memories of a hunt or asks the question, what happened here? A well cared for used gun has class and experience I wouldn't want to remove that.

[Double Lab]

Eric;
I agree with Rich, Edgar and the rest, not to touch that nice gun. I would love to own a B grade 20 especially with a straight stock. In my opinion the replacement barrels are documented and don't hurt the value. I, like Rich, just love straight stocks as they are much more comfortable to carry all day, handle quicker when needed and they just look so sexy. Most times you will never recoup the cost of refinishing when you sell. The "big time" Parker collectors just put them in a safe. Guys like me, Destry, Rich and most of the members of this forum love those guns with character and original condition. We shoot them and use them as they were made to be used. To hunt with.

[Fishtail]

What a worn out topic....things must be slow in the Parker world.

I wouldn't restore that gun, it's too nice. But there are certainly some Parkers deserving of restoration. I had a GH restored...prior to that, 8 guys out of 10 would not have held it to their cheek for fear of the grunge never coming off. The 2 guys out of 10 were named Ernest T. Bass and Otis.

[Bill Murphy]

The checkwriters can do what they want, because they are only interested in the investment aspect of collecting. Regardless of the number of times I push the "Thanks" button for pictures of nice guns posted by the checkwriters, I detest the collecting themes of these people. I am only hitting the "Thanks" button because I enjoy the pictures, not because I appreciate what they are doing to the guns. I could own the guns they own, but choose not to.

[edgarspencer]

Originally Posted by Bruce Day

What you see here in this forum is only a small part of the Parker collecting community and I suggest to you that the top players who pay large sums do not hang on this forum.

What I see here, as opposed to what you "suggest", is a pretty nice cross section of the "Parker collecting community". I'm at a loss as to how you suppose to know the net worth of those who 'hang' here, what kind of players we represent, or what we choose to collect. I had dinner last Friday night with a wonderful bunch of guys, many of whom are, to use your term, top players. No one amongst that group at the annual meeting, or at the shooting grounds, exhibited any distinction in their appreciation for the guns we all brought to show or shoot. The man who sits on one hundred ones, sits no lower than the man who sits on one hundred one hundreds.

[Dennis]

Forgive me as I am new to Parker shotguns but the gun in question is one of the most beautiful guns I have seen regarding Parkers. To my untrained eye it appears somebody replaced the Damascus original barrels with new V grade barrels. Maybe Mr. Brewster simply wanted a set of fluid steel barrels and didn't care about the grade. If so doesn't that make the barrels original to the gun for Mr. Brewster? I love the gun and wouldn't change a thing. I would happily use it and be proud of it.

[Pittypatdugan]

I had a set of 12 ga Titanic barrels with forend that I paid $ 300 for knowing someone had
tried to make them fit a 1 1/2 frame. I put them for sale on this forum years ago, told the buyer that they were altered and they were bought without the forend simply for the Titanic rib to repair his barrels or make a 2nd set of Titanic barrels out of his lower grade ones, would this be restoration or deception?

[Eric Olson]

OK - the first question of restoration is answered - leave origional. Second question is a "guesstimate" on the value. Mr Day's thread on Page 1 shows the Blue Book and he puts the gun at 30% - and I would rate it much higher but, again, I am not an expert. What do you experienced members think?

[MarketHunter]

None of us travel in the same circles as Mr. Day, it's plain and simple to anybody with eyes to see. I post my flea market items for sale and he posts pictures of gun he doesn't own. The difference is huge obviously, he's one of our top men and should be rewarded. We are all less when he's not in charge, I'm going to become a life member immediately so I can vote for him when he runs for president of the organization.

DLH