The restoration question

[Ray Masciarella]

Edgar

I'm moving into the 20th century (not the 21st yet) so I bought my ipad instead of a book. If I were really cool, I'd have an iphone but my flip phone still works.

Pls send ducks this way so I don't have to occupy my time. I've quit now. Hunted all morning and have one mottled duck and one shoveler. Enough for lunch.

Ray

[B. Dudley]

Restoration is truly a slippery slope at times. You do one thing and then it turns to doing something else because it looks out of place. Depending on the gun of course. And as with cars, a fully restored item rarely gets its money back out of it unless the labor was free, as in you do it yourself.

[Ray Masciarella]

Has the PGCA ever considered establishing an industry standard for evaluating Parkers? I think it would be a great benefit. Collector cars have these standards. Some as simple as a scale of 1 to 5. Others are model specific and the guidelines go into great detail. When I was a national NCRS and Bloomington Gold judge, we got down to looking at nuts and washers in evaluating originality and condition.

The Blue Book and NRA do this generally, but too generally in my view to have any real value. The guidelines of many of the model specific car organizations have now become the national standards for those cars. The only thing anyone pays attention to.

For example, these standards could break a Parker down to stocks, frame and barrels and provide guidelines on how to evaluate originality and condition. Not only would this aid in determining condition and value, but when a Parker is a survivor and when it is a candidate for restoration.

Of course, you'll never have guidelines everyone would agree upon. But many of us now don't agree with the say the Blue Book or other sources of such info. However, the PGCA collectively knows more about Parkers than any other organization and could through consensus provide the best available guidelines for determining such things.

[J.B. Books]

I think this an easy and personal decision once a gun comes into my possession.

A unique good to high original condition gun is an "investment" if bought right in the short term. It's bought wrong it's a long term investment. I will shoot it, lots at the range, sparingly in the field.

A "shooter", solid, original to mostly original, might have a pad added, or barrels reblacked, might need checkering freshened up. Try to buy them right, hope to break even + or -.

"Junker" near basket case but gun appeals to me for some reason, willing to go upside down, could be just a great fitting gun or unique in some way and I deem it worth salvaging. Have done this with a couple of guns that come to mind. I took an NH 10ga and fixed it up incrementally, fun project, very satisfying. I use this gun a lot in the field, over 1800 shells fired at crows since Fall 2010. Shot a lot of ducks and geese too and some trap targets. Might have $500 to $600 too much into it. Enjoyment of hunting and shooting it well worth it. Same goes with 32" 3 frame 12ga VH. Total basket case that I had DelGrego redo in 2008.

So bottom line the return on investment with a restoration is in enjoyment of ownership and use not investment return,

There is a tuition charged for enjoying Parker's, we all pay it and perhaps later that education returns some dividends. In the meantime I have fun with them.

http://parkerguns.org/forums/showthread.php?t=4750

[B. Dudley]

I think that the percentage condition rating is a good one, but the amount can often be up for debate and subject to individual variation. Of course it is not Parker specific, but can be applied to any collector gun.

[Jeff Christie]

In addition to my addiction to Parkers, I also have a bad case of wood boat-itis. Believe me you don't ever want to even think about going there if you want "original." Wood rots, It can be wet rot or dry rot but as something once alive it rots. Sometimes it has to be replaced if the boat is to remain a boat. Boats have to be maintained. There is no 1927 varnish or paint out there so today's products have to do. A friend of mine's 1927 'triple' cockpit 28 foot Chris Craft runabout has exactly 7 pieces of original wood in it. It plies the lake most every day of the season. I believe there is exactly 1 (yes 1) pre-WW2 Chris Craft out there w/ its original varnish. Still they command astronomical prices- many owners having (on this lake) having turned down offers well over a 1/4 million for some of them. Get the point. There are boats out there that haven't seen water in several years. You can read a newspaper thru the shrunk up seems in their mahogany planks. To keep it alive you gotta use it. It seems we are much luckier in the gun world but I dare say most of us have more fun with our guns in the field than in the safe. Same thing for boats. Floaters are more fun than trailer queens.

[TMallad]

Merry X-Mas to all,

I have a DH #2 frame ?with 16 Ga Dam barrels and 12 Ga Titanic 2 forearms all numbers match. I had Brad Bachelder do a complete restoration on everything.
I did not do this for resale, I did it because I love my Parker.

The dents,scratches, and dings will now be my memories to pass down to my family. The gun was made in 1904, reborn in 2012, hopefully she will give another 108 years witout fail.

If you appreciate the beauty of your Parkers restore or not the choice can only be yours.

[BRDHNTR]

The Statue of Liberty has undergone multiple restorations - value? Priceless. Mount Rushmore has had some facelift work - value? Priceless. My gandfather's 16 ga VH was a basket case and underwent complete rebuild by DelGrego - value as a family heirloom to be passed down to the next Newell generation (it's in the works) - Not for sale and Priceless.

I do like the suggestions above for grading though.