Czar Nicolas A-1 Special

[Robert Delk]

Great idea.What do you think it cost to make the "Not the Czar's Parker?".and case.

[Bill Murphy]

It cost a bunch. "Not the Czar's Parker" and case were displayed at the Gold Medal Concours at the Vintage Cup several years ago. It was available for inspection for at least three days at that event. It is quite a gun and lived up to Peter Johnson's mistaken impression of an over the top example of gun decoration. Thankfully, the real Czar gun turned out to be quite conservative as A-1 Specials go.

[George M. Purtill Member #28]

Bill or anyone else,for those of us not in the know, what is the chain of ownership and sales prices associated with the fake.

[Charlie Price]

George --
I vaguely recall seeing the "Not Czar" gun at the Las Vegas Winter show, circa late 1990s. It was on Don Criswell's table; He was a well known dealer from the LA, CA area. The tag price was more than my net worth, but I don't recall exactly -- something around 30 to 40K. Somehow, we got pictures as published in TPS but I can't recall whether they came from Criswell or whoever purchased it. I recall that you furnished us some documentation on the court case and that case was in 1985? Hope this helps with your question,
Regards, Charlie Price

[George M. Purtill Member #28]

Charlie
So good to draw you out.
The pictures for TPS came from me.
I still have my file. I re-discovered it today.

Originally Posted by Charlie Price

George --
I vaguely recall seeing the "Not Czar" gun at the Las Vegas Winter show, circa late 1990s. It was on Don Criswell's table; He was a well known dealer from the LA, CA area. The tag price was more than my net worth, but I don't recall exactly -- something around 30 to 40K. Somehow, we got pictures as published in TPS but I can't recall whether they came from Criswell or whoever purchased it. I recall that you furnished us some documentation on the court case and that case was in 1985? Hope this helps with your question,
Regards, Charlie Price

[Robert Delk]

The case is really awesome and the gold work on the stock has me wondering how they got it to stay put. I had never seen gold inlay on a modern gunstock before.Someone had a great imagination when putting that ensemble together and a deep wallet.Maybe someday someone will publicly tell the tale of how it came to be and all the people involved with real names.

[George M. Purtill Member #28]

BTW
After 8 years of cold war Russian schooling I do know this: phonetically it is the Tsars's Parker, not the Czar's Parker.
Photos anyone?

[Robert Delk]

I know I'd like to meet the guys who did the stock and case.

[George M. Purtill Member #28]

I suppose this is the first clue its a fake.

[Bill Murphy]

The gun was built, probably start to finish, in Tony Galazan's shop. The gun was sold to a person who initiated legal action to recover damages when the gun was found to be a fake. There was serious doubt that the "customer" ever thought that the gun was for real because he was an experienced dealer and collector. As I recall, the verdict in the case was "Play nice and go home." At the time of the Gold Medal Concours display, the gun was owned by one of us. It probably is still owned by that person.