Time Capsule

[Eldon Goddard]

Originally Posted by edgarspencer

I agree with Eris, Dean, and much as I hate to say it, Rich too. A new, unfired gun in the condition it was dispatched from Meriden is a benchmark to which many, including future collectors, can look to as a guide. To say it was made to be shot so go and shoot it is precisely what I would have said 50 years ago, when I began to accumulate guns. I never had an opportunity to see something made by a company, long, long gone, with a reputation such as the Charles Parker Company has, in precisely the condition it was in, as handled by the final inspector. I have more than a dozen pieces in the same configuration as this gun, and they are most likely the same in feel, and performance. A 1933 $20 gold double eagle was minted to be spent; The Flying Jenny 24 cent airmail stamp had the center plate mixed up, and the plane got downsideup, but it was made to be licked and stuck to a letter. If you're stupid enough to take a gun like this out and shoot it, you're gonna go mail Aunt Matilda a letter with the $825,000 airmail stamp, then go buy a burrito and a six-pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon with your twenty bucks.

From a monetary perspective you make an excellent point. If the value is deminished from shooting it you would be stupid to shoot it. I was not thinking in terms of money.

[Dean Romig]

As more and more people jump on to the "Shoot it! That's what it was made for." bandwagon fewer and fewer 100% guns will remain. (They are already as scarce as hen's teeth.) It is an unspoken trust when we buy such a gun to be its custodian only and to make sure it remains 100%.

[Harold Pickens]

I would not shoot it!!

[Wayne Johnson]

I don't have a dog in this fight. I've never owned and never will own a gun like that. But if my rich uncle in the poorhouse was to die and leave me one in similar condition, I know I wouldn't shoot it.

Not only do they not make them anymore, they didn't make many that got to here in that condition.

[CHE]

Eric, I am wondering if the casecoloring has a varnish like coat on it?
I had a 90% vh that had remnants of that type finish on the standing breech and was wondering if that is what the factory did.

[Eldon Goddard]

I am glad to live in a time where Parkers are still around and that there are still some in original condition. However this will not go on indefinately no matter what we do. That was the point I was trying to make. One day all these guns that we love will be nothing but the iron oxide they came from. We can delay this but it will happen eventually.
I think you have convinced me that some should be put aside for preservation as long as possible. The others that are no longer in original condition can be used and enjoyed.
Luckily for everyone there is only one Eldon Goddard in the world.

[edgarspencer]

Originally Posted by Eldon Goddard

I am glad to live in a time where Parkers are still around and that there are still some in original condition. However this will not go on indefinately no matter what we do. That was the point I was trying to make. One day all these guns that we love will be nothing but the iron oxide they came from. We can delay this but it will happen eventually.
I think you have convinced me that some should be put aside for preservation as long as possible. The others that are no longer in original condition can be used and enjoyed.
Luckily for everyone there is only one Eldon Goddard in the world.

No, you're right; it won't go on indefinitely but given care and attention, it can go on a long time. That's better than nothing.

[edgarspencer]

Originally Posted by tom leshinsky

Eric, I am wondering if the casecoloring has a varnish like coat on it?
I had a 90% vh that had remnants of that type finish on the standing breech and was wondering if that is what the factory did.

Tom, I'm not sure Eric will be able to answer with respect to this gun, but I can. It has no coating on the outside of the receiver. There was a fine film of old dried oil on the breech face and water table. The gun appears to have been stored broken down.
It was an old practice to wipe tools down with linseed oil when they weren't going to used for some time. Farmers would wipe their harrow blades with linseed also, as well as most hand tools. This accounts for a lot of the dried film seen on guns too.

[Opening Day]

Originally Posted by tom leshinsky

Eric, I am wondering if the casecoloring has a varnish like coat on it?
I had a 90% vh that had remnants of that type finish on the standing breech and was wondering if that is what the factory did.

Mine does not have any type of coating on the receiver, I do know a lot of people who put finish on the receivers to cut down on wear of the case colors but I don't think that they came from the factory like that.

[BRDHNTR]

According to Lawrence DelGrego, whom I discussed this with when I was considering coating the case colors on my 16VH that he had just reconditioned, Parker did not coat their case colors when they left the factory. When case colors were coated,(by owners) it was usually with a shellac and this made the frames susceptible to capturing water underneath the coating which led to rust buildup. So the coating of case colors is a practice to be discouraged.