Fox 20 ga

[Kevin McCormack]

Sounds very much to me like the "jungle telegraph" may have done you in on this deal - similar to a "loose lips sink ships" type of deal, if you know what I mean.

I lost a screaming GHE Parker 16 ga. 32" gun about 15 years ago when, after I had made the seller a bona fide cash offer of $7500 and arranged a meeting place convenient to both of us. Three days later, the day before we agreed to meet, he called me up and said that after "consulting some Parker gun experts", he felt the true value of the gun was $10,500 and that was what he would accept, cash money only.

I told him that if they were the same Parker gun experts that had called me up fishing for a value on a gun they were "looking to buy", that they could all enjoy their $8000 gun together.

Same thing in reverse happened when I tried to buy a great 12 ga. 32" XE Fox; offered the buyer his stated price cash as we spoke (way north of $10K) after he told me the gun was not for sale, but "may be in a couple or three years." Three years shrunk into 3 months after the seller experienced a "downturn in personal finances" shortly thereafter, winding up virtually giving the gun away. By that time, I had found a better gun. 'Caveat venditor"!

[C.O.B.]

Originally Posted by Craig Larter

Picked up a nice little 16ga A 5-12lbs 28" bbls with perfect screws and nice original finish with a bit of finish added to the forend for $3100. this week. Not an 20AE but in the same zip code. My estimate for the 20 AE the original topic was a little low but small bore Fox A's are out there for less than 4k in my opinion. To bad the deal for the 20 fell apart. Craig

Nice gun Craig I hope you bring it to hausmanns. There are a couple of nice small bore Fox's on Guns International right now.

[Cold Spring]

Originally Posted by Bill Murphy

........... Do you want to hear about a worse situation? How about an officer in a collector's organization that refuses to sell a "factory letter" on a gun that is an active sale gun on the internet, and then buys the gun out from under the fellow that is requesting the letter? This person refused to deliver an email letter, excusing this refusal, saying that this delivery of an email violates a procedure that had been changed that day. This happened on AHFCA, but it also happens all over the internet.

For those interested here are the FACTS.

1) The procedure for "letters" (actually card copies) was changed starting on January 1, 2010, and the gun in question came up on an internet auction site in late February 2010. That was eight weeks after the procedure change, not "that day". In fact the sticky citing that change is still on the Fox Member Forum and it's dated December 31, 2009. Easily checked if someone had the initiative to do so.

2) The "Officer" cited in the quote did not buy the gun, that is also incorrect. He was doing his role exactly as per the procedure that was communicated 8 weeks earlier. He did not "refuse to sell". He declined to post the card which would have been contrary to that procedure. In fact a copy of the card was emailed to the requestor on March 5 and he acknowledged receipt of same on that date. Furthermore anyone who requested the card copy (jpg image) could have posted it himself, same as posting a jpg such as a picture to share. Again, some initiative required.

3) Actually it was I who bought the gun when the auction ended on March 7 and I paid $4711. for it as the final bid of some 25 bids from many other Fox Collector Association enthusiasts including a distinguished collector and dealer, and that was after the gun was freely and openly discussed on the Fox Forum. My check was dated March 8 and I logged the gun into my C&R Bound book when received on March 15. I certainly didn't buy the gun from under the nose of anyone who was following that thread and/or had requested a letter (emailed card copy) as per the procedure that had been posted some eight weeks earlier.

4) I used the gun for one season of upland, didn't like it, and sold it for a top bid of $5000. the following year. Since then I've seen it offered on the internet three times. The last time, about 1 month ago, it was "on sale" at just a little over that figure. I mention this to demonstrate that the gun was bought at top market value in 2010 and is still at about what the market will pay.

To quote Sgt. Joe Friday, "just the facts, Ma'am".

Frank Srebro

[Bill Murphy]

Frank, thanks for coming out on this "happening". I'm sorry that I was not aware of the change in policy for AHFCA card forwarding, which had always been a nearly immediate forward of the card by email when paid. I have not read the "sticky" that you refer to as of today. I am also sorry I didn't see the refusal to forward the card as a matter of policy, which, I assume it now is. I also didn't regard the refusal as a coincidence in timing, the first time I had been refused. My apology is here, and I will pay closer attention to policy in the future.