Future of Parker Collection and Double Gun Collecting

[C.O.B.]

Eldon you bring up a point I have often pondered my self. first let me commend you on your interest in these fine guns at an early age. I always thought I'd leave my guns to my little brother as he liked to shoot and hunt but unfortunately he left us to early. I have a daughter who has no interest in my collection at all so there's no future there.
Our youth as mentioned in other posts is a generation for the most part interested in instant gratification and the newest gizmo's. The history behind these guns and not just shotguns but rifles such as Pre 64 Winchesters is lost on them. There is little nostalgia left in today's America as I see it. I can sit in a deer blind and wonder who carried the M70 before me, what did the prior custodian use it for, did he take a deer with it?
IMHO the biggest determent to our youth and these old guns is the cost they are reaching. Jobs are scarce money is tight and younger people are raising families not spending thousands of dollars on a Parker, Fox or Winchester.
I go to a lot of SXS shoots and it's rare to see Dad and son or daughter shooting alongside them.
I have often considered cutting back to a couple of rifles and shotguns and selling the rest while the market is good but somehow I just can't bring myself to do it.....yet.

[Mike Franzen]

I think there will always be a market for these guns. To judge future collectors / shooters by what the younger generations like right now might be a fallacy. A lot of My generation back in the day were hippies, freaks and flower children. Now, I'll bet some are Parker collectors. Fortunately most in my gen moved on. Unfortunately, The rest reside in politics.

[DoubleOframe]

Originally Posted by Mike Franzen

I think there will always be a market for these guns. To judge future collectors / shooters by what the younger generations like right now might be a fallacy. A lot of My generation back in the day were hippies, freaks and flower children. Now, I'll bet some are Parker collectors. Fortunately most in my gen moved on. Unfortunately, The rest reside in politics.

I agree Mike there will always be a market. I am in my late 20s and grew up in a gun shop so naturally I was born with the gunsmithing and collecting bug. Most people my age, including myself, don't have the money to collect a bunch of doubles but that doesn't mean we won't find them interesting and valuable in the future. The same could be said for motorcycles or classic cars. You don't see many 20-30 year olds driving Harleys and buying up classic 150K muscle cars at Barrett-Jackson auctions but that doesn't mean the market is dieing. As long as organizations like the PGCA keep growing in members from year to year I think we will be fine.

[6pt-Sika]

I dunno when I was in my early teens I was interested in doubles , granted I couldn't afford an A1 Special but I can't now either . But you have to take into consideration I grew up in a household where pumps or semi autos were disdained . So doubles , bird dogs , trap and skeet were a natural progression . I would like to think there are still some youngsters growing up in that environment albeit very few .

[Mills]

The way to do it is one at a time. It is up to all of us to each do our part.

[Eldon Goddard]

I agree mills all we can do is show people what they are and why we love them and hope they gain interest. My experience may be skewed as I live in a large city with little hunting and little interest in shotguns in general.

[Craig Larter]

I am very optimistic about the future of vintage double gun collecting. This year we had more youth hunters than ever at our duck club for youth day. The interesting thing to me is the number of female youth hunters in the current generation. Our female youth hunter shot more ducks than any of the guys!! She also was the only young female to bag a turkey in the youth season in the spring. Anyhow, all of these young hunters where exposed to vintage doubles and one hunted ducks during the youth season with a Parker. This summer we intend to host a youth clays day and let any of the young folks experience the joy of shooting a vintage double. They may not be hooked for various reason until they mature but like us they will never forget the experience. The future looks bright but as others have said we need to plant the seed.

[William McClintock]

Originally Posted by Harold Lee Pickens

I see part of the problem, as the lack/difficulty of upland hunting opportunities. It used to be that a youngster got involved with hunting and guns by small game hunting, rabbits and birds. Now it is the almighty deer that drives youth hunting and you don't use doubles for that. .... I had mentors in my Uncle Sam, and my best friend's(Terry) father who looked after a poor(and yes, we were quite poor) boy and took me hunting(rabbits and grouse) frequently. I killed my first grouse with a 12 ga SXS, one of those Stevens with the nylon stock--boy did it kick--and I have been shooting SXS's since.
I know this is kind of a long diatribe, but we must first get the youth interested in hunting upland and expose them to double guns so that when they are older they can appreciate good/fine guns and continue our passion.

It seems to me that to get younger people interested in classic American guns they have to first be willing and able to use one and have fun doing it.

Harold is correct; the days of easily available bird hunting, except in the upper Midwest, parts of the North East and the West are gone. The Old South with it's famous quail hunting is gone, replaced with a huge pine monoculture. You have to "pay to play" in Texas and the damn 10 year old drought has drastically reduced quail numbers.

To get teenagers interested in bird hunting now, when they have to toil and sweat buckets to even see a grouse or shoot at a quail covey rise, is almost impossible. They'd rather sit in front of the computer and play in comfort. Some one who is just beginning a sport or hobby needs a few quick wins to keep their interest going. There are damn few quick wins now-a-days in bird hunting.

The clay shooting associations (Sporting Clays, etc) are doing a pretty good job in youth shooting instruction and youth shooting leagues, but one sees only a very few clays shooters using classics such as a 16 gauge Parker DHE as I do. Tricked out O/Us and semi autos rule, so I don't see any near immediate gains in classic SxS shooters there. Hopefully as they get older....

No doubt everyone who has called for supporting youth shooting is correct; but I am fairly pessimistic about the current high interest in classic SxS guns lasting for the long term.

I hope I am wrong.

[Mills]

I am optimistic too. Partly because I have seen organizations in Savannah where the average age was about 60 or 70 gain a large number of young members. You get one, then another, pretty soon you have a bunch.

There is a perception that Parkers and vintage guns are expensive and valuable when there are plenty of affordable shooters in the lower grades.

[Quigley97]

In addition to Mr. Goddard's original post. When I was in my early twenties I started trap shooting. You could of put a $1,000 in my hand and asked me to break a target with a sxs and I would have said "keep your money". Now in my early 60's I started sporting clays. I also work all the events at Backwoods Quail Club in SC. Three years ago I worked my first Fall Southern SXS Classic. I, as you might say, "was infected with the Parker disease". I couldn't search enough info about Parkers and couldn't read enough about Parkers. As said before, the appreciation comes with a little age. I do believe the tradition will carry on.