Would like opinion on value

[J. A. EARLY]

Don't be disheartened. If it is a relative's gun and you end up "keeping" it until after he is gone you could slowly make it more attractive to you. The wood could be refinished. Maybe do it yourself if handy. The head is splitting but it maybe can be glued back together after getting rid of the 100 years of oil. The metal could be cleaned up depending upon the pitting on the barrels; maybe reblue at a later time. Clean up the receiver, have the trigger guard nitre blued along with the triggers, and have a decent shooter that belonged to a family member. Fill the voids in the end of the barrels with solder. The low-ball estimates are based upon the cost to refinish to make it decent, and cut barrels can't be brought back but does not mean it can't still take game. Right now it is in the bottom range but I like challenges and it can be saved. I have brought back worse from the dead. But you can never have a restoration.

[Woodcock survey]

First off ALL Parker shotgun are''old''so that adds little to their value. This site seems to average two inquire's a month like yours and they have a common theme. That being ''i have this rare, very valuable treasure and what is this windfall worth''. When i have been asked a number of times what i am shooting and say Parker invariably the person says that must be worth a fortune. When told it is the most common grade and gauge they are dumbstruck to hear they can be had all day for a thousand dollars or less.

There are a very few guns that because of a combination of rarity and CONDITION are reported to sell for tens of thousands and they are the ones the general public reference when they hear Parker. They are few and far between and most are disappointed to learn that they do not have one
Please do not take what i say as any criticism of you, far from it and those who responded to you have given good advice for realistically any money put to restoration will not bring value.

[DKNC]

Again, I'd like to thank all of you for your advice and comments. They are appreciated. I am not too disappointed as I had done some online research and saw similar shotguns from $300-$3000. I also saw on this website that ~33000 were made in ~27 years and that Trojan was the lower end made so anyone could afford a Parker. Other webpages and this one also, suggested I start here before deciding to do any cleaning or repairs to see if it was worth investing in restoration. I have heard exactly what I needed to make a reasonable decision. Bottom line is the gun is worth whatever someone is willing to pay. Thanks again for the candid responses. I do have one question... I have looked this stock up and down and all around and do not see any crack or splits in the wood anywhere. How do I locate (the head) where everyone is saying is beginning to split?

[Dean Romig]

I’ve taken and enlarged the 9th picture you posted. There is space between the top tang of the frame and the wood. It is pronounced on thevright side and it is actually considerably wider than the frame if you look closely on the right side. This indicates a split stock head.


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[Bill Murphy]

The split stock head should be repaired before shooting the gun to prevent further damage. There are threads on this forum showing the "staple" method of repairing this situation. Do a search for "successful stock head repair" to access an illustrated thread showing this repair.

[Jim Thynne]

Parker Shotguns are collectable shotguns. The purchasers are as finicky as those of us that also collect fine glass.They start out as perfect examples, and any variance from new detracts from the value.A fellow told me once it's not like picking out a prom date, it's like picking out a wife.








The sad part is that these guns have become investment pieces, and the value once again follows the guide of "100% new" and it depreciates from there!

[B. Dudley]

The opinions expressed above are completely correct. When it comes to market value of a gun, the configuration of the gun and condition are what determines value. Your gun is a base grade gun which is very common and the condition is low. Pretty much operable with some repairs, but low. So, call it fair, not poor. The barrels are cut, which also hurts the value a lot. One, they look cut at the muzzle, and two, your serial number 199859 is listed in the book as a 30" gun. Further support that it has been cut back 2". Honestly, the gun is worth no more than $300-500 tops. Like others have said.

The points that you mention like it being made in 1922, and it being used as a tool by the family do not come into account much when it comes to market value. The age of the gun means nothing really. So, it is old. Every Parker Shotgun is. And the family attachment and memories and such are sentimental, which mean everything to the members of the family, but not much to anyone else. Sentimental value can be a major driver for people to spend money on things like restoration, and that is fine. If it were not for "Grandpas Shotgun" many restoration specialists would not get the work that they do. But when talking fair market value, it does not make sense to anyone else.

[Andy]

Brian this should be a STICKY titled: What is My Gun Worth. EXCELLENT synopsis. It, or a variation of it, should be accessible by non members.

[ArtS]

This would likely make a great old shooter. I have a lot of old guns, and I mean that literally. I in fact am a person that tends to gravitate toward, for a descriptive term, rejunevated guns. I like to take old guns and redo them to shoot and enjoy. I can tell you that you will seldom recover what you spend on them. I don't spend more on them than is economically viable or that suits my budget if the gun is something I really want. I have never in my life bought a gun because it was simply rare or valuable. I truly appreciate the workmanship and rarity of historic firearms, but if I'm not interested or they are unuseable they have no draw.

If a gun is really really rough but can be put right, and it is interesting to me, I will buy it and work on it for months to save it but not spend a lot of cash on it. If it has some significant attribute and I really want to own it, I will spend considerably more and do a lot of the work myself but never expect to profit from it in the short term. I have a not small rack of relatively pricey guns on which other people have had total professional restorations done for which I have paid several thousand per gun. In several cases I have recieved the paid reciepts for the restoration and they are often twice what I paid for the guns at auction. They often look more presentable than the high priced original but originality, condition and rarity set the value. With only 2 of the three, you are out of the serious collector market.

In the case of your gun, what people are saying is that the condition is such that it can likely be improved to make it useful again, but it can literally never be made excellent, even with a complete professional restoration. The barrels have been cutoff and left unfinished and the metal is pitted and corroded to the point that you would likely never be able to remove the surface imperfections to the point that it looks like a quality job without thinning the metal too much. The stock can be repaired but will still not be in a restored condition.

Since it is a family gun, the advice given above is the best I think. Have someone repair the muzzle. Boil or sonic clean the barrels to remove the corrosion and put on a rust arresting oil. Have the barrels inspected as to condition and safety before any of this. Have someone with experience repair the stock and refinish it. A lot of this can be done by you with help and/or advice. You will end up with a family gun in useable shape and a condition in which it probably spend most of it's active life. The value will still be it's current value plus what you spent on it.

[Bill Murphy]

Andy, woops, sorry, ArtS, your post made a lot of sense up to the last sentence. The amount spent on it will not be added to its present value. Its present value is about what it will be worth after much work is done on it. The damage done to it by previous owners will always be evident and detract from its value. That is not the case with all abused guns, but it is the case with this one.