Time Capsule

[StubTwist]

What a gun! Great find Edgar and hope to see it soon. Congratulations!

[Autumn Daze]

Egger, We spoke of this great gun yesterday and I just knew then that you would talk yourself into it. Congratulations and thanks for sharing it with us.

[Andy Kelley]

Congrats, it is nice to know she is going to a good home where she will be appreciated and cherished . Edgar, glad you decided to take it! Andy

[Craig Reynolds]

Edgar
I sent you a PM. Craig

[Wayne Johnson]

Wow! Saying that is pretty just doesn't say it.

I know everybody says this, but it looks like the one my grandfather had when I was a kid. Not that nice I'm sure but that's the color wood and metal I remember. Of course I haven't seen the gun in over 40 years. Oddly enough I remember him telling me he bought it in 1928.

I'm going to have to stop by my uncles and ask him about his gun.

[BRDHNTR]

They were made to be shot. If you want a closet queen/king, go to Vegas.

[C.O.B.]

I must agree with Dean in that I wouldn't shoot such a gun. To remain new unfired is a rarity in the gun world and should be respected as such. To shoot this and render it to used condition woulld be a shame, ther are other guns that can be used.

[Opening Day]

Originally Posted by Rich Anderson

I must agree with Dean in that I wouldn't shoot such a gun. To remain new unfired is a rarity in the gun world and should be respected as such. To shoot this and render it to used condition woulld be a shame, ther are other guns that can be used.

Guess I should step in here and have a say. As most of you guys know I have a new unfired VHE skeet gun in the box that I care for. And that's what my job is, to care for it for the next caretaker. A gun unfired or in mint condition needs to be preserved to show others what real case colors look like (not what they think they should look like).... At one of the annual meetings the display theme was 16 ga Parkers Jimmy Hall's A 1 16 ga took first place (as it should have) and a lowly VHE skeet gun that was new in the box took second due to it's condition. All I am saying is, if you have a gem like that you are only a caretaker of it and you owe it to future generations to keep it in the condition that you found it. Just my two cents but you can find a gun in 80% to 90% condition if you want to use it and fire it but you only find a 100% gun once. Eric

[edgarspencer]

I agree with Eric, 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.

[Opening Day]

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.

I know it is a "bitch" to own a gun that you can't shoot, but, when you get to show it to others for comparision or just for knowledge, it's worth it. I know a couple of years ago, after I showed the skeet gun at the annual meeting, a man contacted me about selling the gun, after talking to him I found out the only reason he wanted to buy the gun was to shoot it and tell his buddy's he was the first to shoot it....... As you know I turned the offer down. It's hard but when you show it to someone that has never seen an original gun it makes up for it.. Eric