doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Amazing Parker

Oh brother, its right there. An 'O' frame and 5 1/2 pounds, what would a OO frame weigh? I agree John that is a beautiful Parker.

I didn't see that frame note before was that just added?

An amazing Parker, but it's amazing as well how easily one can overlook the obvious. I missed the frame size and extractor info that is glaringly obvious. I suppose I was dazzled...
JR

I certainly wouldn't feel "foisted upon" to own that gun nor do I feel foisted upon to own the 0-frame l have. Mine was ordered with ejectors in 1912.

No late posting on Steve's part. It was an 0 frame from the beginning. It was also an extractor gun from the beginning. Internet posters are a bit quick on the trigger when discussing guns they can't afford and which they will not bid on in an internet auction. I am probably guilty of similar behavior, except that I usually read the thread before posting.

If Grandma Moses engraved birds, they would look just like the birds on the floorplate of this Parker.

I can't afford a real Grandma Moses painting, or, this Parker.

But, I'm actually OK with that.


Best,
Ted

I learned this valuable lesson (I hope) several months ago when I spent a week watching a C Grade Nichols and Lefever hammergun. I wanted it badly, and hoped it would sell for a decent price. There were at least 30-35 photos of the gun, but even with that many pics, the seller was careful to neither describe, or provide a close-up photo, of one important little detail.

I completely overlooked it until the bidding frenzy was down to me and one other bidder. I had the high bid when I noticed that one hammer had different engraving, and a slightly different angle on the hammer spur. It was obviously a replacement. I knew finding an original would be near impossible, and reproducing a matching hammer with correct engraving would be very expensive... and also non-original. Thankfully, the other bidder jumped back in to take the lead, and I happily let him have it. He must have made the same error of not seeing the problem. I recently saw him attempting to sell it with a reserve starting bid $600.00 less than he paid just a few months ago.

Auctions are a great place to get skinned. Good thing you noticed that.

I'm too much of a bottom feeder to get hurt much these days, but, I'm pretty sure I'm all done with auctions, especially for anything worth more than about 1K.


Best,
Ted

Things happen too quickly in auctions for my taste, Ted. I once went to a huge estate gun auction in downtown Atlanta about 20 years ago. Forgotten how many lots there were, maybe 3000 or so. Once we had done our viewing the day before, we all settled in the next day for the hammer to start dropping. Whoa, you talk about the race being on, I could hardly keep up. Bought nothing.
JR

I have never been very successful buying guns at an auction. I have however not been to a really big time auction. I was at an auction once where a long time collector was selling quite a few guns. I bought a few things there, but no guns. He had a good many low end guns & then some pretty uncommon ones with high collector interest. Amazingly the low end guns all brought far more than they were worth, while some of those high end ones went for what I felt at the time were extremely attractive prices, just out of my financial range at the time.
I have made some very good buys on non-gun related items at auctions. One just has to know what they want & when to "STOP" bidding.

A long time ago, I needed a vise for my shop. I wanted a decent one, and began attending farm and shop auctions, looking to purchase a Wilton bullet style machinests vise. Every auction I went to that had a good sized (I wanted at least a 4" version) Wilton bullet saw the price quickly rise to near, or, just over, retail. These were vises that had been in service for most of 25-50 years, rusty, usually, and with bent handles, broken mounts and a turn or two of backlash in the nut.

I never saw a decent vise at an auction.

I ended up buying a brand, spanking, new Wilton 500. Doing so got me a vise made of higher grade ductile iron than one produced even ten years prior, and an engineering change to the vises put a machined keyway into the movable jaw, which, held the movable jaw dead straight to the fixed jaw. Yes, I was out $390, although the gent at the late Globe Tool in St Paul asked if I wanted a discount, and gave me a "student discount" saying we were all students of life.
Retail on that vise is over 1K now.

I found much the same thing with guns at auction that I did with the vises. I assume there is always someone who cherry picks any auction before it begins, and the stuff left is what you bid on.

I haven't been to a live auction in a long time. The last two gun site auctions I won, I was the only bidder. I won an Uggy 12 gauge for $404, shipped, and a Nitro Special 16 gauge, like new, save for rust on the barrels exterior, for $260.

Ken reblued the barrels. Both guns were fairly priced, I believe, when it was said and done.

Best,
Ted