I dealt with old Herschel Chaddick(emphasis on the 4 last letters of his surname, if you will)-- ONCE-- I never bought a Parker from him, a friend did- about 20 odd years ago. A VHE 20 with 28"barrels (per ad in the Gun List)-- after some negotiating-- when the gun arrived, he just assumed that the barrels were full length- they had been cut down to 27", and the top rib was re-matted and the sight bead re-set. He called or Hershey, and after some backing and filling, he got a 15% refund off the price he paid. That was was the old ad (Best Little whore-house in Texas- where the customer always gets screwed) was the mode de jour.
About 15 years ago, I found myself with 3 pre-1964 M70's- all in 30-06 cal. I decided to sell one outright, rather than consign. All were std. grade M70's, the one I parted with was a 1950 year, no scope, but of course, drilled and tapped for scope mounts, and with the steel checkered butt plate- about 85% OAL condition, mint bore, sn. etched on bolt matched the sn on the barrel--all there, and worth to me $1500. That market for pre-1964 M70's is gone, doubt if it will ever return.
I accepted his check, cashed it, waited for my bank (Chase) to OK it, then instructed friend Brad B. to pack and ship it to Chaddick, which he did, UPS insured. About 2 weeks later, I got a phone call from Hershey-Bar-Boy himself- he claimed that the bolt was not in battery, but placed in the styro-foam- next to the pg, and that in shipping, it had apparently moved against the curve of the pg and somehow scratched the wood- He said that his gunsmith could refinish it at a cost of $150 (10 percent of his agreed paid price) and asked me to send him a check in that amount. I declined, and told him he could send it back to Brad at his expense, and I'd have Brad do the work, and I would pay Brad myself, and then have it returned to him afterwards.
I also asked him if he reported any claim for damage in shipment to UPS, and took pictures to document thus spurious claim, showing it detail the entire rifle with SN, also the bolt with etched SN, so we could verify that it was the one and same M70 Brad had shipped to him, and not a "ringer" from his inventory, and to negate any liability for damage in shipment to me- I didn't do the shipping, and he knew that. What a friggin' weasel-
I heard rumors about his miss-representing some high grade counterfeited Parkers to a big $ Texas oilman, and somehow, disappeared- hope that's true.
By the way, oh Tedster of Bobby Dylan's homestate- I enjoy hearing about your late father'service in my beloved USMC.. RWTF
