These Guys Should Know Better

[Researcher]

Just did my daily troll of GI and I'm again appalled!! Dealers that certainly know better, or should, list guns as "unmolested" when the barrels have obviously been buffed and reblued without picking up the engraving, and the gun is fitted with a recoil pad that didn't come out until years after the gun was made. Another listed as "99%" and "best on planet?" has a number of improperly refinished parts, and even was listed as refinished in the June 2003, Bonhams Auction catalog. AAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGG!!

[fox-admin]

It's a sad start of affairs Dave, I have called a number of big name dealers to point out errors in their condition descriptions, I am always thanked but never has a description changed. The CE small bore stating UNMOLESTED is a joke. The Remy DE is a fraud, blued trigger plate screws, ya original.

[Sporrns]

Laser spot-on with both Dave and Craig. I tried to point out a half-dozen or so honest mistakes / outright fraudulent specs over the last 5 years or so on a few Parkers and 2 Foxes offered by one major auction house and 3-4 "established" dealers in double guns. Comebacks to my comments were met with everything from, "what gives you that idea" to, "of course it might not be precisely right in the bore and chamber measurements, but in this kind of (high) condition, who's going to care?"

Best examples I can think of are the many "never had a screw turned" high grade Foxes that came out of PA in the 1980s and -90s, and the "absolutely pristine and original, probably unfired, VHE Parker" that the new owner(s) crowed about a few years ago that turned out to have been completely re-case colored in the first collaborative joint effort by the two best known restorers of Parker guns. Guess they really nailed it!

Best of the Best, however, was the "stunning, never before offered to the market, must be seen in hand to be appreciated, rarest of the rare", etc. Parker 12 ga. A-! Special Pigeon Gun, offered with "straight grip, no safety and barrels marked Sir Joseph Wentworth Fluid Compressed Steel ." ( Silly me; I thought Wentworth was a term unique to tool making (as in wrenches) and Whitworth was the name of the person who developed the fluid compressed steel making technology in the late 1890s!).

Seems like the best approach these days is a combination of the Latin caution, "Caveat Emptor", and the line Billy Joel always ends his live concert performances with: "Don't take any s**t off anybody!" As Larry Baer once said, "Shop wisely and always get a receipt." Kevin

[spyder]

I always appreciate these kind of posts. It helps one to be a more discerning buyer.

[MARSHFELLOW]

if it's on the internet it has to be fact/true.......
tjw

[Brian Dudley]

I think I may have seen that "Best on the Planet" listing the other day. For a Remington DE. I am sure there are a few claiming that title anyway.

The one that gets me all the time is "Unfired". For anyone to make the claim that a gun is actually unfired is a tall order and is asking simply too much. The gun was at least proofed and patterned at the factory. So... none of them are literally unfired. And if you want to say that it was unfired after the sale. Unless a person owned the gun since it was brand new could their word maybe be taken on that one. And, I would wager that a gun could be fired a number of times before any actual physical evidence was left on any part of the gun to prove it.

Anyway, creative and BS marketing is nothing new. It is always best to simply educate yourself as much as possible and let the gun speak for itself, not the long and fairytale-like descriptions in the ads.

[Mills]

A cousin in the old car market once said that "mint condition" was a red flag for a scammer. No surprise it is not limited to old cars