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

Where the hell do you guys get these weird ideas? Murphy doesn't have his own copy of the records. Do you have any idea what that could cost to produce? He's tighter than a nun's twat, he's not going to lay out that kind of cash for thousands upon thousands of photocopies. Murphy is a friend of mine, I know of his reluctance to part with money. The reason Murphy has so much information on Parker guns is because he's been collecting and researching them for over 40 years.

And as far as anybody having better resources on the letters goes.....I think if you need the information fast all you've gotta do is drop the check in the mail then call Mark and let him know you've done it. He'll give you the info as fast as he's able to produce it, you don't have to wait on the post office to find out. If you need to know record info fast that's the way to do it. It's all volunteer work you know, he's not getting paid for doing the work and writing the letters.

Destry

Bill: Maybe it's cause you ain't one! My Mama taught me to treat other folks like I would like to be treated, and Bambi's mama told him "If you can't say something nice about someone just don't say anything at all" I plan to be in Sanford & hope to see you there.

Best Regards, George

Dean: Life is a progress of learning & none of us are too old to learn something new especially from those who have "been there & done that". I hope to see you in Sanford as well.

Best Regards, George

Because being too tactful isn't one of yalls' characer defects!

Mike, you got that right.

Interesting post Ed- disgruntled- like disheveled, ergo- better to be gruntled and heveled, and Dressed up Super Dooper, just like Gary Cooper- who may have owned a Parker or two.

Like your last sentence- "start from scratch", 'Old scratch' being another psuedonym for Lucifer- very fitting. To my mind, the two Meriden AHE 12 bores occupying rack space in my Gun Safe exist because whenever I wish, I can take them out and handle them-carefully- open the lever, watch the snap caps fly out, pick up their semi-balanced weight and swing the barrels at the calendars on my den's paneled walls- and not give a good rattlin' God-Damn about a flood in Erie or Ilion or if some pissed off cowboy burned the lot in the Remington UMC firesale.

But as "The Bambino" was one of all-time favorite Yankees, second only to the great "Joltin' Joe", how did Larry DelGrego's son get the nickname "Babe"- same as the great "Bambino"?? Ilion is a hike from The Bronx- is he an avid baseball fan? Just wondering, as you are "The Man" for Parker research and background, in my book-

On balance here, with a new anti-gun administration getting up a full head of steam, a more unified spirit of brotherhood and co=operation between all the various gun interest groups is to all our best interest, IMO. If some members (whom will remain un-named by me on this website) spent less time re-arranging the deck chairs of the Titanic, and were Christian enough to overlook the faults they see in others (in the Bible- the "old log in the eye 'hat trick' I guess)and say, "what da hay" in the long run what real difference does it make if the gun was made in Meriden in 1934 or in Ilion or- Timbuktoo- it exists, it works, it brings personal pleasure to the present day owner, whether it is used on a clays range, afield after game birds, or just admired for the fine workmanship required to produce it.

Good one there Destry- being a semi-devout Catholic I like the "Nun's Twat" comparison even better than my uncle's- "Tighter than a bull's butthole during bottlefly season"- You have a way with words that is beyond comparison- must be those good cigars, fast women and big cannon duck guns.

I raced for 16 years (1958-73), ran my first race at age 17, started winning money the following year; my first "big" first place was at Fond du Lac WI in 1960 ($75.00, more than a week's pay for a teacher then). I was competitive, winning many overall Illinois Hi-point championships, plus several regional and divisional championships, and one national championship (Canada 1970); I held the World UIM/APBA kilo speed record for my class when I retired in 1973. There is a Google reference--Ed Muderlak fubar--to a boat I designed and helped build in 1964 that set a world Speed Record at Modesto CA, while I was in the Navy. I was not considered a nice guy, nor am I now by some, but I could (and can) hold my beer. EDM

Let me add another dimension to this record thing. Back when I joined the PGCA as #106 in summer of 1994, within a few days of sending my $25 check to the VA post office box I received a welcoming call from Ron Kirby. That was then, this is now and the typical turn-around time to welcome new members is 90 to 120 days...but I digress.

What I meant to say was that Ron told me how the PGCA was founded in Charlottesville VA, and I mentioned that my kids lived in Manassas, and he told me to check in next time I was in Virginia, which I did, and there was a Richmond gun show on the weekend, so we arranged to meet. What impressed me about Ron was his interest in becoming a museum curator when he retired from teaching; his core interest was Civil War and he talked ad nauseum about archival records and their protection (this at a gun show among Parker collectors). There was no thought at the time (fall 1994) that the Parker Story authors would donate their photocopies of the Stock Books to the PGCA or that Research Letters could become a reality or that it would be possible to access other records at Remington. This all took time, and Ron was the perfect person to make it happen: he was an archivist in search of an archive and it fell into his lap.

Ron secured the records, organized them, computerized the data and cross-referenced the serial-numbers in the Stock Books to the random and oft-repetitive out-of-sequence S/Ns in the Order Books, and he wrote at least 2,500 Research Letters at $25 for members, $40 non-members on his own time, refusing compensation. I suggested to the BODs at the time that Ron should be paid, so that all the research wasn't just his personal work product, but the BODs took the path of least resistance, which came back to haunt when Ron was "retired" and the PGCA was reorganized in 2003. Ron would not turn over his own research, and why should he?

I played a part in the negotiating the new PGCA in summer 2003, having the continuity and the ear of the respective parties. The seminal moment was when Oscar Gaddy said, "Ron has to go." I discussed with Oscar and others, Ron's contribution to the then $100,000 cash hoard, of which $65,000 represented research letters written by Ron on his own time and 100% donated to the treasury. I suggested to some of the players that Ron be given a $25,000 "honorarium" and he be encouraged to stay aboard and continue to do the Research Letters on a fee basis. It didn't happen. There was too much animosity and hard feelings; the new BOD bit the bullet and started computerizing the photocopies from scratch. It was time consuming and expensive; a heroic effort that pays dividends to anyone who invests in a Research letter today.

Bill and I are not part of the inner group, but we have been involved with the PGCA for so long that it is hard to "grin and bear it" when the BOD goes off in the wrong direction or can't seem to run the PGCA like a business. The idea that there is an inner-group "conspiracy" to deny access to the Parker records flys in the face of the many thousands of satisfied customers. I don't know if Mark Conrad is given a token payment for Research Letters produced. He should, if past is prologue. But these people don't listen to me. C'est la vie! Next stop Florida; I'm outta this deep-freeze for a few months. EDM

Thanks for that bit of history Ed. This is all quite a learning experience.
Did you ever run into Larry Castagnetto from those boat racing days? Larry was quite the competitor in those days all over the Eastern part of the country with several forays to your area.

Dean