Was thinking that I would look at 20 gauge side by side shotguns to fill a spot in my collection/accumulation.

Following the herd I started off straight away from the get go looking at Parkers. Soon I found there was more to getting a Parker than I thought. Barrel length, chamber length, model, frame size, Damascus versus modern steel, thin barrel walls, and the list goes on.

Instead of a Parker I am going with a lessor known Baker Batavia Leader costing much less than any Parker in the same original condition:





Nice thing about firearm collecting is that there is something for every budget and every level of experience and knowledge.
The trick is getting what you know you will like

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Nice looking Baker. Very unusual to find a Baker in high condition like that. They mostly got some pretty heavy use.

Parkers are nice shotguns but over rated IMO.

The Baker is a nice start on vintage guns.

Now that you've started down that path, youll end up with a Parker.

With a Parker, at least 30% of the price is the name. Just like Range Rover, Cadallac, or Purdey.

The best looking long gun of any kind is a nice, well balanced. side by side shotgun.

Beautiful little shot-gun

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John

I always wanted an earlier Custom DeLuxe Winchester Model 21. I never got one. Or even came close.

Me too!........

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S&W Accumulator

I shoot skeet with a group that all collect some kind of SxS. I've had the opportunity to shoot L C Smith, Several different A.H.Fox, Lefever, Ithaca, No Winchesters. Both Damascus and Fluid steel barrels. These guns are beautiful, but the DAH & DAC just don't fit me, kick a lot and I have difficulty hitting anything. I did buy a 1970's Ugartecha 12 ga. that I like and I can actually shoot it. Straight grip, double triggers and choked IC & Mod. I occasionally look around for a nice 20 ga SxS but yet haven't found one I like that I think I could shoot.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

The Parker I thought I might want is the subject of a live auction
Will post details of the Parker I am not getting when that auction closes

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It's much easier to find good deals on used SXS's in 12gauge, the twenty gauge guns with open chokes average 60% to 100% more money. Trying to find a nice straight grip, double trigger, 20 gauge in great condition is going to be difficult and expensive. The Turkish Dickinson Plantation is a pretty nice but slightly heavy SxS that even the side by side snobs like a little bit and you can get them at Cabelas for about two grand.

The prices for long bbl'd small bore SxS's have gone crazy lately.
I don't know who decided that you needed a 30 or 32" bbl'd 20ga SxS to be able to hit anything,,but that's the latest 'gotta have it' in the Vintage shooter crowd. Anything in 16ga and smaller w/30" and longer bbls is top money and in demand these days.
Kinda odd seeing a 28ga SxS w/32" bbls. The guy will tell you it handles like a magic wand,,I think maybe a bit too much KoolAid that day.

All those 26" 16 and 20ga grouse guns are just worthless now,,or at least till some one of note writes an article in one of the high brow magazines telling the minions how great they are (again).


I like 12ga guns mostly but don't mind a small gauge too.
I just don't follow trends too well

Once I had 6 Parkers and 5 AH Philadelphia Foxes.

The Parkers were more valuable, but the longer I used both I really felt the Foxes were the best gun.

I wouldn't kick a cheap Parker out the door but if buying one to use I'd buy a Fox.

There were reliability issues with the Parkers. Their weak link was the stirrup that opened the action. I bought one C grade 2 bbl set Parker due to this part being broken. The action would not open. A gun smith I knew had the part. Easy fix. He turned it upside down over his head and shook it while pushing the lever. When the broken pieces met it opened. I got that Parker via trade, pretty cheaply.

I shot skeet and sporting clays with both brands. I shot the Foxes better also.

I liked my Westley Richards the best. It was a very solid gun.

Having one of the high grade Best British "bespoke" shotguns would be great. Many aren't aware that refinishing them was very commonly done, and doesn't negatively affect their value. If his Lordship discovered the slightest scratch or blemish on his grouse gun, back it went to Purdey, Boss, Holland & Holland, or Westley Richards to be refinished. A shabby shotgun might be noticed by the Crown Prince, and that simply wouldn't do.

I have my eye on a Fox double barrel in 16 gauge. An elderly friend of mine who I take spring gobbler hunting uses it as his turkey gun. He knows when he wants to sell it I will be there with cash in hand. Plus it would be coming from a well respected outdoorsman that has taught me a lot about the outdoors in the 25 years I have known him.

I believe the Baker you have has a piece in the sidelock mechanism that will not let the gun fire if dropped. (Interceptor sear??). The LC Smiths doesn't have one. Nice looking gun you found, do you hunt? Should give yrs of service. Have fun.

Love the SXS shotgun. Hunted for years with a Merkel model 8. Then went to a CZ sidelock and now a Beretta 626 Onyx. My foul weather gun is a Savage 311 in 20 ga with rust. Larry

I do not hunt

But I do get great enjoyment out of hitting paper or clay targets with pre WWII hunting iron

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I have been hunting and shooting skeet with a side by side double for many years. Right now the "power to be" have decreed that 12 ga guns especially with single triggers auto ejectors 26" barrels beavertail forends are not desireable so there fore are out of style. As far as I'm concerned the 12 ga will do anything the small gauges are capable of and some things they are Not capable of. My go to gun at present is a Ansley Fox "A" grade in 12 gauge with 28 " barrels bored modified and full. How many would want to use a 28ga for pass shooting out of a blind? Or carry a 30 or 32" barrel gun thru heavy brush while grouse hunting? I have smaller gauge guns and this grade 2 AyA 2 barrel set in 20 and 28ga is a nice example I use here for Quail hunting. However if I had to own only one shotgun it would be a 12 ga. In summary 12 ga shotguns are a real bargain right now and it's a good time to get one before the situation changes.
Jim

I use the same Baker Batavia Spl for turkey hunting. It shoots where I look. Its condition is amazing as is yours. The only reason I bought it was my son had recently moved to Batavia NY, and I was going to give it to him. After hunting with it awhile, I think he will have to wait ... hopefully for a long long time.

Charlie

Did not want to post any details on the parker until the auction closed

The Parker I passed on (pictured below) eventually went for $2150 even though the barrels had pitting, the stock had an extra coat of finish and the owner had to take the gun to a professional who removed and "arrested" rust:



I hope to be very pleased with a Baker (pictured in the first post) that is in excellent original condition and which was acquired at significantly less than half the hammer price of the Parker

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My best friend and hunting buddy in high school had an old Lefever 12 ga hammerless double. The metal was worn bright and the wood didn't have much finish left, but it was still solid. He always shot 3" shells in it even though it was chambered for 2-3/4" shells. But it never came apart. I always admired that old Lefever and always associated it with him to this day. I have owned only one double gun, but long ago. A Spanish AyA 12 gauge. I didn't particularly like it mainly because it was Spanish. To me, a real double gun had to be American.

The Baker made it to the FFL/LGS
IMHO, Baker was making high quality, no-frills SXS's during the golden age of American shotguns
The NICS check went through and is now ready for my pick-up
This photo taken at the FFL/LGS under the artificial lights:

Will try to post some outdoor shotgunography soon

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