Greetings all,
I spoke with Alan (GSSP) the other night and said that I would post a bit of what I know in case it helps him. I believe that he is in possession of production #5 from the description he gave me. The Omega III is a "take-down rifle". That is one of the unique features of the Omega III. It was designed to be taken apart and re-assembled without needing to be re-sighted. Verifying the receiver is also marked with a "5" should not be difficult.
What makes this rifle unique besides the low S/N is the checkered stock. The stock pattern is very similar to the presentation (those 3 that are really unique) with some obvious exceptions. I think the odds are high that my father did the checkering. I can not verify this so I’m not sure how much that statement is worth. However, there are a couple of reasons that I believe this to be true: 1) the low serial number with checkered stock (most production rifles did not have a checkered stock – though this is probably not the only one), 2) the pattern relative to the presentation (compare the pictures) but most of all 3) this rifle was owned by a Hi-Shear executive, the same company that bought Omega III. My father would have provided this person with an exceptional rifle (more so than already).
What I may or may not have mentioned is that the pistol grip cap was custom with the initial of the customers choice. This shows up very well in one of Alan’s pictures. That works out great if the initial of the original owner is of significance to you. Another option for this was an Omega III symbol. My rifle (#900 that I got from a very good friend, in case there are still some folks that really think there are only 10 out there) has this symbol which works out great for me as I am not the original owner (in case you haven’t followed all of this thread). One of these days I'll try to post more pics.
Regarding value --- as I've said previously and I will stick to this --- the rifle is worth exactly what someone is willing to pay for it. I have a figure in my mind that may or may not be what someone else would be willing to pay or sell for. There is only one person out there that has been totally insane in the value of their rifle and I don't think I need to mention him. He still tries, though no longer spreading the obvious lies. I would put the value of this rifle above the value of that one.
I wish Alan the best of luck finding the new owner for this rifle.
Jim (Jim1958), P8 is a very fine gun and I hope you are able to pass it down to your son. I think the prototypes are unique because they are. It is very likely that your rifle has a feature that the production rifles do not. I’ve always had difficulty parting with my rifles and still have the majority of them including my 1st deer rifle (I’ve promised to let Bennett’s daughter use it for her 1st hunt as it was also his 1st deer rifle - our families were once very close).
These rifles were made to be used so why let them rust in some cabinet. Take care of them, but use them for what they were made for. I will hunt with any one of my rifles.
Well, I can see once again that I’m still not short winded. I hope everyone enjoys good hunting this year. Take care, dk
