Fox Collectors

If the pimples are small, shot size, dents from the inside out you may be a victim of leaky reloads. If the less-than-tight crimp of the shell in the left barrel spits a couple of shot into the forceing cone on recoil from the right barrel discharging, pimples will appear as the second shot goes off...

Hardcash, I'm not familiar with the B&P loads you are useing but it sounds like they were designed to be a low recoil, low velocity target load. Useually, low recoil and velocity also means low chamber pressures and I would bet you could use those B&P loads in your Fox for another hundred ye...

Hardcash, I know this is going to stir up the pot, this topic always does, but here is my take on the short chamber/old gun/ low pressure load paradox that you have just run full into. First of all, I deeply believe we have to respect the age of our guns and not feed them just any over the counter s...

Jerry, Cutting your stock bending teeth on a Smith is not a good idea. Smith stocks are weak at the best of times and if there is a stock that will crack on you, it is an LC Smith. I've seen too many shattered Smith stocks to ever consider bending one. One other thing is that you are paying a stock ...

Birdawg, There is always the possibility of cracking a stock on the bench, but I've never cracked one that wasn't cracked before I clamped it down. I'm furiously knocking wood as I write that. I worry more about what the finish is going to do when I heat the piece up. Oil and varnish finishes are fi...

Jerry, I've bent a lot stocks of all different sorts and configurations and have come to the conclusion that each piece of walnut is unto itself in the universe. There are some general rules, but you just don't know how much a particular piece will move until you strap it down and heat it up. Half a...

Lee, I like long cones in that they take very little metal and do the same thing as lengthening the chambers - reduce pressure and allow you to use any reasonable 2 3/4" shell. I have not seen the poor quality work that Frank mentions, but obviously you need to know and trust the barrel smith t...

Mike,
Yeah, there is always something new. I do a lot of English guns and they are usually flat top. With a 60 degree cutter you never get deep enough to bring the diamonds to a point, so it really doesn't take more time.
Cheers, Pete

Bamboozler, Damage anywhere in the barrel needs to be checked out but barrels are normally at their thinnest around 9" from the muzzle because of how barrels are struck. They are thickest at the breech where pressure is highest and thin out towards the muzzle where pressure is lowest. This allo...

Mike, Gunline makes about any sort of 60 degree cutter you want. I use the triple edge to layout the pattern and then finish with a single. You end up with flat top checkering the way it is done all over Europe. I agree that the standard SW checkering is probably just 90 degree checkering that was n...

Spyder, Pointed checkering is normally cut with a 90 degree tool, flat top checkering is cut with a 60 degree tool. You can make flat top checkering into pointed checkering by running over the pattern with a 90 degree tool but you can't go the other way around because the wood you need has already b...

Tim, Checking the barrels will require a wall thickness gauge, a bore gauge, and a chamber gauge. If you don't have these, find someone who does. If you don't have the proper tools to measure the barrels you will only be guessing at their condition. Check for minimum wall thickness (.020" nine ...

There are really three LOP measurements, all from the center of the front trigger. The one that is usually given is to the center of the butt. The other two are to heel and toe. The three together give you another indication of pitch. You can get a rough measurement with a tape measure but you reall...

Frank, Is it possible that some experimentally minded ace did a bit of choke work with a brake hone or some such? A choke flairing outward is just what you get when the centerline of the hone goes past the end of the barrel. Congrats on the B grade. Have you patterned the gun yet? Might be interesti...

Chukarman, You might consider who can work on the trigger when it goes wrong. If there is anything on shotgun that will go wrong, given time, it is a single trigger on a gun with two barrels. Even if the gun is working properly now, there is no guarantee how long it will last. Then you need someone ...