200371 “Slim”

[Fox20obsessed]

Current project is my all time favorite hunting gun “slim”. S/N 200371 20 gauge A-grade with 26” KRUPP barrels choked M/F. Snap-on forend gun as well, my favorite type. Gun is a shooter and has scattered pitting in the bores...no bother though as it is also my rainy day gun. Currently the barrels are with my local doublegun smith being opened from M/F to IC/M. All other work performed on this one (aside from the checkering) will be done by myself. Aside from the complete restock and barrel work I will be adding a lyman ivory bead sight and also possibly reblue the barrels. Also threw in a pic of the blank that the furniture started life looking like. This gun could tell some stories I bet.
-Matt

PS - note my high-tech inletting scraper and the draw-clamp in use while “letting in” the floor plate/trigger plate...I do all of my inletting with that scalpel/x-acto, a cheap rotary, and a small chisel.

[Fox20obsessed]

Couple more, I don’t have the forend with me right now to take better pics of it...

[jolly bill]

Lookin' good Matt.

[Fox20obsessed]

Thanks Bill! You must be the only one who approves of my work...over 100 views and just one comment. Leaves me scratching my head as to whether or not it’s even worth my time to take pics, download them here, and do the write-ups.
I won’t waste anyones time with future posts or pictures. Sorry to inconvenience some of you by posting a few things that I thought worthy of sharing. Apparently I was wrong.
-Matt

[Jim Cloninger]

Sorry, Matt. I am not into customized guns. My interest is in original A.H. Fox guns.
Jim

[Double O]

Matt, understand that many of us enjoy this site and what it is about. We look, appreciate work, effort, history and craftsmanship yet do not post all the time.

[jolly bill]

Matt,

Despite the lack of comments on your work, there are several on this site that like to see that sort of thing but do not respond to it.

Don't feel that it is not appreciated.

Jolly

[hihaven]

Thanks for posting I will be doing my first stocking job soon. My semi inletted stock is from Show me gun stocks it looks nice. I like your idea using a bar clamp and exacto knife I will use them when I start my project on a 20 ga. Sterlingworth. Thanks! Jeff from Westmoreland county,Pa

[fox-admin]

Nice work, your a very talented man.

[Fox20obsessed]

Jim, I understand you like originals...did you see my post about unfired A-grade 20 s/n 200563? Double O, it takes a while for the pics to load and some thought goes into the posts, I just wanted to see if it was worth my time...your responses tells me that yes it is worth the time. Bill, as is typically the case your comment displays both your immense wisdom and also your kind heartedness...thanks Bill I will keep up the posts. Jeff (hihaven). I live in Greene County PA, if you have any questions or anything feel free to PM me, your first one is always the hardest. Keep in mind that I use the x-acto knife as a scraper and scrape it across the wood perpendicular to how it would be used as a hobby knife...the idea is to scrape off only a fine dust. The x-acto and rotary I use can be purchased from harbor freight on the cheap. I like their “drill master” rotary tool because it is super light, costs like $10, and comes with a vast array of bits including some diamond coated bits that are nice for inletting because they aren’t super aggressive. I’ll post pics of some more tools and the project later today if time permits. Last night, I spent about 5 hours inletting the trigger plate further and it is almost fully seated into the bottom of the frame now. After the trigger plate is seated I will drill all my action screw holes before inletting the trigger guard. Craig, thanks for the compliments on my work. I’ll continue to update as I progress then as I feel that this may be of some help to Jeff as he restocks his first sterlingworth...by the way, congrats on scooping up a 20 bore sterlingworth, 20 gauge foxes are my favorite gun of all time.
-Matt

[hihaven]

Matt, Thanks for your posts and pictures they will definitely help with my project. I have been wanting a 20 ga. fox for a long time. Its a 1929 Philadelphia gun with original bluing and case coloring, locks up like new except it had light rust on it that was removed with a pre 1982 copper penny and oil after 2 hours of work it turned out decent. I sent the barrels to Mike Orlen to have one dent raised, a soldered sling swivel removed and the chokes opened to improved cylinder and modified he did a nice job. I am going to shoot a round of clays with it to make sure everything functions correctly before I start the stocking job. Thanks! Jeff

[Fox20obsessed]

Jeff,
Sounds like one sweet fox, I hope you love it. I was thinking of posting pics of my basic collection of inletting tools to help you out...most of the tools I use are sourced cheaply. Would that be something of interest to you? I’m hoping to wrap up the trigger plate inletting and start on the guard this evening if time permits. I also planned on posting some pics of inletting the stock”wedge” and a quick run-down of the importance of properly fitting this crucial interface during the restock for future wood longevity/structural integrity. I was also planning on showing my use of prussian blue as inletting black throughout the restock.
-Matt

[Silvers]

Thanks Bill! You must be the only one who approves of my work...over 100 views and just one comment. Leaves me scratching my head as to whether or not it’s even worth my time to take pics, download them here, and do the write-ups.
I won’t waste anyones time with future posts or pictures. Sorry to inconvenience some of you by posting a few things that I thought worthy of sharing. Apparently I was wrong.
-Matt

Matt, believe me I understand how hard it is not to get discouraged when comparing number of views with number of comments, but I don't believe that's a good indicator of interest in whatever you might post. That seems to be the norm here, perhaps much more so than on other vintage maker shotgun sites. One aspect is the oft-heard comment that "I'm here to learn" and that often leads to reading and rarely writing even a simple thank you. Sure, the education is great for the students but not for the teachers who expect to get at least a few kudos to acknowledge their time and effort to post, and of course that can lead to doing lesser and lesser posts or even to go away. Those of us who've been here for a long time can think of many who used to post good stuff often but are no longer here. Then you have the collectors who seem to be in the vast majority. Nothing at all wrong with that, we all have our interests, but those who expect to get applause on their work on customizing or even restoring a Fox will often be disappointed. On the other hand someone who posts his/her latest find on a high condition all original rare Fox will usually be overloaded with thumbs up replies. IMO other vintage shotgun focused sites have attracted a better mix of collectors/shooters/technicians than we have here. I have my opinions why that was/is but I keep them to conversations with member friends.

I too have written on this subject several times mostly on our private Members Forum where presumably, the more serious members are to be found. But that's been largely a waste of time, very little change to my perspectives as I shared here. Bottom line, this proverb comes to mind ….. if the mountain won't come to Mohammed, then Mohammed must go to the mountain (to be happy when posting on this forum).

frank

[loggy]

Matt,
I built a muzzle loader from a kit a number of years ago. The stock was roughly inleted and I just needed to do the final fitting. I will say your craftsmanship is much better than mine. Keep up the good work.
john

[Fox20obsessed]

Frank,
Thanks for your reply. One thing I have noticed here is that there are much less snide and underhanded comments than I have seen on other gun forums. Some of the forums seem to have a few guys that just seem to despise each other and that is not cool...we’re all here because we love guns. I like the fact that the members here are respectful to one another. I will continue to post for now unless someone tells me not to. Thanks guys.
-Matt