detail of factory Sterlingworth letter

[vaturkey]

Were factory letters available through all the production years to include after the Savage takeover. Also, what level can one expect on a Sterlingworth? PS. I got a factory letter on an early A grade 16, and it was quite detailed on everything from specs down to and including who it was sold to. Just wonder how much detail is provided on a Sterlingworth. Thanks

[Researcher]

The later Savage-era Fox-Sterlingworth cards can be pretty bleak. Usually just an invoice number that the gun was shipped on, and the invoices have long since been destroyed.

This is a typical later Philadephia era card --



Utica cards are often even less.

[vaturkey]

Believe I had heard that earlier somewhere as well. Was trying to determine if details such as options were on those letters. Sounds like probably not. Was looking at the SW I recently bought with the beavertail and whether that might be noted. Sounds like details in 1937 might be pretty scarce. Maybe that's why the SW letters are less expensive then graded guns. Thanks

[Researcher]

My 16-gauge Fox-Sterlingworth Field Ejector DeLuxe, shipped in 1936, letters with a beavertail, but they weren't catalogued for the regular Fox-Sterlingworths until 1937. Letterwise, there is always the chance you might luck out like I did on the above gun, in that in addition to the small rectangular card for the above gun which shows it originally built as a Fox-Sterlingworth Ejector DeLuxe Field bored full and full, the bigger Fox-Special card was also in the records adding the beavertail and relieving the chokes.

[Fin2Feather]

I got a letter on my c. 1935 SW 16ga ejector. It seemed to me to contain mostly "form" information right off the promotional specs, much of which didn't match the actual gun (choke measurements, DAH, etc.). It did confirm the original barrel length. I specifically asked about a couple of things in my letter to John Callahan (like the recoil pad) and he was kind enough to acknowledge them but neither were answered by the factory letter. Although it's a neat thing to have I didn't feel it was worth the money, ergo I never bothered to get a letter on either of my other two Savage-era SW's. However, your mileage may vary.

[vaturkey]

Guess there are worse ways to spend $30. Would be nice to know if indeed there was something special about the gun. Also, if gun were sent back for modification after the fact by the factory, were those noted anywhere? Thanks

[ASavageFox]

VA,

My experience with Savage letters on Savage 99s (may not be 100% applicable to the Fox guns) is that if the guns were returned, Callahan would have a record that states, gun returned on XYZ date and entered under work order # ABC. He does not have those work orders so you will never know what was done FOR SURE... now it sure adds credibility to the claim that something was a factory modification. Again, Fox doubles may be different than the rifles of the same era.

Cheers

[Researcher]

As far as I know, there are no surviving records of repairs/modifications to Fox guns either by the A.H. Fox Gun Co. or Savage. There is a really nice example of a total Savage redo of a Sterlingworth "pin-gun" on Guns International right now. New bulky Savage wood and the "mountain ranges" cyanide colors.

[eightbore]

Researcher, what is the item # of the redone pin gun on gunsinternational.com? Thanks.

[Researcher]

Against the rules to post links to guns for sale on the open forum.