20 gauge Sterlingworth with straight stock

[mollow]

Thanks again Silvers... it looks like, from the photos anyway, that the forend and the stock match nicely. Would the man who restocked this gun also have had the forend redone?

[Silvers]

The pics don't give much to go by, but it looks to me that the original forend wood was redone and recheckered. I could be wrong on that. I'm a little surprised, the barrels don't look like they were reblued when the wood work was done..... ? That's gonna add another coupla hundred to the cost. The additional pics show a couple of other features that don't look particularly Foxy to me, but that's just my opinion. I don't give opinions on the "worth" of a gun except on our Members Forum and/or only to people I know. It's just too subjective, and thus I'll sign off on this topic. Again let me say if you like the gun, if it checks out safety-wise and functionally, and if you're OK with the pricing - that's all that matters. Silvers

[eightbore]

Sorry, but this gun was stocked by a person who had a fairly nice piece of English, but no idea how a shotgun stock should look. There is no way to make this stock into something that looks like a classic shotgun stock. I don't know if the trigger guard is Fox, but it is not properly shaped for a custom gun. $2500 is way too high for this gun.

[vaturkey]

Sorry, but this gun was stocked by a person who had a fairly nice piece of English, but no idea how a shotgun stock should look. There is no way to make this stock into something that looks like a classic shotgun stock. I don't know if the trigger guard is Fox, but it is not properly shaped for a custom gun. $2500 is way too high for this gun.

I'm with eightbore on this one. Now that there are better pictures provided, I think it looks more like a canoe paddle then a proper straight stock. It looks to me like the gun was originally a pistol grip stock and converted to a straight stock and the tangs weren't bent up to make it look right. Seeing the trigger guard would tell me more. Not a bad piece of english walnut, but frankly even that doesn't trip my fancy. I think aesthetically it just doesn't look right to me, but different strokes for different folks.

[ASavageFox]

hey Mollow... I'm glad a lot of the guys with years more experience were able to step and help you. As I alluded too and Frank went into some more detail on... there is a LOT that can affect value on these old shotguns compare to say a winchester rifle... there is the overall level of factory originality but then there are issues normally standardized with rifles... like bend in the stock, LOP, chokes, ejectors versus extractors, chamber length, sights, single trigger versus double triggers, barrel wall thickness, is the rib still laid tight, etc etc etc. Some of these are safety factors that should certainly be addressed no matter personal preference but others are strictly preference. Again, my interpretation that the gun is not worth $2500 is just my opinion of what I believe the market would bare but without clairvoyance... who knows... I have seen beat up SWs on gunbroker get into a heated buyers battle and sell for WAY more then they "should" and then seen pretty nice ones slide by with no bids at fair prices. If you are really unsure, Jerry's brother Tom has a very reasonably prices SW for sale in 16 gauge that should pretty easily hold its value if not go up in my opinion...and its about a 1/3 of one you are looking at.

[mollow]

Thanks for all the detailed responses. If it is not too much trouble, could someone post a photo of a Fox with the English style stock... the way it is supposed to look? Couldn't find an example on the web.

[MARSHFELLOW]

20ga Sterlingworth Skeet & Upland

[Researcher]

You didn't look very hard. They are right here on our web site --

http://www.foxcollectors.com/ah_fox/con ... rth_7.html

http://www.foxcollectors.com/ah_fox/con ... fox_2.html

http://www.foxcollectors.com/ah_fox/con ... fox_2.html

http://foxcollectors.com/My%20Forum/php ... ?f=4&t=152

http://www.foxcollectors.com/ah_fox/con ... e_fox.html

http://foxcollectors.com/My%20Forum/php ... ?f=4&t=213

http://foxcollectors.com/My%20Forum/php ... ?f=5&t=885

[mollow]

Thanks Marshfellow--great photo. Now I see what you guys are talking about.

[mollow]

OK, Researcher, you're right, I searched everywhere but under my nose.

[mike campbell]

"Could it be worth the fellow's 2,500.00 asking price?"

Survey says!...

It could be ...

the answer to your question is no...

it might be

it might be

Only you can decide

way too high

... who knows...

Should you ever learn what it sells for, please let us know.

[mollow]

Yes, I agree with whoever said the stock didn't look "Foxy" enough. I'm still in the market for a Sterlingworth 20 gauge: needn't be a straight stock.

Mike

[mollow]

The guy who's offering this gun for sale just called me and brought the price from 2,500 down to 1,700.

[DSizemore]

Mollow.... First let me say, in going back and reading this post, I agree with everything Mr.Campbell told you way back when. If this gun checks out okay with regard to the barrels ( wall thickness, bore diameter, chokes, pits, etc. etc. ) and the ejectors are working properly, and everything else non-wood related is RIGHT with the gun, and IF you're satisfied with how the stock feels and fits you, then I say go for it. I think another huge issue here is whether ejectors are important to you. If it is, go looking around for solid SW 20s with ejectors. You'll find very few on the market compared to extractor guns. In the end, how well you like this gun is what's important and for goodness sakes, we never were discussing a 4k asking price for this gun!!

[mollow]

The gentleman selling this gun has informed me that the barrel diameters are .603 and .608. The barrel wall thicknesses are respectively .030 and .026. Do these measurements sound acceptable (safe)?