Sterly vs VH

[Brian]

I was looking over a couple of my doubles last bnight and need to pose this question.
people tend to want to compare the Sterlingworth with the Trojan. I think othwerwise. I would compare the Sterlingworth to the Parker VH.
What do you say?
The Sterly and VH are much closer in looks, finish and styling when compared to the Trojan.
Just a question to examine opinions.

[Researcher]

The Sterlingworth came out in 1910 as a $25 net selling price gun. The Parker Bros. Trojan Grade came out in 1912 as a $27.50 net selling price gun. The Trojan even used the J.C. Kremer & A.H. Fox Patent No. 1,029,374 forearm latch that was also used on a lot of early Sterlingworths. The Sterlingworth and the Trojan both escalated in price to $55 by 1919. Parker Bros. kept the price and the quality of the workmanship on the Trojan high and sold about 33,000 of them. A.H. Fox Gun Co./Savage cut the quality of the workmanship in the Sterlingworth, and the price of the Sterlingworth to $48 in 1922 and to $36.50 in 1926, and eventually sold nearly 150,000 of them.

Both the Ansley H. Fox A-Grade and the Parker Bros. VH-Grade were net selling price $37.50 guns in the years from the founding of the A.H. Fox Gun Co. to WW-I.

[Fin2Feather]

I've often felt that way as well. The Sterlingworth and the Trojan may have been comporable price-wise and may both have grown out of the desire to add a lower-priced gun to the line, but in features and appearance, the Sterlingworth and the VH seem to be more compatable. Had Fox stayed with a different action profile for the Sterlingworth, as Parker did with the Trojan, the answer would be more clear-cut. Most people, I suppose, feel that the VH and the A-grade Fox is comporable, and I suppose that is true when one considers the early A grade. But the later A, with its more extensive engraving, seems to outstrip the VH. I guess one could say that, down the line, each Fox model is a half-step ahead of its Parker cousin .

[bbman3]

I will take the Sterlingworth every time over the Vulcan Parker,unless the Parker is a 410 or 28 gauge! Bobby

[eightbore]

A latched forend has always been a sign of a higher graded gun. Of course there are high quality guns with pull off forends, but they are the exception. The availability of ejectors on the Sterlingworth makes comparison to Parkers even more confusing. As far as engraving is concerned, I prefer the appearance of the early A grade Fox over the later type.