The Ultimate Provenance- Is there an AH Fox AH Fox?

[spyder]

I have recently acquired a complete set of DGJ's and have just about finished all the Fox related articles, and the thought occurred: Has a Fox ever been known to have been owned by Ansley himself?

[Silvers]

A few of the Fox boys have looked at/speculated about a really special early D Grade owned by a well known SxS aficionado up north. Gun has a low s/n in that early block with no records. 30 incher with heavy tubes, honest usage wear, and she sure feels like a live bird gun to me. It has something like a Maltese Cross incorporated into the bottom frame engraving. I handle the gun every chance I get; it's always there looking at me when I'm in the gent's gun room. Ya never know, maybe some of Ansley's DNA is still there on the wood fibers. Silvers

[Researcher]

It is interesting that we know of Philadelphia Arms Co. A.H. Fox E-grades made for board members P.F. duPont and C. William Haywood and early A.H. Fox Gun Co. CE-/DE-Grade guns made for board members Louis Eisenlohr and Frank J. Barthmaier, but I've yet to know of a gun rightiously ascribed to Ansley himself. Yes we know Eightbore claims to have Ansley's B-Grade PAC gun!! Maybe Ansley was like Lou Smith, just grabbing a gun out of inventory to use for the weekend and putting it back Monday morning?!? Somewhere in a Baltimore attic sits Ansley's highly engraved Fox Gun Co., Balto., Md., U.S.A. gun moldering away!!

[MARSHFELLOW]

spyder,

Great question! I think about that same question...and often. I find it hard to believe (or I dont want to) that ol A.H. didn't have atleast one made for himself. Oh, the things that dreams are made of.

Silvers, maybe we can get some DNA off the trunk for a match...........

tjw

[Silvers]

TJ, sounds like a good one for the NCIS team. Maybe we can get that Abby who wears the collar necklace do do a DNA matchup with your AHF trunk latch. Ya know, we could have gotten both samples while at the NE SxS. Ya know what I mean, Pan. Silvers

[MARSHFELLOW]

Pan Silvers, I'm with you.....we'll get Abby to do the workings but I'm gonna do some investigating with Zeva.

btw- that is the ONLY show that I watch....except the weather channel.

[George Lander]

We know that Ansley shot a Parker in the live bird circuit. Does anyone know where it resides?

Best Regards, George

[eightbore]

I'm waiting for it to appear. It is a DH, possibly later converted to DHE, originally made with no safety. Titanic Steel barrels.

[Silvers]

I'll add Pawn Stars to the list of good TV shows. Good training on gun deals, especially when you offer the seller "cash money" for the Fox he's holding.

I'll sign off on the NCIS investigation on the D Grade and Tom's new AHF trunk, too easy to get off on a tangent.

[MARSHFELLOW]

Hmmmm.....a Maltese Cross type affair, you mean something like this perchance????

tjw

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[Silvers]

Yeah Tom, there are some similarities with your pic. But if memory serves, the Cross on the early D Grade is more subtle and has more scrollwork incorporated into it. I think Foxist may have a pic of the D engraving from a few years ago when we first saw the gun at the NE SxS. If not, I'll take my camera next time I'm at the gent's place = might not be for a month or so. Yah, a good opportunity to rub off some more DNA.

OK so now ya got me interested. That sure looks like a Fox trigger plate and frame, and the hole spacings seem right. Watcha got there? Is that some of the stuff from that "family deal" of last year? Silvers

[Researcher]

When Ansley started shooting for the big W in early 1900 he was shooting a Parker Bros. double and representing Winchesters line of ammunition. By late summer of 1900 they had him shucking a Model 1897. It was with the Winchester Model 1897 that Ansley ran 25 straight at the 1901 Grand American Handicap, then missed the first bird in the shoot-off.



Of interest, Ridgely B. Bond, who had been a shareholder in Ansley's Fox Gun Co., Balto., MD., U.S.A., was the only shooter at the 1901 GAH shooting a Baltimore Arms Co. gun. Ridgely shooting a gun made by Ansley's former partners in Baltimore also went 25 straight and lasted to his 7th bird in the shoot-off. That must have frosted Ansley's nards!!

[MARSHFELLOW]

Yeah Dave, ol AHF must have been steamed...neat info.

Frank, the floorplates are nearly identical....I have pics of the D that you mention too. The gun in my pic is a AH Fox too...slight subtle differences on both sides of the receiver game scenes, I've compared them at length.

tjw

[eightbore]

George, I guess it's up to you and me. No one else seems to be interested in Ansley's Parker. I have little interest in Ansley's Fox guns since he probably never shot them in competition. He probably had thirty of them. He only had one Parker and shot it in competition. Good luck getting a Fox connection at the Cody Museum for his Model 1897 Winchesters.

[George Lander]

Bill: I guess I'll have to go over on the Parker Forum to see if anyone there knows what became of Ansley's DH(E). As far as his Fox's are concerened Researcher is probably right. He probably just picked one out of the rack & returned it when he was done shooting.

Best Regards, George