I received my Fox factory letter from John Callahan confirming what I thought was a correct gun: a 12 gauge Sterlingworth model 1911 Pin gun, serial number 57979, with 26 inch IC and Mod barrels called the BRUSH model. Ordinarily you might be a little suspicious of an older 26 inch barrel 12 gauge double. You start looking for the hacksaw marks.
Had the gun with me 2 years ago at the NE SXS Classic at Hausmann’s in PA and there, the Fox Boys with their instruments were able to measure bore diameter, choke constriction and choke length. A little unusual though in that the right barrel is Modified and the left barrel is Improved Cylinder. This is contrary to most doubles that are choked more typical – right/IC and left/Mod.
Interesting that the gun was shipped on October 24th, 1911, exactly 25 years before yours truly was born. I have had the gun for 36 years and it sees occasional use on the skeet field.
As you can see from the pictures, this near 100 year old gun is a nice clean original Sterlingworth with modest finish remaining and put together like all those early Philadelphia Fox’s.
Jolly
