Fox AE Barrel pitting question

[pinelander]

I've been looking around for a while now and have seen very few Fox's that I could lay hands on and afford. Found one a couple of weeks ago and haven't stopped thinking since, AE grade, blueing was grand and the case colors were still there. However, despite the overall outside being a 90% looking beauty, in both barrels i noticed some slight pitting rust, not sure how deep but like small spots about a pin head wide all over. closer to the breech maybe 20-30 on each side any they don't seem deep so could this be repaired or just buffed out? Salesman in the shop didn't seem to think it was a problem (the guy knows his stuff been there almost as long as the place has been in business like 50 years and he's not the owner), but they are asking $1600.00 for the gun and for that money I was not sure. This will be my first real and true A H Fox if I make a move on it. I've only ever been able to get the savage model b's before. Any ideas.

[pinelander]

No one has any idea if this might be worth it? Anybody?

[fox-admin]

It is impossible to comment on your question without inspecting the gun or posting pictures. I do not think anyone will comment on if the gun is safe to shoot with pitting. Craig

[pinelander]

Thank you for the reply. I guess I will have to get someone to inspect it who knows more than I do.

[Twice Barrel]

After inspection by a well qualified gun smith if the gun is found to be sound don't worry about the effect of the pitting as you described it on the performance of the gun. Pitting often appears more sever than it actually is and can often be gently honed out which is best done by a reputable barrel mechanic.

[pinelander]

Got the on hand gunsmith to brush the insides of the barrels, only minor and I mean minor rust spots. Not even sure you could call it pitting. So now I am the proud owner of a 1908 AH Fox A grade. Cheers!

[Germantown]

Not a Fox gun in my limited experience, but I bought a 12 gauge OO grade Smith- 28" Armor steel barrels, some very minor "scuffing" not really pitting in just the right (front trigger) barrel, about half way up from the breech--I shoot either RST or Win AA 1150 fps light factory loads in it, not reloads, and am amazed at the powder residue that sometimes "clings" to the barrel walls--

But I read this tip from Bruce Buck, on the Shooting Sportsman's website- Shoot a test shot over an open field where you can see the plastic wad cup fall- pick it up and examine it carefully- if intact, the, minor pitting is not a real problem, but if it is torn or seriously abraded, then the pitting may affect the patterning of that barrel.

[Bob Odenthal]

Most light pitting can be cleaned up by polishing out .005. You just need to make sure there is enough wall thickness.

[Big Friend Ten]

A simple way to smooth out shallow pitting is by using a ball hone as sold my Flexhone. A course ball hone in a barrel going back and forth using plenty of oil will clean up a lot of shallow pitting in a hour or so. I do this checking every ten minutes or so for barrel wall thickness.