Sterlingworth Waterfowl

[simcgunner]

Is there such a gun as a Sterlingworth Waterfowl . If so what are the particulars of such a gun weight , barrel length, special marks?
Thanks

[Researcher]

It was called the Sterlingworth Wildfowl Grade, and is first listed in the March 1, 1934, Savage and Fox wholesale Price List Form 28-34 and the A.H. Fox Guns Retail Price List effective March 1, 1934. It is essentially a 12-gauge Super-Fox in Sterlingworth livery, always with ejectors and 30- or 32-inch barrels, chambered for 2 3/4" or 3" shells. It also appears in the February 20, 1935 Form 28-35, and March 5, 1936 Form 28-36, January 2, 1937 Form 28-37, and January 3, 1939 Form 28-39, Wholesale Price Lists. In 1940 it is actually listed at the bottom of page 7 of the Orange "art deco" retail catalogue, on the January 2, 1940 Retail Price List, and in the January 2, 1940 Wholesale Price lists No. 28-40 and Form 28A-40. It probably appears in some Jobbers Price Lists also, but they are pretty scarce.











The Fox-Sterlingworth Wildfowls seem to be in two serial number blocks, the 1341xx range, where eight have been recorded from 134103 to 134130. Seven with capless pistol grip stocks and one with a capped pistol grip. Two have been recorded with Fox-Kautzky Single Selective triggers and beavertail forearms. There is also a small bunch right at the end of 12-gauge graded gun serial numbers 3528x.

[simcgunner]

Thank you very much!

[Stan Hillis]

Dave,

Thanks from me, too, for posting those pics. That is either an extremely high condition one, or it is very well restored. Is it yours ? If not, do you know if it is original or not ?

Thanks, Stan

[Silvers]

Dave, thanks for posting. I've been looking for a nice SW Wildfowl for a while now.

[abner]

Interesting Dave, I own 134103 and my son has 134102. I purchased 134103 on the East Coast and several years later my son found its mate on the West Coast at Ivory Beads. Both are in excellent condition and I don't think they were ever used for duck hunting. 134103 was shipped from Utica in 1945 to Montgomery Wards for someone with the name "Lutz".

[Researcher]

The Card is missing for mine, the one pictured, 134122. Also, pictured in McIntosh's book and one of Headrick's photo spreads in The Double Gun Journal. It walked into a Virginia Arms Collectors show a few decades ago. I watched three dealers try to low ball the owner before I managed to corner him. I think it has been pretty much a closet queen.

While the catalogue text states 30- or 32-inch barrels, all I've recorded are 32-inch, plus one gun has an extra set of 28-inch barrels.

[birdawg]

I always wonder how long this series ran. 20 guns, 50 guns? Just how rare are they? Maybe like the HE that we had speculated were 300 and ended up being closer to 1000, or are they one of the smaller numbered Fox variations made. I have seen a few, mostly in photos but few seem to have been heavily used. Mine numbered 134116 was shipped in '45 J.T.C. notes that the card is written on a HE grade card with the HE crossed out. There seems to be more questions than answers about the wildfowlers.

[Stan Hillis]

Thanks, Dave. I thought it might have been yours. What a gem!
What does it weigh?

SRH

[MARSHFELLOW]

Dave,

Thanks for the dandy pics & good info. Don't see many and the few that Ive seen have been mucked up.

Abner....... a consec pair.... what a neatest of rare guns.

tjw

[Silvers]

This looks like Dave's SW Wildfowl that's pictured in this two page spread in the September 2002 American Rifleman. The article is on Sterlingworths by Michael McIntosh and it's titled A Good Gun Cheap. The wavy cyanide color line just behind the hinge pin looks the same in both pics in this thread. Frank

[Researcher]

Headrick's photos do get around!!

[Stan Hillis]

Whatsit weigh, whatsit weigh ?

SRH

[loggy]

Dave, what a beautiful gun! Are there any stamps on the guns that identify them as Wildfowls? The Supers were all stamped with an H. I understand the frame size and barrels were different than those on a regular Sterlingworth.

[eightbore]

Dave, do you know who ended up with the high condition Wildfowl that was for sale at Albright's gun store when you lived in Virginia. Two of us thought it was too expensive, at least until it was gone.