CSMC Fox Guns??

[Jim Cloninger]

Ohio, good write up. Thanks. Jim

[WPGRIFFON]

Side X Side Ohio

Sounds like a great experience, hope to hear more about the CSMC Fox guns you handled.

WPGRIFFON

[SXS ohio]

I was able to handle each grade CE, DE, FE, English grip with splinter and beaver tail for-ends, caped PG stock with splinter and BTF. The BTF is well perporsioned and not big and oversized. I have gave it much thought and think I will get a splinter for-end on the 28" barrels for grouse hunting and a BTF on the 29" barrels for roosters in the open fields. I will ask that they would interchange from barrel set to barrel set like my RBL 28ga. does. This will make a versatile set. These guns are not cheap but man are they sweet! This gun order is above my pay scale but I am pleased with my decision to order it. I do plan to use this gun same as any other one I own. I do own a rain gun for them nasty days afield.

[kgb]

Did you discuss how the balance of the gun might change with the 3oz difference between 28" and 29" barrels? Thinking about that, is the 3oz difference purely in the barrels or does it include any difference between the BT and Splinter FA? Finally, what's an XE/DE grade, a combination of engraving and wood carving to arrive at the dual designation?

Kirk

[SXS ohio]

Lou asked about balance....It will be 1" foreword of hinge pin. 1" of barrel will make little impact if any after barrels are finish draw filed. XE has frame sculpting and engraving like original XE. Working outside the box, I will have a picture of my setter engraved on the belly in full point, The left and right engravings will be from DE grade guns. The roosters on the right side you can go to the sample pictures on Fox CSMC Fox ordering thread, see picture 94, after you click on any of the frames it will be numbered, keep looking till you find 94, they are in order. I like this style, my setter on the belly and two grouse on the left side will also match with circle border. I added additional custom engraving over the standard CE of a woodcock and a quail, I used DE checkering and better wood than two star that comes with XE grade. Wood will be hand picked American walnut that has that wonderful flame patterns, I think this will be a fine choice like A.H. Fox would have used on his XE grade. Today American walnut is less expensive than Turkish circasion walnut......you get more bang for your buck in todays wood markets. In the end I got this custom gun ordered at the best price possible without sacrifice!!! I really wanted a two barrel set and it jumps the cost 6K for the extra barrels and for end....This gun is above my pay scale so that said I needed to save the 3K upcharge of DE grade gun and work with the XE grade. I saved on the wood up-grade as well by buying the American walnut that cost less than Turkish grade for grade, this savings paid for the skeleton but plate option that was a must have! Anyone who would order a custom gun would be wise to go in person!!! I could never have made this work for me if I had not gone in person! NO WAY....I give Lou and CSMC AAA+ for the quality experience I had ordering my very special shotgun. It really is a special place! SXS ohio

[Mike of the Mountain]

Ohio, that's going to be a beautiful gun!! May you have many days in the field and on the clays course to enjoy it.

[kgb]

That should turn out quite nice, specifying exactly how the birds are to look is a wise course and no better way to do that than in person. Lou mentioned "turnips with wings" when discussing birds on original American classics, although there is something to be said for originals being originals. Also good to be able to handle the guns in their various stocking configurations to see exactly how they fit your hands, the ones that matter in the end. Gonna be a long wait, but well worth it.

Kirk

[SXS ohio]

Kirk...the wait will be long. This fall will come and go but I hope to have the gun for fall of 2016 1 1/2 years. Do I see a Gordon setter in your avatar? My setter is Ruby and is also a Gordon setter of the most spoiled order, but is also a good hunter! She was 4 in February. Ordering this new gun puts me in mind of the history we read about Fox, Parker Ithica and L/C Smith, how the Hi grade guns cost as much as a new model T did. Well this hi grade Fox cost what a nice new pick up does today!!! We also read history about economy troubles, crash of 1906 break out of WW1 crash of 29. We had our crash in 2008 and again in???,, hope my gun gets made before the next big one. SXS ohio

[Rogue Hunter]

That's going to be a nice gun.

I could've/should've ordered one 10 years ago but I'm such a tight wad that I can never pull the trigger. That's what happens when you grow up poor. Then, every time I read a post like yours, I think to myself...fool, it's only money...but still.

Enjoy the anticipation, enjoy the gun.

RH

[gwsmith]

After a very long wait - I took delivery of a 16 gauge 2 barrel set last summer. Saved a long time for that purchase and thought it was a "once in a lifetime" purchase. Now I want a 20 gauge too.

[kgb]

SxSO, yep, that's our female from 2001-2010. We've got three Gordons now, one of which is red, and one a rescue. When I ordered my XE I spoke with Lou about either a fox or a Gordon on the trigger plate and whether he thought the engravers could depict a Gordon rather than the vanilla version. This was over the phone, and it seemed best to have a fox there: Lou mentioned two things setting off XE engraving were the oak leaves and the fox itself. No fan of the up-and-down nosed foxes, I wound up sending him an image to give the engravers as a guide. Glad to have gone that way in the end, it turned out nice. I asked for prairie grouse on the left and woodcock on the right, said I knew they could do woodcock but had to send in some pictures (grabbed from the web) of sharptails and chickens, as prints and as mounted birds. Lou suggested going with a ruff, as those are commonly done, but I mentioned a grouse with a shorter tail would approximate a prairie chicken and one with a pointed tail could be a sharptail and left it up to them. I had been thinking of a depiction of one or the other in dancing pose, but not knowing exactly how difficult that might be to portray I figured selecting the birds would suffice. The engraver would know his abilities better than I.

Haven't gotten any real good shots of the sides, but an acceptable one of the bottom shows the sitting fox:


It helps to realize we lose more money in the decline of the value of our vehicles than is thrown away on most anything else, including guns. Trade guns help a ton, as I also found out, but drew a line at a two-barrel set, as that would have meant selling a gun that's already got open chokes and short barrels just to get a set of short, open choked bbls for the Fox.

[SXS ohio]

I have a set of bronze book ends with old time setter in full point. These look just like my Gordon with the flowing coat and feathers. Engraving of this type is not meant to be exact photo grade copy but instead a hi quality image. The engraver Lou said would be doing my gun is Tuscano, a master of his art. I am sure to be pleased with his work. Ruby is my first bird dog and a wonderful family member. I will always think of her on point when looking at the belly of this gun. I am new to this sight and have not learned to post pictures as of yet...)-: I will work on posting a picture of my book ends...SXS ohio

[kgb]

Tuscano did my gun, signed next to the triggers. The case colors do keep some of the engraving detail from showing best, but it's all a balance in the end.

[SXS ohio]

kgb....Have you used your XE much? As the colors wear the engraving starts to stand out. I have a well used parker repro DHE that looks really nice after years of hunting roosters...(-: I think the Fox engraved on your gun will just get better as the days pass. kgb...ware do you live? I am in ohio on the P.A. line south of 80. Would like to meet the Gordons some day and talk guns too. SXS ohio

[kgb]

I'm from the other side of that state line, hunted often in northern Butler Co. growing up, and now live in Nebraska. Try to get back on occasion to visit, but this past year was the first time in 3 that I made it. I understand Ohio has had a decline in available hunting and many folks head across to PA or west and north to WI/MI/MN to find birds. For a while I bought Iowa hunting licenses as pheasant and quail were doing a lot better in the SW of that state than the SE of Nebraska--winter of 2000-2001 kicked both states hard but Iowa seemed to come through it better off.

I started off shooting skeet with the Fox and its first shot at game gathered in a prairie chicken. Next game shot brought it a woodcock in Michigan, those being the two birds engraved on the gun it was good to start it off hunting them. I switched to a Browning A5 by the time we found grouse in Michigan, but managed to get it out successfully after bobwhites and more chickens here in Nebraska. Took it on a visit to a friend in western South Dakota but finding only one pheasant I couldn't tell against the low sun if it was a rooster and did not take a shot. All told only 7 hunting days, so not much wear yet. Had to send it back to CSMC after the seasons ended to get an ejector fixed. As others report, easy no-fuss procedure and quick turn-around.