Ansley H. Fox - grade uncertainty

[Bill Graham]

Doing some barter work for a friend and what I get is a Fox. Not very experienced with grading, and not finding anything exactly like it in the historical information. If anyone was willing to share some experienced thoughts, I would appreciate the guidance.

SN 28516
28"
Improved / Mod Full
Barrel weight 4
Letter "A" stamped near serial number on the water table and barrel flats
Looks like Savage era safety button
Roll stamped Chromox barrel
Numbers match, bright bores, no rust
Issues: piece of the wrist is missing, missing escutcheon in forend, JC Higgins recoil pad, smooth checkering, safety not working for left barrel

[vaturkey]

Go to the home page and look up AE grade Fox and it will provide a bunch of information. This is a Philly made Fox. The escutcheon you seem to be missing wasn't a Fox installed item. What you most likely have is the most common graded Fox out there. Yours is an extractor gun it appears. Condition of the wood isn't great based on what information you supplied. Additional pictures would be nice to see. The safety issue could perhaps be solved by stripping and cleaning as old oil or other gunk can get in there and mess things up. Bet that gun has some stories to tell.

[Bill Graham]

Thank you. ""A" Grade Late Style" looks right. The most unfortunate aspect is the missing hunk of wood, and checking. The lines are there, and barely felt serrations.

The barrels are stamped with 4 as the weight, but it also looks like someone stamped over the top of another number. What do the various weight designations equate to so I can measure and determine the truth?

Please let me know if there are particular pictures that would help and I'll get them taken. Thanks.

[vaturkey]

Number 4 stamping on the barrels indicates they were the lightest barrels Fox had inventory. I believe they went from weight 4 to weight 1 on the regular 12 gauge. A big help to you would be finding the Fox book written by McIntosh. The book isn't perfect, but still provides a ton of good information.

[Bill Graham]

Thank you. I have "Best Guns", and have reread the Fox section.

[Mike of the Mountain]

If the checkering is almost all gone someone probably "refinished" that stock in their spare time. I had a parts gun that had the same issue with the wood. When the guy refinished it he ham-handed the checkering too and left nothing but enough marking to see where the grooves were cut.

[Bill Graham]

The checkering was pretty full of finish. Since it's stripped, it's better. There's a map you can feel a bit more. Along the left side of the wrist there's quite a bit completely gone; right where the a persons right hand fingers would be when gripping. It was in someone's hands quite a bit.

I did have some success with my first experience soldering a little bit of bottom rib back. The last 5" or so had lifted. Cleaned it out, followed good council. Not an expert, but I'm happy, and they'll get an official inspection. Barrels ring nicely along their entire length.

[Jim Cloninger]

Looks like a good job to me. Jim

[Bill Graham]

Looks like a good job to me. Jim

Thanks Jim. I appreciate that.

[bbman3]

I had no idea a keel was that long.Great soldering job! Bobby

[eightbore]

Nice.