Restored Fox A grade

[MilRob]

Just got this one back from Brian Dudley. Custom restock and restoration of metal and case colors. Fantastic work again Brian. This will be my grouse gun for a long time. 28" 4 wt barrels 16 ga. Choked Sk1/Sk2. Hope it is ok I am using your photos. Too cold outside and too much snow to get any new pictures.

[Stan Hillis]

Beautiful! Are those cyanide case colors?

SRH

[MilRob]

Bone and charcoal.

[mc15426378]

Very nice!!!

[bbman3]

Wow! Next time put fancy wood on it! Bobby

[Brian Dudley]

No problem with using the photos i took. The winter can be a hard time to get photos if one relies on taking them outside, as i do as well.
Thanks for posting on it.

[Mills]

Another job well done!

[Jeff S]

That gun is absolutely beautiful. What kind of wood was used, and that brings me to my real question. How do the members of this organization select wood for a new stock? I hear terms like Circasean wood, English walnut, American walnut, "feathered" grain, "smoke and honey" grain, etc. Where do you get these blanks, and how do pick the one that's right for you? If a person spends a few thousand dollars on having a custom stock made, it's important to select the right blank. How does a novice go about choosing a blank?

[MilRob]

Thank you. The wood is english walnut. I know it is way overkill for an A grade but this will be the gun I carry more than any other and wanted a really nice piece of wood on it. I bought the wood from Cecil Fredi in Las Vegas and this was the first piece of wood I have ever picked out. I sent Cecil Fredi an email on what type of wood I was looking for and a price range. He sent me back pictures of 20 different blanks and I picked a few from that. I then asked some fellow members much more knowledgeable in wood blanks their opinions on a couple of the blanks as far as the look, grain flow etc. I then made the decision after that on which one to use. My first restock I had the stock maker pick out the piece of wood for me.

[vaturkey]

I think MilRob nailed it. Layout/grain flow is number 1. I bought a very nice piece of Circassian Walnut a few years ago because the figure was outstanding. I watched my stock maker saw it into forearm blanks because the layout was dead wrong in the head/grip area to provide adequate strength were needed.

Proper grain flow (think straight) in the grip area is critical. Beyond that, if one wants to keep the type wood as it was when Fox guns were being made, blanks in all Sterlingworths and later Savage made guns (Sterlingworths and A grades) were American Black walnut. Prior to Savage buying Fox, all graded Foxes were made utilizing Circassian walnut. Circassian/English/Turkish are pretty much that same thing for the most part. Higher grade Foxes were made utilizing progressively higher grade Circassian blanks as the grades went higher (A to F grade).

I think if one wants to spend the money for a restock then choosing a nice blank is just the right way to go. Why spend 3K for a restock and utilizing a $100 blank. Doesn't make much sense to me.

PS. When Savage bought at Fox at the end of production even some of the higher grade guns were made using high grade black walnut instead of Circassian blanks for whatever reason. I surmise it may have been done in order to save money, although with the higher custom ordered guns the buyer could specify what type walnut they wanted.

[Jeff S]

Great comments. Milrob, I've noticed a few other guns that have been "restocked" with really nice wood and I think it's a great idea. If it's the gun that you are going to be carrying around all the time, by all means, make it nice. Vaturkey, thanks for the explanation on the wood grain near the head of the stock. I could easily miss that detail. Also, well said on blank selection. Most of the cost for restocking is in the labor, so you might as well put a few more bucks into the stock. Now I just need to figure out how to tell my wife that I need to spend $3,000 - $4,000 on a new stock. I know.... I won't tell her.

[vaturkey]

Here's 3 different Circassian Blanks that I owned and one other blank I currently have in inventory. All three in the one picture are pretty high grade and have real nice layout. The first two (left to right) would be correct for a high grade Fox where wanted to replicate the type of wood that would have been used 100 years ago. The last blank of the three has exceptional layout and would have made a fantastic stock for something like a Super Fox IMO.

I'm a firm believer in quartersawn wood because I believe the figure is generally more uniform of both sides of the blank and I think the grain flow works better in the head/grip of a stock and its stronger overall. Slabsawn wood can sometimes show smoke/mineral streaking better because the dark bands are wider and show up better but I think it compromises the strength a tad and can sometimes lend itself to having inconsistent figure on each side.

The picture with the single blank is another quartersawn Circassian Blank with real nice layout and has a mixture of mineral streaking and fiddleback as well. I kept this one because if ever find an A grade 20 gauge Fox, that needs restocking it will work perfectly.

PS. The below shown blanks are all quartersawn.

[Jeff S]

Nice discussion about stock "blanks". I'll admit I "googled" quartersawn wood and I found some nice diagrams showing how the wood is cut. Very educational!

[gos'n]

Wow! What a beauty.

[MilRob]

Finally got the chance to go break the gun in on some clays. Can't wait for grouse to open!!!