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The first pic is from Cablelas, showing the muzzels of a two barrel set....30" and 26".
There have been several discussions about short Fox barrels with spacing between the tubes being cut or original. Looking at this picture is struck me that the rib on the short barrles is clearly wider at the muzzle than the other, implying that perhaps that barrel set actually was cut. I don't know, but I thought I'd look at my similar set, as I haven't actually thought about the rib width at the muzzle as any indicator. The balance of the photos are of my set. The rib width at the muzzels and breech end are exactly the same in the two sets. So, the short barrels have a rib with a greater degree of tapering from breech to muzzle. The chonometer is the width of the rib at the muzzles. (On my set, the width of the rib on the 30" barrels at the 26" mark is exactly .4 inch) The width of both ribs at the breech is exactly the same, as they are at the muzzles. I measured the width at the muzzles on the matted part, not at the joint with the barrels.
It could be that on the Cabela's set, the factory got lazy and cut a longer rib for fitting to the short barrels, but that would seem a little too odd.
In previous discussions of Fox guns with space between the barrels at the muzzles, I have mentioned the order cards I have seen with wording that includes "Cut longer barrels to make this gun." Apparently, at some times in Fox history, the inventory of short barrels was rather thin. If such a gun were to have a tapered rib, the rib width at the muzzle would certainly be wider than it would have been had the barrels been left at their original length. If it were a two barrel set, one rib width would be different at the muzzle than the other set. When buying an odd Fox, the price must reflect the uncertainty of the originality of the odd features unless you can get a Callahan letter before sealing the deal. Sometimes you just have to write the check and bite the "originality bullet" to keep another buyer from grabbing the gold ring before you do.
Over time the rib widths vary on Fox guns. Generally earlier guns have wider ribs then later. I have one gun from 1918 where the rib tapers in in the first 6-inches then runs parallel to the muzzle. No mention of anything special on the card.
I've gotten the idea over time that there can be a lot of variation in details.
My observation is simply that when you have a situation in which the rib width at each end for two different length barrel sets is exactly the same, it would seem to imply that at least some sort of standard was applied to their construction. And, that it pretty much eliminates the idea that the shorter barrels were ever cut with a rib on them; that is, the factory may "cut" longer barrels and then attach the rib to make a shorter set, but they're still factory barrels vs bubba with a hack saw.
When we use the term "cut" barrels, I think the usual implication is that they're non-factory made and fitted barrels, which doesn't seem to be the case with Fox, especially if the rib by chance does seem to fit a "standard" of dimension.
This has gotten a lot more complicated than I intended.
