The shape of things ...........

[Stan Hillis]

A brief update on this gun. I sent it to a gunsmith about 4 months ago to have a set of 32" original Fox barrels fitted to it, that had never been fitted to a gun by A H Fox, and have the trigger pulls adjusted. I called him this afternoon and he said he is almost finished with them and will be sending them home in a couple days. My instructions were for him to fit them and return them for me to shoot some before I have them blued (they are still in the white) and bead(s) fitted. One of my main reasons for wanting to get the gun back before spending any more on the barrels was to see how well he fitted them. I asked for as near 100% contact with the standing breech as possible. I know that 100% contact is impossible to achieve when fitting a barrel set, but wanted to convey that I wanted the best he could do, and indicated that the gun would be shot a good bit with duck and possibly pigeon loads. The first thing that will happen when I get them back is a smoke test, to determine the percentage of contact, and whether there is room for the barrels to "settle in" without the barrel flats contacting the action flat.

I'm really anxious to see the results and, if everything was done well, have a Sterlingworth Ejector with a set of 30" and a second set of 32" barrels, and good triggers. More info will follow when there is more to report.

SRH

[Silvers]

Stan, I hope it turns out well. It's very meticulous work to fit barrels when the hinge pin is already in place. I've redone the jointing up to 4 times to get things right. The breech face contact is important and you should also see a tiny "gap" or clearance between the frame bar (water table) and the barrel flats. Initially I like to have about 6-8 thou at the back end and maybe 2 thou at the front, nearest the hinge pin. That clearance will allow the barrels to settle in after a few hundred rounds and you'll see an increase in the breech face contact when using smoke. Please let us know how you make out.

frank

[Stan Hillis]

Will do, Frank. Thanks.

SRH

[bbman3]

Stan sounds like you got it covered. Bobby