Late Philly or early Utica Sterlingworth?

[Jack71]

I have a 12 gauge extractor Sterlingworth, serial number 126759. The barrels are marked Philidelphia but the forearm is the type usually found on Utica guns. The serial number is stamped on the forearm wood and it matches the numbers found elsewhere on the gun. The safety, trigger guard and top lever are the Philadelphia type.

The serial number would date the gun to 1929 and probably before production was moved to Utica. The forearm wood could be a replacement done by Savage at Utica, but would they have bothered to stamp the gun's serial number on it? I'd appreciate any comments or thoughts on this situation.

[Researcher]

From my years of observation, all the guns I've recorded in the 129xxx serial number range are Savage as are all but the earliest guns in 128xxx range. There is also a small group of Savage guns in the 122xxx and 123xxx block. Is your gun marked STERLINGWORTH or FOX-STERLINGWORTH on the sides of the frame? I generally begin seeing the bulky forearms in the 130xxx range and they are all bulky from the 1325xx range on up.

I would suspect the original forearm was lost, and the owner sent the gun to Savage for a new one. In the later years Savage would lengthen the chambers to 2 3/4 inch, and reproof any Philadelphia era gun sent in for service. Is there an SP in an oval stamped on the barrel flat?

[Jack71]

Dave, thanks for your response. The gun is marked simply STERLINGWORTH on the sides of the frame. According to my chamber gauge, the chambers are well short of 2 3/4" so they have not been lengthened. There is a small oval stamped on the barrel flat, I can't read the letters inside clearly, but they seem to be SA.

Do you think it was normal practice for Savage to stamp the gun's serial number on a replacement forearm?

BTW, I should mention that this gun probably has a replacement stock - it is a much nicer grade of wood with finer checkering than would normally be on a Sterlingworth.

[Researcher]

Do you think it was normal practice for Savage to stamp the gun's serial number on a replacement forearm?

Absolutely.

[Jack71]

Do you think it was normal practice for Savage to stamp the gun's serial number on a replacement forearm?

Absolutely.

Okay, then that probably explains things - the gun went to the Savage factory for a new forearm, but the chambers were not lengthened. Thanks!

[Stan Hillis]

Wonder what's going on with the dark circle in the checkering? It is the shape, size, and location where the escutcheon would be on an ejector gun. Almost looks like a plug of different colored wood there.

If it were mine I would have to take the f/e iron off and look underneath it.

SRH

Maybe I need to clarify that I am not being critical of the OP's forend in any way, only curiosity about what I see.

[Jack71]

Wonder what's going on with the dark circle in the checkering? It is the shape, size, and location where the escutcheon would be on an ejector gun. Almost looks like a plug of different colored wood there.

If it were mine I would have to take the f/e iron off and look underneath it.

While I haven't taken the forend iron off, it appears to be a plug put there before the checkering was cut. My guess is this piece of forearm wood was originally intended for an ejector gun, but was plugged for use on this gun which is an extractor model.

[Stan Hillis]

Thanks Jack. The question screams out at me now ........ did Savage plug the ejector forend wood, or did someone else replace the forend wood and stamp it with matching numbers? We'll probably never know.

[Researcher]

I don't think that was ever intended to be ejector forearm wood. A plug in the forearm wood on Savage-era Fox-Sterlingworth extractor forearms is fairly common. With the softer, more porous wood in use by the 1930s, that forearm screw would lose purchase in the soft wood.

An old friend of mine in Southern Maryland gave me his 1938-vintage 20-gauge Fox-Sterlingworth, that his father had given him for his 21st birthday. In over fifty years of following his English Setters around, Henry's gun had been intimate with most barb wire fences and thorny growths from New York to Virginia. The forearm screw had pulled out of the forearm wood at some point in time and a new piece of wood was fitted into the forearm to give the screw purchase and the checkering was recut.

[Stan Hillis]

So, you're saying the plugs are of a denser, harder wood, Dave?

Seems like a strange way do deal with a problem. I don't believe Ansley would have approved ......... at all.

[Jack71]

I hadn't thought of that, but Dave's theory makes sense. The plug is right where the forearm screw goes.
No, Ansley probably wouldn't have approved, but he was long gone by this time....

[Researcher]

I've never examined one close enough to see what kind of wood was used. The pictures I've saved over the years are of higher condition guns. I don't have one showing this repair.