Sterlingworth 20GA

[DMZ]

I have access to a 20GA Sterlingworth. The serial number is 367997 the barrel length is 24". I have never researched a gun by serial number and am in the dark. I am trying to determine if the gun is period correct any help appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[vaturkey]

Well, first thing is that's not a 20 gauge serial number and they never made a 24" sterly of any gauge as a rule. They start in the 200,000 range and barrel lengths are 99.9 percent of the time, 26, 28, 30 or 32" The least common is by far the 32". What you have there based on the serial number is a 16 gauge. Those 16 gauge serial numbers start at 300,000 and go north.

Post some pics and we can tell you whether it looks correct or not. Based on the Doublegunshop date listing that gun was made circa 1930. However that list is often wrong so take whatever is listed there regarding dates with a bucket of salt.

https://www.doublegunshop.com/dgsnos1.htm

[Jeff S]

Great response Tom. As Tom said, the serial number chart gives you a mfg date “in the ballpark”. I have examples that are 3-5 years off. Read the barrel. Was it made in Utica or Philadelphia? Since this organization doesn’t have production cards for Sterlingworths, you have to contact the Cody Museum for manufacturing specs, but as Tom said, barrels have probably been cut. Jeff

[birdawg]

I believe the issue around the serial number and manufacture dates discrepancies is due to frames being made up in bulk and setting in parts bins waiting to be produced into finished shipped guns.

[Researcher]

I believe the issue around the serial number and manufacture dates discrepancies is due to frames being made up in bulk and setting in parts bins waiting to be produced into finished shipped guns.

The serial number chronology for Sterlingworths is about as good as any for the Philadelphia era. It is in the Savage years where for 12-gauges it really falls apart. Savage built different guns in serial number blocks. We see the Fox-Sterlingworth Wildfowls in the 1341xx range and I've seen no other guns in the 134xxx range. In the upper half of the 132xxx range all the guns I've recorded are SP-frame guns, all from 1939 or later. All the guns I've recorded in the 133xxx range are draw-bolt frame guns with 30-inch barrels, and from the search of the records Frank had done they are all from 1939. All the guns I've recorded in the 143xxx range are draw-bolt frame guns, most with 28-inch barrels. The 28-inch draw-bolt Fox-Sterlingworth in Tom Kidd's article on the draw-bolts in The Double Gun Journal, Volume Eight, Issue 1, serial number 143573 was shipped January 12, 1940. Also, there is a big gap in my observed 12-gauge Fox Sterlingworth serial numbers from 143815 to 160076. The old Lightner Library chronology doesn't take that into account. Likewise, there is a big gap in my observed 20-gauge Fox-Sterlingworth serial numbers from 266482 to 270060.