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I'm a new member with a few questions re: an AH Fox I inherited from my dad:
I would like to know it's year, grade, and approximate value:
Specs: 12 Gauge; 28" barrels; Barrels marked "Chromox Fluid Compressed Steel" "Made by Savage Arms Corp, Itaca, NY, USA"; S/N 34231 (believe it to be a 1933 model from info on this site); Auto ejectors; Single selective trigger; Each barrel is stamped "4". It is in generally very good condition, but does have 3 condition issues: (1) It sometimes double fires. Two west coast gunsmiths have been unable to fix the problem - would appreciate a recommendation for a Fox specialist gunsmith, (2) It has a non-original rubber recoil pad, and (3) the stock had a hair line crack where it attached to the receiver that was repaired with a machine screw.
Any info/help/advice is GREATLY appreciated.
Your a lucky man to have inherited a nice AE 12ga. It looks like the gun has seen some use and then some maintenance done to it in it's journey through life. The screw in the head is probably a split head repair. Where the head of the stock split and possibly another piece splintered off and was re-glued back on. The screw is clamping the head back together side to side.This could be repaired so it would cosmetically look better by some one who knows what they are doing. A common repair would be to replace the screw with a walnut dowel glued into place and then have a Fox type checkering panel done over it to mask the dowel. Just looking at the pictures I'd say you may still have a problem with the stock head fit to the receiver and if you have the trigger repaired you should probably at the least have the stock headed back up to the action to help prevent future wood problems.
As far as the trigger work goes, I'll let others here give recommendations for a good smith experienced with the single trigger.
Nice gun; it should be a great shooter! By the serial number it should be from around 1934, but a letter is the only way to tell for sure. Good luck with it; the fact that it came from your dad makes it very special.
Nice gun.
I would get the trigger fixed and have the stock checked. If it is sound I would shoot it like my Dad did and consider myself lucky to have the chance.
"I have more than I need, but not as many as I want"
"The search continues on many fronts"
Life Member, A.H. Fox Collectors Association.
Welcome to the fold and congrats on such a nice AE-Grade Ansley H. Fox gun from your Dad. If everyone who came on the site asking questions supplied such good photos as yours life would be good! The 4 on the barrels indicates weight of the rough barrels before finishing, with number 4s being the lightest progressing up to 1 the heaviest. That Jostam Anti-Flinch recoil pad was the standard recoil pad that both A.H. Fox Gun Co. and Savage put on this grade of gun. A letter from the Savage historian may tell if it is original or not. For $40 Graded or $30 Sterlingworth (last prices I've seen quoted) you can get a factory letter on most any Ansley H. Fox shotgun (Philadelphia or Utica) from Mr. John T. Callahan, 53 Old Quarry Road, Westfield, MA 01085. The information exists on the factory work-order cards, probably 85+% of which still exist. Send him the complete serial number and a check, and he can do the rest. That would tell you the specifications of the gun when it left the factory.
The damage done to the head of the stock and the attempts to repair it may well have rendered the original stock unredeemable. A correct and proper restock will very likely be a $2000 to $3000 repair. The good part of that is you can have the gun stocked to your correct dimensions. Once the gun is properly restocked the relation between the upper and lower tangs will be solid and the trigger can be properly adjusted if previous attempts to repair it haven't been too damaging. If I had such a gun I would send it to Dewey Vicknair for a total evaluation.
To all of you who responded - a big thanks! My dad had several shotguns, but this was his favorite. I'm impressed with the Fox Collectors members and will be joining this week.
I would still like a recommendation for a gunsmith to take care of the double firing issue and a rough value for insurance.
Thanks again,
glsmith
Researcher - thanks for the info. While not cosmetically great, the stock repair is mechanically sound. My Dad regularly used the gun after it was repaired.
Regards,
glsmith
Here's a link to an A-Grade with the type repair I mentioned earlier in this thread. if you'll enlarge the pictures of the stock head you can see the dowel under the checkering. I post this just as a repair show and tell and not as a gun for sale.
glsmith,
The top half, above the screw head, of the left side panal has been replaced with a new piece of wood. The glue line and grain/color mismatch are pretty obvious. Fit along the top strap/frame line is also less than optimum. Glass bedding the head of the stock, plugging over the machine screw ends and adding checkered panals, as suggested, will be the cheapest was to save the stock, if there are no other surprises inside. It won't be perfect, adding another splice to tighten up the top strap joint would be awkward and hard to hide. The right side of the head of the stock seems intact, it just has the end of machine screw sticking through it. Restocking would run $2000-$4000 depending on how you go about it. There are reasonable ways to restock a gun, just no cheap ones. There may be carnage left inside from the stock failure/repair that is messing up the single trigger operation. They can be very particular about clearances. You have a nice gun from your Dad that will shoot again. Enjoy the project.
Cheers, DoubleGun
