New to me Sterlingworth 12ga

[BHiller]

Hello from a newbie. Orignally an Upstate NYer, and former CTer, who now resides in far Northern MN.

I've had my grandfather's Fox B Savage 16 ga (Utica) for many years, but recently purchased an AH Fox Sterlingworth 12 ga. Based on the serial number (58898) it seems like it was made very late in 1910, maybe? It is also marked Model 1911 on the metal of the forend.
The forend is without a latch and is a very wide beavertail style, which is what attracted me.

The gun locks up tight. It has some surface "patina" on all of the metal which I plan to have fixed up. The barrels are 30" and choked (based on the dime test) IC (R) and M (L), which is what I want anyway.

The wood was reported as solid, but was damaged in transit and had a couple of cracks already. The sender made good on it and I'm planning to have a new stock put on anyway, so it's not a huge deal.

I'm overall pretty excited to get it cleaned up and checked over by a gunsmith. My goal is to use it for duck hunting and prairie grouse in MN & ND.

Thoughts on using it, features such as ejectors vs. extractors, and other useful tips or information on getting a 110+ year old gun out in the field.
Here are a couple of pictures of the gun.

[jolly bill]

BHiller,

Welcome to the Fox World from a current upstate New Yorker.

That's a good way to start acquiring Fox's with one of those early Sterlingworth's.

Late 1910 estimate for SN 58898 is a pretty rough guess. I have an early Sterlingworth with SN 57979 with a factory letter. It was shipped on October 24, 1911. (Which is exactly 25 years, to the day, before my birthdate = October 24, 1936.)

Anyway, you want to be careful putting much money in the gun. It likely won't increase its value that much.

You might consider having someone real good with wood to get the butt stock back to solid, functional condition and use it that way. A restock can be expensive and no chance recovering any of it back.

Not recommended to shoot steel shot in older softer steel barrels which that gun has.

You might want to think hard about putting a lot of money in that gun. Better to put it towards a nicer, more solid Fox that doesn't need any help.

Just my opinion.

Jolly

[BHiller]

Hey Jolly,

I appreciate the input and the thoughts on when the gun was made. I was guessing based on a list of SN and years they were used.

I know the gun isn't likely to increase much in value and I'm mostly interested in making it a useful duck hunting gun. I also expect that duck hunting will be a bit rough on it as well and don't want to waste money on making it too pretty.

My plan is to use bismuth since it's an older gun and it likley won't enjoy steel being run through it.

Thanks,

Brian

[jolly bill]

Hey Jolly,

I appreciate the input and the thoughts on when the gun was made. I was guessing based on a list of SN and years they were used.

I know the gun isn't likely to increase much in value and I'm mostly interested in making it a useful duck hunting gun. I also expect that duck hunting will be a bit rough on it as well and don't want to waste money on making it too pretty.

My plan is to use bismuth since it's an older gun and it likley won't enjoy steel being run through it.

Thanks,

Brian

Sounds like a decent plan Brian.

Keep us informed on how you're doing, and a few pictures and a progress report would be nice.

Jolly

[Maggiemollie]

Enjoy.