George Bird Evans

[Fin2Feather]

Lots has been written/said about GBE; in the last issue of the Parker collectors' magazine was an article by Art Wheaton about the friendship between GBE and Dr. Charles Norris (Eastern Upland Shooting, etc.). There was mention in the article of a Youtube video which I watched today, and in it Evans mentions his A. H. Fox gun which he says he shot for 27 years and finally realized it didn't fit him. Later in the video he says he had stock work done and was shooting much better. We've heard about the Purdy that Norris willed him; do we know anything about the Fox? Grade, bore, specs, where it is now, etc.? Maybe it's been discussed and I missed it; very possible. Anyway, these things come up on boring winter afternoons !

[Researcher]

In this picture in The Upland Shooting Life, it looks like a Fajen or Bishop restocked Sterlingworth.

[Jeff S]

Those don't look like woodcock to this Michigander. Are they snipe?

[setterspell]

The Fox is a Sterlingworth Field ejector. The original hang tag is stapled inside the door of the small built-in gun cabinet at Old Hemlock.
Jeff- those are Woodcock
I might add that all 3 of GBE’s guns are placed with friends

[eightbore]

The little 27" Purdey is in the wind, not placed with friends. Anyone know who has it? To correct my statement, the 27" Purdey was not owned by GBE. It was owned by Dr. Norris.

[Fin2Feather]

12 gauge?

[setterspell]

12 gauge?

The Fox and Purdey are both 12ga

[eightbore]

Yes, the little 27" Purdey is a 12 gauge. And, yes, it is still in the wind as far as I am aware.

[eightbore]

I guess I should clarify that the 27" Purdey was not one of the guns owned by GBE, but it was a Dr. Charles Norris gun. It was once owned by a PGCA member who traded it off. It is in the wind unless the person who purchased it from a retail store recognized it for what it is. I'm not sure the serial number was included in GBE's works, but it is in my files.

[eightbore]

Nothing that I can find in GBE writings mentions the 27" Purdey after his visit with Dr. Norris and being gifted the two barrel 26" Purdey. However, in my files I found the internet offering for Norris' 27" gun at a price we would find quite reasonable today. The seller didn't know it was Norris' gun and when I visited to inspect the gun, no mention was made of Dr. Norris. The previous owner, who I spoke with, didn't realize the Norris connection either.

[eightbore]

As you can guess, I am on the hunt for the Norris gun. Help me if you can.

[Fin2Feather]

If you go to oldhemlock.org and click on the "shop" tab the Fox gun is pictured; you can clearly see the white line pistol grip cap. In "Recollections of a Shoot Guest" Evans notes that he was finding that the Fox didn't fit him. Dr. Norris encouraged him to look for and possibly trade for "a good English gun", and GBE said, "Dr. Norris could not know how much my old Fox, which I had shot since 1927, meant to me." A bit later in the book he mentions, "a good crossing bird, which the newly restocked Fox handled smoothly."