THE STERLINGWORTH COMPANY

[ArcherFox]

I recently purchased a The Sterlingworth Company 12 Gauge. The serial number 50655. I can not find this serial number in any of my books or on line under the Sterlingworth serial numbers. If someone could help it would be appreciated. Thanks

[Researcher]

When the A.H. Fox Gun Co. added the lower priced gun, made to "standard" specifications, to their offerings for 1910, they marketed them under the name The Sterlingworth Co. They even issued a separate catalog for the guns --

The Serial numbers for these 12-gauge, The Sterlingworth Co. guns began at 50000. From my years of recording observed guns, the earliest guns have a rounded profile to the sides of the frames --

and about the first 200 have Wayne Junc. as the address, but after that Philadelphia, U.S.A.

In the range from 502xx to 505xx the profile of the sides of the frames transitions to the more pointed "Fox" profile --

The "The Sterlingworth Co." idea apparently wasn't working and the Sterlingworth is included in the 1911 A.H. Fox Gun Co. "Campfire" catalog and the guns are marked on the forearm iron MODEL 1911 --

The transition occurred in the 53xxx range. The first MODEL 1911 I've recorded is 53140 and the last The Sterlingworth Co. gun I've recorded is 53824.

A few years ago, Savage sent all the surviving A.H. Fox production cards to the McCracken Research Library at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming. You can get a letter on your gun from them --

https://centerofthewest.org/explore/fir ... ds/savage/

[3birddogs]

Researcher, I have The Sterlingworth Co. number 52042.
28" 4 weight barrels, choked cyl/ mod, and as I recall just under 7 lbs.
Not marked model 1911 on forearm.