My First Fox

[Canuck]

For those of you that own or have owned and SHOT a Super Fox what is your take on shooting modern day target loads through them? Yay or Nay? I am thinking I'd like to use the SF to shoot the doubles championships at Canadians and AB Provincials this summer. It doesn't matter what gun I have shot over the years my chance of winning a doubles championship is dismal at best but I can compete and sometimes do win my class and I think it would be a real hoot to shoot the big Fox for the doubles events. I would using Federal Top Gun 1oz 3 dram 7.5

[vaturkey]

For those of you that own or have owned and SHOT a Super Fox what is your take on shooting modern day target loads through them? Yay or Nay? I am thinking I'd like to use the SF to shoot the doubles championships at Canadians and AB Provincials this summer. It doesn't matter what gun I have shot over the years my chance of winning a doubles championship is dismal at best but I can compete and sometimes do win my class and I think it would be a real hoot to shoot the big Fox for the doubles events. I would using Federal Top Gun 1oz 3 dram 7.5

I don't see any issue at all shooting those loads out of that Fox. Made Strong to last Long.

[DarylC]

Those loads would be fine. Good luck in the competition.

[eightbore]

Can you post a program for the shoot you plan to attend?

[harry gietler]

This tread is about the first Fox you owned, well the Fox I am going to tell you guys about wasn't mine,
but it was in the family. Going back to I think I was seven years old my Dad came home with a huge double barrel shotgun.
I think He payed $5 for it. You have to understand that a gun was a tool to my Father, He never payed more than $5 for any gun.
Any way my older brothers took the gun apart. I just stood there and watched and recorded every thing in my head. You see, I just loved guns.
I remember the stampings on the frame and on barrel flats only it said 3in. and barrels not Guarantee. When my brothers saw that
and told my Father about not guarantee, my Dad taught the gun wasn't safe to shoot and so did us boys. I still remember those long barrels.
They were heavy and I thing longer than my Father's Riverside 16ga. Well my brother Jim got the brilliant idea to ''CUT'' the barrels down to
about 16-18 inches. ''CUT'' them he did and He used the gun to shoot rats in one of the barns. Maybe 2 years went by and one day I didn't
see the gun around any more. He sold it to some Kid He knew from school. I never did find out how much He got for it. Well their You have it,
Our first Fox gun in our family was a ''Super Fox''

Harry

[Sporrns]

I had to pop another Norvasc after rereading this post. Kevin

[Researcher]

For those of you that own or have owned and SHOT a Super Fox what is your take on shooting modern day target loads through them? Yay or Nay? I am thinking I'd like to use the SF to shoot the doubles championships at Canadians and AB Provincials this summer. It doesn't matter what gun I have shot over the years my chance of winning a doubles championship is dismal at best but I can compete and sometimes do win my class and I think it would be a real hoot to shoot the big Fox for the doubles events. I would using Federal Top Gun 1oz 3 dram 7.5

In my college years I shot a lot of 3-dram equiv. 1 1/8-ounce trap loads through my 32-inch, 3-inch chambered Super-Fox at the old Seattle Skeet & Trap Cub at Redmond, and at the Georgetown Rod & Gun Club at Black Diamond. Early on I was shooting Federal papers and by the end the new AAs. Even hunting I generally had a 2 3/4-inch shell in the right barrel and only had the extravagance of a 3-inch shell in the left.

[Canuck]

Can you post a program for the shoot you plan to attend?

As soon as I have one in hand I'll post it. Edmonton Gun Club hasn't sent out the programs yet. Both shoots are being held there this summer. Its about a 90 minute drive to the club from my home.,

[Canuck]

Latest update: The final coat of oil has been applied to the stock & forend of the 5E Knick SBT. All mechanicals have been checked after reassembly and are working properly. Once the finish has completely dried and hardened the gun will be test fired and if all is good returned to home. I would say it is going to be an even more stunning piece in hand than the photos show.

[Canuck]

I arrived home late friday night from a 2 1/2 week stint on Vancouver Island to help my father recovering from a surgery and to help him with some decluttering and downsizing. Shortly after arriving home I discovered a box in the living room. I asked my wife what was in the box and she said "I assume a gun you had worked on as it has Chris'(C.J Dawe) name on it".
I was on the road 18+ hours friday including a 2 hour ferry ride and 900 miles of driving to reach home so the box containing an Ithaca 5E Knick SBT I had sent to Chris Dawe to have refinished would have to wait until saturday morning to be opened after I'd had a good nights' sleep.
Saturday morning held the same excitement as Xmas morning does for a youngster as I proceeded to open the box containing the 100 year old Knick. To say I was pleased with the restoration of the 5E would be an understatement. What a gorgeous gun! The CCH colours? Wow!! And the ways in which Chris brought out the grain in the wood are truly stunning! What a craftsman!
Of surprise and interest to me was when I took out the untouched original 1957 4E Knick SBT I own to compare alongside the 5E was the difference in length and weight of the two guns. The 4E I thought (my memory isn't the greatest at times) was advertised as a 34" bbl gun?
However upon placing the guns alongside each other and confirming with a measuring tape I discovered the 4E is actually a 32" bbl gun and I noticed a significant weight difference in the pair of Knicks.
The 5E was made in 1926 and it is easily seen in hand and to a some degree in photos where some of the weight difference lies. The 5E receiver is deeper with a more rounded bottom and the barrel has larger vent rib posts compared to the 4E and you can very easily see a difference in muzzle thickness. I will have to mic the muzzles to verify chokes but the 4E is stamped #3 meaning Imp Mod where the 5E has no stamp but I suspect its Full choke. Most Ithaca SBT's did not have choke stamps indicated on them but there are a few examples that do wear them.
The outer diameter of the 5E barrel appears to be of larger diameter than that of the 4E as well. I suspect the 34" 5E barrel overall may be thicker walled but I cannot confirm until I mic it. I have been told Ithaca offered buyers of these custom built guns a choice of barrel weights and not just a choice of lengths ranging from 30" to 34".
The 4E feels extremely muzzle light in comparison to the 5E with weight balanced between the hands and the gun feels about 1/2lb lighter overall (yet to be confirmed by weighing) where the 5E has a more weight forward (muzzle heavy) feel and balance to it along with a heftier feel all around and especially in the receiver area.
I'm of course a little impatient waiting for the snow to be gone and the clubs I shoot at to be open once again so I can take the 5E out for an inaugural test run and some practice on the traps, especially handicap as the big heavy single has the feel and slower swing characteristics of a long yardage handicap gun. I shot the 4E this past Christmas break while visiting my father in Nanaimo and the 4E has a quicker amd very smooth swing characteristic more attuned to singles(16yd) and short yardage handicap.
Of course the 5E has a ton of head turning appeal, not that the 4E doesn't but the 5E really has that extra bit of awe factor about it and I'd hate to be "that guy" carrying such a classic beauty, once considered to be the king of trap guns around the ranges.

:

[Foxnut]

The 5E looks really good and Chris did a nice job for you. Will be interested when you get the barrel wall thickness measured. Ithaca did offer a heavier weight barrel on their trap guns but unless you have two besides each other it may not be recognized. I don’t blame you for wanting to get both of those guns on the trap line!!!

P.S. - Hope your Dad makes a speedy recovery!!

[Researcher]

Ithaca did offer a heavier weight barrel on their trap guns but unless you have two besides each other it may not be recognized.

Wonder if they did the same for NID skeet guns? My 1936 12-gauge No. 4E Skeet Gun tips the scales at 8 pounds 3.5 ounces and the weight is all in the barrels. Hard to imagine a more weight forward 26-inch 12-gauge. Period Ithaca catalogs give the weight of 26-inch 12-gauges as 6 3/4- to 7-pounds.

[TOOL MAN]

While I love Fox SBT's, the Knicks were the undisputed KING of trap guns. I bought a very early, 34" 5E (4001xx range) choked at .045. The grandson of the original owner, a PA native, told me this gun "brought home more bacon (quite literally) than an Oscar Meyer truck..." She's no prom queen, exuding more of that "been around the block" look.
I'm a middling trap shot, but she'll turn a clay target into a puff of flak. Great guns!!

[DarylC]

She turned out really nice. Enjoy.

[eightbore]

I have a nearly unfired late 30" 4E Knick, a 1930 32" 5E Knick that still has factory varnish on the receiver, refinished wood with G&H repro Silver pad, and an original metal finish 32" Sousa Grade Knick that has a great stock refinish, original finish on the forend, and a new original type Ithaca pad. This is the last Sousa. I am still looking for an original finish 7E Knick.