Early Fox Sterlingworth?

[Fox4tom]

I just got this Sterlingworth from a friend and was hoping to get some Information from the experts in this forum.
A. H. Fox Sterlingworth Co. 12 Ga. Shotgun serail number 52877 made in 1909 ? in Pittsburgh Pa. Length of Pull is 14 ½ inches and the barrels are 30 inches in length. The serial number 52877 is on the receiver, the barrels and the forearm metal. Barrels appear to be Full Choke on both. Inscription on the barrels reads as follows; Sterlingworth fluid compressed steel made by the Sterlingworth Co. Philadelphia Pa.USA. Patent dates shown on the receiver are Dec 2, 1902, Aug 16, 1904, Aug 1, 1905, and Jan 16, 1906. Bores are clean and the wood is brand new. This is a very early shotgun that appears to have used the same forearm attachment as was used on the LC Smith shotguns. I have pictures but not sure how to load them.
Thanks.

[vaturkey]

I just got this Sterlingworth from a friend and was hoping to get some Information from the experts in this forum.
A. H. Fox Sterlingworth Co. 12 Ga. Shotgun serail number 52877 made in 1909 ? in Pittsburgh Pa. Length of Pull is 14 ½ inches and the barrels are 30 inches in length. The serial number 52877 is on the receiver, the barrels and the forearm metal. Barrels appear to be Full Choke on both. Inscription on the barrels reads as follows; Sterlingworth fluid compressed steel made by the Sterlingworth Co. Philadelphia Pa.USA. Patent dates shown on the receiver are Dec 2, 1902, Aug 16, 1904, Aug 1, 1905, and Jan 16, 1906. Bores are clean and the wood is brand new. This is a very early shotgun that appears to have used the same forearm attachment as was used on the LC Smith shotguns. I have pictures but not sure how to load them.
Thanks.

Sounds like a early 12 gauge Sterlingworth known by many as Pin guns as they have a Parker style recessed pin in the front of the receiver. Sounds like it was restocked. Since your gun is marked Sterlingworth Company its one of the more early ones made. I believe the earliest had Wayne Junction on the barrels instead of Philadephia Pa on the left barrel.

This should help:

https://foxcollectors.com/fox-gun-grade ... pany-style

[Researcher]

The Sterlingworth Co. guns normally started life with a Baker J-Spring style forearm fastening.

They apparently had some trouble with these as you will often find these guns fitted with the later J.C. Kremer & A.H. Fox Patent No. 1,029,374 style forearm fastening which was used on the extractor Model 1911 Sterlingworths. My March 1910 vintage The Sterlingworth Co. gun is and has the Fox Proof stamp on the barrel flat! They used a third style fastening, the F.T. Russell Patent No. 1,029,229 on the ejector guns, and eventually went to using the Russell style on all Sterlingworths extractor and ejector.

[Researcher]

When Ansley H. Fox, was forced to add a lower priced gun to his line of graded Ansley H. Fox guns, in 1910, he didn't want to detract from the A.H. Fox Gun Co. name, so they dummied up "The Sterlingworth Company." The first year’s guns, beginning with serial number 50,000, were marked as being "Made By The Sterlingworth Company, Philadelphia, U.S.A." Actually the first few hundred were marked "Wayne Junction" instead of Philadelphia. They even produced a separate The Sterlingworth Gun Co. catalogue for 1910. These guns were built under the same patents as the graded Ansley H. Fox guns. The main moneysaving features were an American Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) stock as opposed to the more costly European thin shell walnut (Juglans regia) stocks on the graded guns, and the "Sterlingworth Fluid Steel" barrels instead of Krupp Fluid Steel barrels.

Here are a couple of pages from The Sterlingworth Company catalog of 1910 --