An old friend came by

Jim Thynne · Post by **Jim Thynne** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 12:18 am

I was surprised to see my old friend the Kautzky Fox show up at the store. I had spent a day with Rudy and his sister(The shootinist woman) Kautzky on an afternoon in 1973.
They let me record a conversation about their father Joseph, and showed me the first gun he made while a new immigrant in the United States.
The gun was a beautiful 16 gauge hammer gun with a lot of appeal.
Later in the afternoon they told me about the time their father had broken off the rear attachment of the barrel and sent the gun back to Fox to have it repaired.
Fox informed Joseph the barrel would have to be replaced, and so it was.
When Joseph opened the package of his world class A grade trap gun he was surprised to see it had been engraved in a deep Germanic pattern with a Fox on the bottom of the frame, and the engraving was carried down the barrels about 1 1/2 inches. They had also engraved and gold inlaid a very large K on the trigger guard.
They had recently sold the gun to a Fort Dodge Iowa resident, and I called him to ask if I could examine the gun .
Some things stick in your mind, and this gun was one of them. The pattern was absolutely the X pattern, and may well have been the first attempt at this pattern ever. The wood was beautiful, and I was told that it was the finest Russian walnut that Joseph could find.
To make this long story short, a young man called the store, and had won the gun in one of the Julia auctions. I wish I would have known.
We discussed the gun, and he said he would sen it to me for inspection.
When I opened the box I became very exited, this was THE gun I had held, and examined those many years ago. Not a copy, but the A- X grade gun that had won the championship in Madison Square Garden.
After a short honeymoon, I sent her back to her new owner.
We all missed one of the most historic Fox guns ever built.

eightbore · Post by **eightbore** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 7:07 am

Wow, Jim. What a great story you have shared with us. Do you have pictures? I found some of Joseph Kautsky's orders when a member of the PGCA research team in 1998, but none I could hook up with either Joe or Marie as personal guns. Bill Murphy in Maryland.

FRBRIT · Post by **FRBRIT** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 6:31 pm

Jim, This is a great story. I do hope you took some pictures. I'll be in LA on business next week and plan to drop in on you while I'm there.

See you next week.

Jim Thynne · Post by **Jim Thynne** » Sat May 02, 2009 2:44 am

FRBRIT wrote:Jim, This is a great story. I do hope you took some pictures. I'll be in LA on business next week and plan to drop in on you while I'm there.

See you next week.

Thank you for coming by. I am sorry I couldn't spend more time.The two F grade guns you saw were quite different. The first F grade may well be that. The early serial number will not letter. As Tom may have told you the minty F grade is from the Meyer Pontaprino collection, and I have known about this gun for about 35 years.
Jerry and I have been able to put a few away, as we take no money from the store. The rewards are in that gun case.
Once again thank you for your visit......................................Jim

Jim Thynne · Post by **Jim Thynne** » Sat May 02, 2009 2:51 am

eightbore wrote:Wow, Jim. What a great story you have shared with us. Do you have pictures? I found some of Joseph Kautsky's orders when a member of the PGCA research team in 1998, but none I could hook up with either Joe or Marie as personal guns. Bill Murphy in Maryland.

Bill,
I hope the new owner will post pictures on the web site. The gun was nearly all Fox except for the forend that Joseph made.
I have no Idea if Fox, or Kautzky was responsible for the stock checkering, but this is the pattern used in the early X grade guns.
By the way, the old warhorse found herself a fine home.
The Old girl had the fox with it's tail down, and head down as all the early guns did.
So good to hear from you, see you at the Vintage Cup.............................Jim

MikeR · Post by **MikeR** » Sun May 03, 2009 11:55 am

Hello Jim: I saw your post today after getting back from beautiful eastern Washington. I will get some pictures early this week of the Kautzky Gun.
It talks to me every evening and I am sure glad you enjoyed it.

MikeR · Post by **MikeR** » Tue May 05, 2009 12:28 am

MikeR · Post by **MikeR** » Tue May 05, 2009 12:51 am

MARSHFELLOW · Post by **MARSHFELLOW** » Tue May 05, 2009 6:48 am

THAT, Ladies & Gentlemen, is really something!!!!! Thanks! Tom

eightbore · Post by **eightbore** » Tue May 05, 2009 8:51 am

What a gun. What a letter of provenance.

Fin2Feather · Post by **Fin2Feather** » Tue May 05, 2009 11:12 am

loggy · Post by **loggy** » Tue May 05, 2009 8:06 pm

Thanks for sharing the wonderful gun and the history.

123gunner456 · Post by **123gunner456** » Tue May 05, 2009 8:34 pm

BEAUTIFUL!

birdawg · Post by **birdawg** » Tue May 05, 2009 8:47 pm

What a great piece of Fox history. Thanks for sharing this with us.

Post by **fox-admin** » Wed May 06, 2009 7:05 pm

Here is a card from another Kautzky gun I though folks would be interested in. Craig

Fox Collectors

An old friend came by

An old friend came by

Here it is......

One more shot.....