Looking for some help! Photos added

[GSP]

First off, I would like to thank those of you who took the time to create the Fox collectors assn! As I don't post very often, I thought I'd introduce myself. My name is Tom Davis, I work and live in Massachusetts where I was able to land a job after 6+ years in the US Navy. I grew up learning about guns, especially custom rifles, from my step father who was a friend of Dale Goens. This education has given me a great appreciation for quality and craftsmanship...While being stationed in Washington State, I found my bird dog, a german shorthair, and my interest in shotguns really took off and increases to this day! I have been collecting Foxes for the last 4 years or so.

Recently purchased an A grade 16 ga, early engraving. For those who attend and checkout the auctions, it was the one at The Cobbs. Background: About 4 years ago the Fox bug bit me and I bought a early A grade 12 ga/28" barrels in very good shape - quite a bit of original case left. To shorten a long story, I fell in love with the gun and it was my go to partridge gun. It made me want a 16 in the same configuration. So a 16 ga early A grade has been on the want list for a long time, as they don't appear that often for sale.

The good news is that it is tight on face, has unbuggered screws, pit free .660 28" barrels. The stock also has good dimensions for me. Overall the original barrel blue is quite good, somewhere around 85% conservatively. Case colors are original, probably around 20 to 30%, with the rest a silvery color.

The bad news. At some point in its life, the gun was either dropped or fell, resulting in a stock crack in the wrist, only showing on the left side of the grip at the top of the checkering. The crack was repaired, however the wood stands proud along the edge of the crack. I feel the stock was refinished as well due to the finish being a little too shiny and the wood color being a little blonder than my other A grade. The fall also resulted in three dents in the left barrel.

So, my questions, I would like to keep as much of the original finish and patina as possible:
-In the process of raising the dents, will I have to have the barrels re-blued?
-Is there someone out there who can re-repair the crack so at a minimum it is less obvious and in a perfect world it would be invisible?
-Have any of you been down this road before? Do you have a stock maker or barrel smith that you have used and can recommend?

Its cold and rainy here in MA tonight, thus the long post!

Thanks in advance,

Tom

thom_davis(at)yahoo.com

[DoubleGun]

Tom,
The crack in the wrist is probably repairable. I'd have to see the stock to determine what can be done, but I have repaired stocks that were broken clean in half. There is hope. Retaining as much factory finish as possible is also going to depend on just where and how the stock is cracked. The dents are also probably repairable. Reblueing will depend on how bad the dents are and how fussy you are. If the metal is not stretched too badly it is often possible to pop a dent out and not need a reblue. A "perfect" repair would require raising the dent, honeing the bore and reblueing the barrels, but you may be happy with something less than a all the bells and whistles fix.
I'm in southern New Hampshire, so you may not be all that far away. A quick inspection should answer your questions.
Cheers, DoubleGun

[eightbore]

I liked the Cobb gun when I saw it the first time. I tried to get a friend to buy it but, obviously, that did not happen. I couldn't see the crack very well in the provided pictures, so I assumed the gun needed to be restocked, judging from the catalog description. I hope you don't need to restock. Good luck with your restoration. I would love to have such a nice project gun.

[GSP]

Eightbore & all,

Thanks for the encouragement- I feel fortunate to have this gun and want to do the work to it in such a way as to keep it as original as possible.

Assuming the link works, can you folks comment on the stock color? My feeling is that it is refinished and too blonde in color. The pics of the A grade with the grouse are of my original finish 12 ga. It has a more "authentic" look to the finish. Thoughts?

Heres the link, let me know if it doesn't work..

http://s286.photobucket.com/albums/ll10 ... /AH%20Fox/

[Researcher]

For what it is worth, here is a pic of the stock on my 1913 A-Grade 20-gauge.