A grade 20

[FOXIST]

This is an A grade 20 bore with 26"m/f bbls in near new condition.Say hello to my little "Rascal".Paul

[mike campbell]

Congratulations, Paul! From what I remember of your collection, that one fits in perfectly. Originally intended as M/F, and maybe .020 and .030 +?

[bamboozler]

Undoubtedly the highest condition graded Fox that I've seen.

Congratulations, great find!

[FOXIST]

Thanks Mike I ran the bore mic. in it again this morning and I come up with .615 .615 bores with chokes at .017 .027 which would be Lt mod and Imp mod. These could be opened but I also have a 28" gun of the same vintage that letters as mod and full with .016 and .029. I originally felt the 28" bbls were opened a bit but now Im not sure. Is it possible that 20 bores were generally light on choke? Does anyone out there have a 20 bore that letters with Mod/Full chokes that has measured the bores? Paul

[mike campbell]

Paul,

Those are likely original M/F.

They would be called LM/IM or even M/IM in a modern 12ga, but in a modern 20ga they'd be Mod+ and Full+. Most makers use 15/25 for M/F in a 20 these days.

My 30" 20ga F/F mikes 28 & 32....close enough to a nominal 30/30.

My 26" IC/M was 10/20 originally.

[Researcher]

My 1920-vintage 30-inch AE-Grade 20-gauge letters full and full and the chokes are .031" both sides. My 1927-vintage 28-inch A-Grade 20-gauge letters modified and full and has .027" right and .032" left. My 1922-vintage 28-inch 20-gauge Sterlingworth letters cylinder and modified and sports .015" right and .021" left. These guns all sport bores of from .619" to .622".

Only my 1913 A-Grade 20-gauge has a bore of .615" and its original full and full chokes were opened significantly by an old Annapolis, Maryland, Quail hunter to .004" and .016".

All this is just numbers, measurements. What counts is what the guns actually pattern, and there are few things in life I find more boring then shooting and counting patterns.

[FOXIST]

Mike and Dave Thanks For the replies and specs! I dug into the back of the safe this morning and measured my 26" A that is nine serial #'s away from the gun pictured above and came up with .615 .615 and R.010 and L .020 chokes this gun lettered as IC/Mod. Dave I think you are correct in that the factory must have played around until they got the pattern they desired. Paul

[tony williamson]

this is my dream gun. really nice. no better gun in the world than a fox.

[fxe]

I see this is an old post, but I wanted to comment on the bore/choke constrictions on Paul's AE 20ga. In 12ga. guns, .017/.027 may be LM/IM, but the smaller the gauge, the smaller the constriction required to come to a common choke, ie. in a 20ga. gun .017/.027 IS M/F. A final observation, I do not believe that in the time period this fine Fox was made, the manufacturer paid much attention to "points of constriction" when designating a choke to the gun, but choke was determined the old fashioned, AND PROPER way, and that is the number of pellets in a 30" circle at 40 yards. Tell me if I am mistaken, but wasn't one of the final steps of finishing up a Fox for final approval and shipment to the new owner a trip to the firing range where the choke was tweeked to shoot to customer specifications?

That is why some guns have different choke constrictions but on the card are designated the same choke label. I hope my understanding of the topic sheds some light on this gun and removes any shadows. If the choke taper runs to within 1/4" or closer to the end of the barrels it is not likely altered, and I would call a 20 bore Fox with .017/.027 choke constrictions M/F.

Congrats Paul on a dynamite, "best on the planet" Fox!