Fox Collectors

This may be a stupid question but, here goes. I know what the 2 is for on these barrels. What are the other stamps?



Mike

The big D with the three-lobed crown over it is believed to be the mark of the Didiere barrel works of St Etienne, France. American double gun manufacturers seldom made the tubes from whiich their barrels were made. They bought the rough tubes from outside suppliers. The most commonly seen tube-makers marks we find on American doubles are the D with the three-lobed crown, LLH the mark of Lochet Habran of Jurille, Belgium, and SB&Co. mark is likely Sanderson Bros. & Co., a Sheifield, England, company that set up a branch in Syracuse, New York. I have found Sanderson Bros. & Company ads in old Syracuse city directories, and they were taken over by Halcomb Steel, but that S.B. & Co. stamping continued to be seen.

Remington said they made their Remington Steel and Ordnance Steel tubes, but we know they got their Damascus tubes from Europe.

Other then Krupp, Whitworth, Cockerill, and DeMoya, American double gun manufacturers got their tubes from suppliers and stamped whatever fanciful name they felt like on the barrels -- Trojan, Vulcan, Parker, Parker Spec., Titanic, Acme, Peerless, Sterlingworth, Chromox, Flui-tempered, Homo-Tensile, Armour, London, Crown, Nitro, Pigeon Nitro, on and on. I have seen Fox doubles from just after WW-I that still showed vestiges of the Krupp markings on the underside of the tubes but were roll-stamped Chromox on the top!

good question.....great answer.....thanks Dave!

Thanks Dave. You gents are great for helping guys like me learn.


Mike

The mark of Sanderson


Here is the history of Sanderson
http://www.sandersonsteel.com/200_years.htm


This is the mark of Delcour, a Belgian maker

http://www.littlegun.be/arme%20belge/ar ... t%20gb.htm

The mark of Diedre of St. Etienne


Note, the Delcour mark and the Diedre mark are very close. The Delcour mark has rounded peaks in the crown, while Diedre's mark has pointed peaks.

The mark of Laurent Lochet-Habran

http://www.littlegun.be/arme%20belge/ar ... g%20gb.htm

Laurent Locket-Habran's mark is often found on barrels that also have Krupp or Cockerill markings. It is not clear what service Locket-Habran was providing.

All of the above supplied barrels to a variety of American gun makers including Fox, Lefever, Ithaca, LC Smith and others.

Thanks Pete. I'll update my canned tube-makers marks response.

Researcher's informative reply above leads one to question if there were any discernable real differences in the true quality (i.e. tensile strength, finish, appearance, etc.) of Sterlingworth Fluid Compressed Steel vs. Krupp Steel vs. Chromox Steel on Fox guns--or could they have come out of the same stock bin and finished out with different markings on the tubes?

Researcher wrote:Thanks Pete. I'll update my canned tube-makers marks response.

Dave,

Thank you. You have provided more than I ever will. The Delcour / Diedre marks had me confused for a long time. Thought they were the same maker. I think it was Jani on DoubleGun posted something about European royalty markings. Apparently there was difference in station, eg Duke vs Baron depending on the how the peaks were finished. That was the when I realized we were seeing 2 different makers.

I also would love to know the difference between the fluid steel nomenclature. I am afraid the only way to get close to the truth would be destructive to the barrels. That would be a metallurgical analysis.

Speaking of which, if ANY ONE knows of a lab with a scanning electron microscope and microprobe I have a project for them. I have all the samples I need, just need the lab.