Fox Collectors

I have a 16ga Fox that is supposed to shoot 2 1/2 inch shells, as everyone knows they are extremely hard to find and get. I am considering sending the barrels out to get the forcing cones lengthened so it will shoot 2 3/4 inch which are much easier to get. I have a very reliable gunsmith who tells me Briely is the best in the nation to do the job. 2 questions to the Forum... what are your thought on doing this and is Briely the best?

Thank you

If your gun is a valuable “collector grade” gun, you may want to keep it original. If it is your weekly “shooter”, someday you may be thankful that you extended the chambers. Just a opinion.

I would follow Jeff's advice. Yes Briley will do a good job. The only thing I would add is I would personally think twice about extending the forcing cones on 4 weight barrels.

I had my 20 ga. SWE Fox's chambers lengthened to 2 3/4" for the exact same reason, and had the chokes opened to .006" (R) and .016" (L) at the same time. I used Dean Harris of Skeet's Gun Shop, in Tahlequah, OK. I would highly recommend Dean for such work. He is very amenable to telephone discussions about such, and is quite the gentleman .......... and his work is spot on. I've heard bad things about some work that has come out of Briley's over the years. I've never heard a bad comment on Dean.

JMO, Stan

Stan Hillis wrote: ↑Thu Apr 07, 2022 7:53 am I had my 20 ga. SWE Fox's chambers lengthened to 2 3/4" for the exact same reason, and had the chokes opened to .006" (R) and .016" (L) at the same time. I used Dean Harris of Skeet's Gun Shop, in Tahlequah, OK. I would highly recommend Dean for such work. He is very amenable to telephone discussions about such, and is quite the gentleman .......... and his work is spot on. I've heard bad things about some work that has come out of Briley's over the years. I've never heard a bad comment on Dean.

JMO, Stan

My hunting buddy currently has his Fox Barrels down with Dean Harris. They have talked on the phone quite a few times about exactly what is needed and what needs to be done. Dean does lots of work for competitive trap shooters, so he's got to be pretty good.

Yep. Dean has my barrels. Unlike many gunsmiths he is quite easy and available to talk to. As near as I can tell he doesn’t use email or texting. If he doesn’t pick up his phone he calls back by the end of the day. He’s working on an unusually configured set of barrels.

Heck…Dean just called me back. He finished with my barrels, got me a little more choke in the left barrel than I had thought possible. I wanted at least 10 points, he got me 13 points.
Sending it back to me Monday with a bill.
What a great guy to deal with.

Mike Orlen of Massachusetts has lengthened a few for me in the last couple years. Normally has a firearm for two days and its back in the mail headed home at a fair enough price.

Orlen kept a set of my barrels for over three months without a word. All I had asked was that he see if he could safely hone some pits out. I finally called, left a message, and it was soon returned with the job done, with no explanation. I dunno why my experience was so different than others. But, Dean is my go to barrel man for now.

Mike has done quite a few barrel alterations for me. All choke work. 9 times out of 10 they are back in 7-10 days. And then there will be that one that just seems to get lost.
Dean Harris just finished rechoking a set of 20 ga barrels that had been messed with earlier in their life. He did a perfect job. He’s easy to talk to and seems to know a tremendous amount about barrel alterations. And his work is spot on. He will be within a thousandths of what you ask for. That has not always been my experience with other barrel smiths. He will get all of my barrel work from now on.