Fox Collectors

When I bought a nice 32" capacity leg o' mutton case back in August I didn't have any idea it would become home to a new duck gun so quickly. But, in October, an ad for a Grade 3 New Ithaca Double caught my attention. I won't belabor the reader with all the details but, it will suffice to say that a new duck gun has come to share the blinds and swamps with Sledgehammer, my 32" Super Fox. She's Valerie (this fine old name means valiant, strong), DOB 1927, and she weighs 8 pounds 7 ounces. Obviously, I'm very anxious to let her loose on some green heads with the 1 1/4 oz. bismuth handloads on hand but, it's to the pattern plate first, to see what she can do.

For those who don't know much about these seldom seen guns I would refer you to Frank Srebro's superb two part series of excellent articles on them in DGJ a few years ago. Reading them again adds much to the experience of owning such a unique old waterfowler.

Very nice, Stan! I imagine like most women, Valerie's favorite color will indeed be green!

Grade 3 NID Super Tens are pretty scarce and especially in such fine condition. Congrats again my friend. The period 10g/2-7/8" progressive load was 1-5/8 ounce of shot as compared with 1-3/8 ounce for the 12g/3-inch Super-X and clone shells. A step change improvement. Granted, not all waterfowl shots are long range crossers or ducks cruising by in the clouds but it's so nice to have a gun that will reach out even with modern non-tox shot. Also if the birds are decoying well you can always use lighter loads. These Super Tens also do very well with heavy lead shot on gobblers that hang out there ..... 4's or better yet 2's where legal. frank

Wow! That's a beautiful gun Stan. Very nice checkering, engraving and screws. Everything looks pristine. The cocking indicators are a nice touch too. Can't wait to see pictures with dead greenheads.

Beautiful gun Stan. Hopefully you can put it to good use.

My 10 ga. reloading project in the next year will be to find a good patterning 1 5/8 load of bismuth 4s. I really want to shoot as near the intended load in it as I can. I remember your excellent explanation of that in your articles, Frank. I'm sure I'll be referring to them many times in the future.

The wood is cut straight for the original buttplate. I'd considered grinding a recoil pad for it to increase the LOP. But, it's almost a certainty the distance between the screw holes wouldn't be the same, and dowels would have to be glued in. I really don't want to detract from the originality of this gun, even where it wouldn't be seen, so I'll likely just use my KickKiller lace-on leather pads to get another 1/2" LOP. They come right off after hunting and the gun will still be original.

That's a good one, Stan. Jim

Nice gun! Way too nice to mess with the butt. I also like that case!

It's a nice case, Reggie. Blue lining inside, instead of green. I'm a basket case (pardon the pun) for nice l-o-m cases.

Please share your recipes with me that you find with your 10 and bismuth. I am about to start loading 10's myself and have been reading alot of Pete's posts. That is a beautiful gun man. Great buy! Accuriser makes a buckle on leatherman pad with shims that you could easily put on and take off of the gun. They have 3 sizes according to the height of your butt plate. I am glad to see another 10 back in action woohoo!

Thanks, Keith. I've met "Leatherman" at gun shows and talked with him about his products. I use one of his "universal", slip-on slings on my duck doubles at times. But, I like the KickKiller leather buttpads better than his buckle-on, just a personal preference, that's all. They come in several sizes as well.

I'll get with you on some short ten recipes, soon.

I'm not a 10ga. guy Stan but that one could sure find a spot in my safe. Frank is correct. You made a real find.

Great gun Stan, good luck with the reloading.

I love the short tens too!

Stan Hillis wrote: ↑Wed Dec 07, 2022 5:43 pm My 10 ga. reloading project in the next year will be to find a good patterning 1 5/8 load of bismuth 4s. I really want to shoot as near the intended load in it as I can. I remember your excellent explanation of that in your articles, Frank. I'm sure I'll be referring to them many times in the future.

The wood is cut straight for the original buttplate. I'd considered grinding a recoil pad for it to increase the LOP. But, it's almost a certainty the distance between the screw holes wouldn't be the same, and dowels would have to be glued in. I really don't want to detract from the originality of this gun, even where it wouldn't be seen, so I'll likely just use my KickKiller lace-on leather pads to get another 1/2" LOP. They come right off after hunting and the gun will still be original.

I've had some questions on how to find my Super Ten article. For those interested, see Parts 1 and 2 of One Special Duck Gun in the DGJ, Volume Twenty-Five, Spring and Summer 2014.

Stan, if using SP-10 wads in 2-7/8” hulls the capacity is limited and max weight of larger size lead shot is about 1-7/16 ounce. That's with a pie crimp. Hence the max weight of bismuth in SP-10's is a little less than 1-1/4 ounce - depending on density and the pellet size. To get heavier (mass) Bismuth loads you'll have to use bare shot as when your gun was made. Preferred single-base powders for max loads/moderate pressure are IMR SR7625 or SR4756. I'm sure you know both were discontinued some years ago but maybe you can implore a member or get some otherwise from a personal stash

Regarding doing up a pad but not plugging the existing holes in the wood = keeping things original and being able to revert to the factory buttplate, an expedient I've used is to newly cut one or both screw holes in a vintage recoil pad to match the hole centers in the wood. I do it on the mill with the pad held in the machine vise, using a 3/16" dia end mill at high speed, though I suppose a careful gent could do it on a drill press with the pad positively clamped to the table. Either way with a piece of 1/4" thick wood or similar underneath the pad base so the end mill doesn't contact the vise/table. Most recoil pad screws have a 3/16" diameter shank, and somewhat longer screws can be used if the original buttplate screws have a larger diameter shank.

My favorite vintage buttplate is the Jostam Hy-Gun which I've read was also Becker's preferred pad though I can't confirm that. They can be found quite often on E Bay and are usually still supple. Here for info is a pic of one I modified to match the wood holes on my pet Winchester Model 12 Sporting Clays gun.

frank

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Both the large and medium size repro Ithaca bridge trestle pads I got from the company when they were at Kings Ferry have a 3 1/8-inch screw hole spacing,