Fox Collectors

Here is my list of iconic Fox guns for the majority of us that have budgetary restraints , how about your list???
1. 20ga/16ga Sterly with 30 or 32" barrels
2. Any late style B
3. Any Super Fox
4.Any A,B, or C small bore.
5. Any straight grip Fox.
6. SBT.
7. Sterlingworth Skeet & Upland small bore
8. SPE Skeet & Upland small bore

agree,desireable examples all . regards fred

Good list. I have or have had them all at one time or another. I sold my HE though, I'm more of an upland hunter.

I agree, craig, and would add to no. 1 a 16 ga. with 32" barrels. My finest example of a gun of that type is not a Fox, however, but is my Parker DHE 16/20 two-gauge set with 32" barrels.

Right now I can check off all except no. 4. My quail/woodcock gun is a 20 ga., 28" barreled Sterlingworth Ejector. I would like someday for that spot to be filled with a BE or CE 20, with the same barrel lengths.

I'd add the Fox SBT gun in any Grade to Craig's list. That covers it for me, though as more of a shooter and hunter than a collector I'd add that stock dimensions are a serious consideration. Much rather be fielding any of them than wiping dust off safe sitters. frank

Great list of desirable guns, but not necessarily cheap. For all around fun, it’s hard to beat a 20 ga. Sterly.

Jeff S wrote: ↑Thu Nov 16, 2023 8:29 am Great list of desirable guns, but not necessarily cheap. For all around fun, it’s hard to beat a 20 ga. Sterly.

You got it Jeff - a 20 gauge Sterlingworth.

That was my quest back in the late 1960's. I had a 12 gauge but wanted something lighter for those plentiful wild pheasants and cottontail rabbits.

While looking for that elusive Sterlingworth 20, I went to a lot of gun shows and visited many gun shops and got to liking all the good things that Philly Fox's had. Ended up buying a couple more 12's and a couple 16's. Back then, 16 gauge guns were hard to sell and were worth less than an equivalent 12 gauge.

I finally ended up with that 20, and many more that are on Craig's iconic list.

While on that chase, and now, got to meet a lot of wonderful people, seen some gorgeous stuff and would happily do it all over again. (And buy some of the guns I passed up.)

Should the 20ga and 16ga Skeet and Upland game guns be added to the list?? Infrequently encountered but available to the average person. High interest levels from upland hunters/collectors. I edited the list to include the SBT and 16ga 30/32 Sterly.

Jeff S wrote: ↑Thu Nov 16, 2023 8:29 am Great list of desirable guns, but not necessarily cheap. For all around fun, it’s hard to beat a 20 ga. Sterly.

Jeff I was thinking more about rarely encountered/desirable Foxes but still available to the average hunter/collector. I agree a Sterly 20ga is fun but I don't consider it iconic since it is so common.

I don't share the enthusiasm for those long barrels on small bores of No. 1. The scarcity of those 30- & 32-inch barrels on the 16- & 20-gauge Sterlingworths drives the price to ridiculous levels. For 20-gauge Sterlingworths I've recorded 66 26-inch, 62 28-inch, 8 30-inch and 2 32-inch. For 16-gauge Sterlingworths 37 26-inch, 125 28-inch, 12 30-inch and 3 32-inch.

I have been perfectly well served with 28-inch barrels. In college I shot a lot of trap targets with the 32-inch barrels of my Super-Fox, but I suspect a lot more game has fallen to the set of 28-inch barrels. My favorites, "Meat-in-the-Pot", Fox-Sterlingworth Ejector Skeet & Upland Game Gun and my 1913 A-Grade 20-gauge are all 28-inch.

Researcher wrote: ↑Thu Nov 16, 2023 12:54 pm I don't share the enthusiasm for those long barrels on small bores of No. 1. The scarcity of those 30- & 32-inch barrels on the 16- & 20-gauge Sterlingworths drives the price to ridiculous levels. For 20-gauge Sterlingworths I've recorded 66 26-inch, 62 28-inch, 8 30-inch and 2 32-inch. For 16-gauge Sterlingworths 37 26-inch, 125 28-inch, 12 30-inch and 3 32-inch.

I have been perfectly well served with 28-inch barrels. In college I shot a lot of trap targets with the 32-inch barrels of my Super-Fox, but I suspect a lot more game has fallen to the set of 28-inch barrels. My favorites, "Meat-in-the-Pot", Fox-Sterlingworth Ejector Skeet & Upland Game Gun and my 1913 A-Grade 20-gauge are all 28-inch.

Dave I share your high regard for 28" and 26" barrels. I shoot at 20ga CSMC Fox two barrels set, 26 and 28, very well. I did own a 32" 16ga Sterly and I shot it poorly. Long barreled 20's are iconic in today's world, but the pendulum may swing back to short. During the period Foxes 20's were made short was the trend and your numbers prove it.

Fun discussion. Thanks all for your input! Still looking for my personal iconic Fox 31736. Hopefully it's not at the bottom of Delaware Bay LOL!

I have to admit to owning long barrel small bores. I have a 32-inch A-Grade 16-gauge that has been a safe queen since I retired, but back in Virginia I had the perfect spot in the Shenendoah Valley to use it on tall incoming doves.

Dave your the best. Pictures of the 32 A 16ga pictures when you extract it from you safe. I don't recall ever seeing such a Fox.

Here are a couple of pictures of my 16-gauge, 32-inch, A-Grade. It is in that Savage-era batch of 32-inch A-Grade 16-gauge guns 303573 to 303591.
I don't have a picture showing the full length of the gun and it is in the very back row of the safe.