Fox Collectors

OK I realize if you're seriously looking for a specific Fox gun it never comes to market. But what Fox gun(s) would you like to add to your lifetime collection??? I am very fortunate, I'm the caretaker of a nice sampling of Fox guns so I'm not a highly motivated buyer. BUT, any 12ga heads-down XE 30" gun or CE-HE in excellent original condition would be impossible to resist. How about you??

Skeet and Upland 20 gauge Deluxe would be mine. Perhaps a nice condition 12 gauge A or B grade second generation engraving with 32" barrels just to do clay games with would be number 2. After paying for a pile of restocks over my years I'd probably be looking for something in the 1 1/2 an 2 1/2 with 14.25 LOP range. I'm still shocked how many guns you find with over 3" of drop.

A plain old SW 20g with open chokes and good stock dimensions in honest condition.

Why go part way. How about a straight grip GE-Grade 20-gauge.

A CE 16 with short barrels is on my want list. Maybe Santa could help out soon?

I met a guy at Hausmann’s who owns a Fox that I need. I think it was a skeet gun. It had a vent rib and a schnabel forearm. Talk on the street is that he doesn’t want to sell it. Maybe Luca Brasi and I should pay him a visit.

Beyond that, I sure would like to own an XE someday.

I need to buy a two barrel case for my custom set for 28 and 30 inches.

I bought the leather label from CSMC already but that is it. I'm taking my time.

fox-admin wrote: ↑Mon Nov 20, 2023 4:02 pm BUT, any 12ga heads-down XE 30" gun or CE-HE in excellent original condition would be impossible to resist. How about you??

I should know this, but I don’t….. Regarding heads up and heads down on the XE. Does this represent a different era, or simply the whim of the engraver?

Steggy, let's go with C Grade (as in school) on your Foxy education lapse. The head down Fox that looks like a hog searching for acorns (long time members joke) is the earlier version.

Nothing on my Want list. I've pretty much shaken off the collector bug and have been selling guns I don't or rarely use, and am now down to a small number of favorite shooting and hunting Foxes and some other makers. But admittedly I'm still tempted with occasional relapses on straight grippers, 28" barreled small bores and 32" 12's. I prefer those with just a modicum of engraving and decent but not drop dead wood. No sense to me to pay a premium for either. Original or properly restored/customized. I've long moved past hoping to make a nice profit on rare or high condition Foxes that come on the market. Besides stock dimensions one of my key buy considerations is: how difficult is it going to be when sooner or later I want to move the Fox or whatever to a next owner? So many fellas out there who want good vintage guns but only with good dimensions and mechanics and at bargain basement pricing. It's basically a Buyer's marker and getting more so as older gents pass and younger ones have little interest in Fox gun nuances. frank

Like Jeff, i would love to own a XE someday, but with retirement on the horizon that probably isn't going to happen. I would like to have a nice 12ga CE though, especially if it had 28 inch barrels and weighed less than 7 pounds.

Silvers wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2023 7:45 am Steggy, let's go with C Grade (as in school) on your Foxy education lapse. The head down Fox that looks like a hog searching for acorns (long time members joke) is the earlier version.

frank

LOL, I thought it looked liked a whipped dog.

Jeff S wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2023 8:09 am

Silvers wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2023 7:45 am Steggy, let's go with C Grade (as in school) on your Foxy education lapse. The head down Fox that looks like a hog searching for acorns (long time members joke) is the earlier version.

frank

LOL, I thought it looked liked a whipped dog.

Truffle dog.

If I remember correctly, the balance of the engraving on the nose down XE Foxes has a much deeper cut than the typical nose up version.

This is one of the reasons that they are so desirable.

Roger, I believe you are correct.

Here are pictures of my nose down 12-gauge XE and my nose up 16-gauge XE. The 12-gauge nose down is much deeper, which I like.





I liked it so much, that is why I had Geoffroy Gournet go deep relief on my custom build. There was no loss of texture from case coloring, and the French gray made it pop.