And another Beavertail

[Silvers]

I posted pics of this beavertail a while back, checking if anyone has seen one like it. We have some new users and members since then so here's another try. I saw one like this several years ago on an XE Fox with factory VR and high comb stock. Gun has been sold and isn't available to do a comparison.

This one is on a 12 gauge CE, 32,000 range; gun was special ordered and manufactured on a Super Fox frame with 0-weight barrels. What say you, does this BT style look familiar? Silvers

[MARSHFELLOW]

Frank,

what does the inside of the forend iron look like?? The factory beavertail on my Super Fox (30,000 range) with 0 bbls has an arrangement that I have never seen before. It may provide a clue.

tjw

[Silvers]

Tom, thanks for the reply. The forend iron is basically the same as any other ejector iron. It fits perfectly into the inlet cuts in a regular splinter f/e. No cross bars or special features to help with recoil. Frank

[MARSHFELLOW]

Frank,

I took a pic of what I was referring to on my big Super. I have never seen this "metalwork" on any other Fox...live or in print. Looks to me like they put it there to handle recoil issues. Has anyone else seen a iron like this?? As I mentioned before, this is the only documented Philly beavertail that I have ever owned or have seen.

tjw

[Silvers]

Tom, thanks for doing the pic. I saw one like that with integral recoil brace on a 20 gauge Philly EXTRACTOR SW. It was s/n 2537xx and had a beavertail f/e that looked "right" to me but the gun had issues and I sent it back. Frank

[lee r moege]

Frank: I have a 20ga. AE with the same checkering pattern, and a slightly recessed latch that I have thought was a replacement. It has a recoil brace showing through the underside of the forearm between the hinge and latch like some ejector Sterlys had.It is not a silver escutcheon as shown in McIntosh, but looks like amber or epoxy used to cover the hole if the silver one was lost. I assumed this was a replacement or possibly one from a later Utica Fox as I have seen this checkering pattern on one of those. This is a 1921 Philly gun #201731. Lee.

[fxe]

Hello Frank,

I have never seen a beavertail shaped like that one, or that checkering pattern. Personally that would raise a flag for me but not count it out as original. The second flag for me is the step up or "ramp" that leads up to the ridge that seperates the two barrels, the ridge with the two lines running longitudinally to the forend tip. On all of the graded Fox forends I have observed, beavertail or splinter, that "step up" was tapered at an angle. I have never seen an original Fox forearm that was so squared and abrupt in that spot. Another observation for consideration.

J

[Silvers]

Jay, thanks for your reply. The "step up" is tapered as normal for graded forends. The third pic was taken at an angle that makes the step up/ramp look square and not sloped. Frank

[eightbore]

I had a VHE Parker with an aftermarket beavertail with a very similar, very professionally fitted recoil lug. I'll take a look at it the next time the new owner brings it out. It came out of Fox country when I bought it.

[Researcher]

In the Tom Kidd article on the two Beckers in The Double Gun Journal, Volume Seven, Issue 2, he shows the three forearms for for 33051 on page 83. One of the beavertails has this style recoil lug, and Tom mentions he has seen it on another high-grade Fox that wasn't credited to Becker.

[MARSHFELLOW]

Dave,
Thanks for pointing that article out....that forend is nearly identical to mine inside and out. (some 3000 sn apart)

Interesting that the checkering pattern is the same, one XHE and one D Special. I had mentioned I had never seen another forend iron like that, well I guess I had, some thirteen years ago when I read TK's contribution. ( I sure miss his stuff)

tjw