Fox Collectors

The following sequence of photos illustrates the process of repairing a barrel by the traditional method of sleeving. The subject gun was a CE grade Fox in very high condition except for one not-so-minor blemish.
The steps shown here would apply to any side-by-side gun.




The barrels before


Reaming the chamber end to accept the sleeve. The lathe is actually only turning about 50 r.p.m.


Turning the chamber-end step on the new blank


Contouring the blank 1


Contouring the blank 2


Halfway there


The breech end


Traditionally the seam is soldered but TIGing eliminates the seam entirely


The breech-end is also TIG welded


The outside dressed


New chamber and rim cut


The ribs and forend lug reinstalled. The next step is remarking and reblacking.


www.vicknairrestorations.com

Dewey,

great pics.....fascinating to see. Thanks.

tjw

WOW... thanks for sharing

Dewey, Is your machine an Atlas? Do you use a 3 or 4 jaw chuck? Nice job on the barrel. Fred

Dewey I know we talked about this but seeing your photo collage is the best! Let's see - how does that go - one pic is worth a thousand words....Frank

I will soon be able to say "Dewey sleeved our Fox". These pictures are incredible and I can't wait for ours to come home. I spoke to Dewey today. What an a super nice guy who knows his business.

Susan Hester
Canyon, TX

Dewey, Is your machine an Atlas? Do you use a 3 or 4 jaw chuck? Nice job on the barrel. Fred

Good eye Fred! It is indeed an Atlas 10-F model with both 3 and 4 jaw chucks. I use a 4 jaw for critical operations but for most others ( like making screws or pins ) I just use the 3 jaw universal. You will notice that during the contouring of the blank I used a 3 jaw because the final few thousandths of shaping was done by hand to match the original barrel.

Dewey,
Thanks for posting this! I love seeing a master craftsman doing his thing.

How's the scaled mini-fox coming along?