Fox Collectors

Were all fox fore end irons case hardened or were some blued...i am positive the cc on my new old sw is original but the fore arm iron is blued.

There are examples of both but someone else will have to give us information on when and why.

Anybody got any foxes out there with blued fore ends...

several... not at home and did not record each in my records. Its not uncommon at all to see blued forearm metal.

Thats a relief. I cant upload the pics of it until i figure out how to reduce the size cant wait to show you guys
the pics.

I have an early Sterlingworth #680xx on the bench right now, with a blued forend iron. Silvers

Probably they did cc once or twice a week per batch and what didnt make the cut timewise got nitre blued.

This early one isn't nitre blued, looks like regular rust bluing as done on barrels. Silvers

Wouldnt we like to go back in time for a visit to the factory...

just peaked through some pictures I have with me...

18002 and 22260 both blued forearm

SWs 112860 and 122531 are both case colored...

I would be interested to know if its something that was truly hit or miss throughout production or if there are blocks for significant periods of time that are blued....