Fox Collectors

In an attempt to increase my meager knowledge of things Fox, I would like to dip into the pool of knowledge here. Recently I was handling a Sterlingworth pin gun that had a very dynamic feel to it. Upon removing the forend to examine the barrels more closely in hopes of determining the superior feel of this gun (over the ones I had just been handling), I found they were number 4s. Was it possible to specify barrel weights on Sterlingworths ? or are all shorter barrels of lighter weight? I believe these were 28". The owner said that the gun was a bit of a restoration and not all of the bits left the factory with together so I wondered if the barrels belonged.

In order to ease manufacturing time, Fox had different weight barrels for the various gun. Number 4's were the lightest, number 1 the heaviest. Accordingly, if someone specified he wanted a light weight 12 gauge, number 4 barrels were retrieved because they were the lightest. Conversely, if someone would have grabbed a number 1 set of barrels, he would have had hours and hours of striking time in order to achieve the lighter weight desired. I'd highly recommend you get Mike Machintosh's book on Fox shotguns. Well worth the reading and he covers a wide range of topics to include the barrel weight issues. PS. Lots of times, the number you are seeing would be removed during the final striking of the barrels. I've owned quite a few foxes and have only seen the barrel weight stamped one time on the barrel flats.

Double PS. I could be wrong on some of the above but I believe I've provided the correct info.

I guess I thought that Sterlingworths had a more limited selection of barrels in terms of weight and length, while the graded guns could be ordered on a more bespoke basis. Thanks for the clarification.

PS the numbers on this particular set of barrels were fairly well struck away as you say is common