Fox Collectors

Where might one find an ivory front sight bead to fit a 1914 Fox XE s.n. 21921? Suspect mine came off during cleaning over an off white shag carpet (yep, couldn't be worse!) Did a hands and knees search, then vacuumed, checked bag. No joy. Thanks for any leads, Don

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Thanks scaupman. A post you say, may have lost it too. Would it have been metalic or ivory as well? All I see is a dark, threadless crater. Thanks for reply and suggestion. Don

Yes, if all you see is a hole/cavity in the rib, then you must have lost the entire sight.

drweiler, you might be off on a tangent here. From what you described it appears your XE Fox had a regular Lyman or similar taper-fit front sight. That was the usual setup when Ivory sight(s) were specified. The typical Lyman does not use a metal post to affix the ivory.

If/when the sight falls off, you're left with a hole in the rib that doesn't have threads, and it's approx 3/16" in diameter at the top. Take a look at the pic below to see what the front and mid rib Lyman sights look like, also the reamers for each that create the taper that holds the sight in place. Front sight and its reamer are on the left.

I've heard of gents epoxying newly-made elephant or mammoth ivory sights with threaded shanks, into the hole in the rib. It's a very loose, wobbly fit. While that may work OK for a utility gun, I suggest that you advertise/look for a new-old-stock genuine Lyman taper-fit ivory sight to install in your fine XE grade Fox. E bay is a possibility for vintage sights, and they may often be found with sight & parts vendors at larger gun shows. I do not have any for sale.

Check to see if the metal collar that was on the outside of the front sight, is still in place in the rib. If it is, the collar must be removed before tapping the new sight in place. The tapered hole in the rib is already there, so no reamer is needed. The taper-fit will hold the sight quite securely without using epoxy etc.

One last comment, newly made Lyman and Marbles taper-fit sights are available from gunsmithing supply houses, however they are made of white plastic, not ivory, and will always look pearly, shiny white = very much out of place. Just my opinion of course. Silvers

Thank you Silvers (and all) for the wealth of information. That Lyman certainly looks like my remaining mid rib sight, and I think I can see the upper lip of the collar on it. Under strong light and magnification I think I can see the front sight collar as well, more recessed than the mid rib collar. Sooooo, it's get lucky and find that pearl in my carpet, or replace with best available so I can continue busting up those clays. Cheers, Don

Frank,

I guess I was the one confused and on a tangnet, ha, ha.

So in your picture, the darK colored part/base is just a collar and the ivory is cut down to go down inside the collar and into the rib?

Allan, I'm off on a tangent myself from time to time. Yep your description of the Lyman type collar setup is accurate.

Just to clarify, I've seen ivory type sights on Foxes, where the ivory had a brass stud coming up through it. I don't know who made that type sight. However from the description in the third post it seems likely we're talking here about a missing Lyman. Frank

Don, just on the off chance that your Fox resides in a gun slip, or zippered soft case, carefully turn it upside down over a hard surface (not a shag carpet ), and see if, by chance, it came out in there. It has happened to me in the past couple years exactly that way. The bead rolled out of the soft case and was replaced, with a tiny dab of epoxy.

Good luck, Stan

Brownell's lists the sights Frank referred to with the brass post; they are threaded however. They also list a one-piece sight with the post also of ivory, and also threaded. I have turned these posts down and press-fit or epoxied them in; the bead also could be cut off and epoxied to your existing post as Stan suggested. They appear to be out of stock, however; you might try New England Custom Guns which is listed as the source:

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/cid=0/k= ... ory_sights

Thanks Stan, you can be sure I turned that bag inside out! Cheers, Don