Fox Collectors

The X grade has a very attractive engraving pattern to my eye, and there seems to be a bit of variation among the Galazan Foxes with this gun's barrels having a pattern most unlike the others I've seen. To me it looks less, I don't know, coarse or constrained than typical?

I see that they'll take requests for engraving and a customer could ask for a variation on a basic theme and this looks like such to me. X's have the birds on each side within ovals, as here, but I've also seen pictures of one where the oak leaves continued around the birds with no oval included. I figure that one was by request--would you say the barrel engraving on this gun was likewise specified or would you say it's production or engraver variation?

Unfortunately I've only seen one Galazan Fox in the flesh--a C-grade 20ga--but a CSMC Fox is the one shotgun I'd save up a large sum of money to buy.

Kirk

Kirk, I have a CSMC XE 20g shotgun. I am not the original owner. The engraving on the gun does seem to have a little more relief than the one you have pictured.
The gun has two grouse on one side and two pheasant on the other. The birds are not in ovals, they are just surrounded by oak leaves. The fox on the bottom of the receiver is in an oval.
I do have the order forms for the gun. There are no notes about engraveing. The CSMC guns that I have seen, seem to varry from one engraver to the next. Robin Hollow Outfitters has a few CSMC guns on
there site now, the engraving between guns does differ.
terc

My old eyes are not the best, but it appears to me the leaves are not shaded using a liner and that will make the leaves not standout like they should. Bobby

I suppose the original owner could have specifically requested a lack of shading on the barrels. The Oak leaves look good, the dog is okay and the birds are recognizable, the rest of the gun's sweet, too. I'd hope a buyer could specify the level of quality on the engraving, or at least a minimum acceptable result.