Fox Collectors

I am a relatively new Association member, and have been enjoying a lot of very helpful information that gets exchanged on this forum. I have a 1916 SW 16 ga (non-original) that I am about to start a restoration/upgrade project on, which will include restocking. My current plan is to upgrade the gun to a CE grade, as close to a 1916 CE as possible. My question is: Did Fox use American Black walnut exclusively, including for its graded guns, or did they also use English and Turkish wood?

Thanks in advance, Doverham

When they were introduced, the main moneysaving features of the Sterlingworth were an American Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) stock as opposed to the more costly European thin shell walnut (Juglans regia) stocks on the graded guns, and the "Sterlingworth Fluid Steel" barrels instead of Krupp Fluid Steel barrels.

My 2 cents on this one is if you are going to restore only (no custom engraving/metalwork etc.) then I think Black Walnut would be fine and period correct for a Sterlingworth. If you are going the full custom route or upgrading the gun with upgraded engraving etc. English/Turkish is the way to go. The cost of restocking the gun is the same regardless of the type and grade of walnut. Accordingly plan on spending enough to get a really nice blank. Lots of good wood guys out there. Ask some of the folks who have done custom guns where they got their wood. They will most likely be glad to share that information.

Thanks for the feedback. I do plan to upgrade it to a CE level and have seen some nice blanks online, but there is a lot more to choose from if the options are expanded beyond American black walnut.
http://www.oldtreegunblanks.com/shotgun ... ?woodid=18
http://www.hunterbid.com/cgi-bin/new/Au ... MAL&page=3

doverham wrote: I do plan to upgrade it to a CE level...

If you want to be true to this goal, you needn't spend more than $4-500 on a good English blank. It's very easy to far exceed the fancier factory wood. I suggest you study as many pics as you can of original graded Foxes.

Mike - you sense my weakness. Once you start looking at blanks on-line, it is amazing how quickly your budget starts to creep up. Actually, that was basically my budget - I have seen some nice blanks in that range that are very attractive but that wouldn't overhwhelm a CE grade gun.

doverham wrote:Mike - you sense my weakness. Once you start looking at blanks on-line, it is amazing how quickly your budget starts to creep up. Actually, that was basically my budget - I have seen some nice blanks in that range that are very attractive but that wouldn't overhwhelm a CE grade gun.

I think this one would turn out very very nice.

http://www.hunterbid.com/cgi-bin/new/Au ... sp?ID=6705

Nice blank!

Here's one in black walnut that's going on one of my guns. I don't know where the stock man got the blank but he said it was the plainest one his supplier had. This one will be a straight grip, although the template shows a pg layout. Silvers

Does the other side match Frank? If so, that's a cool blank. Most importantly, the grain structure/flow is PERFECT for our applications. I have a local mill that takes nothing but walnut and they have some rather large contracts with gun companies. The vast majority of what they cut is straight grain, low grade stuff for high production purposes. But, when he sees figured stuff, he'll stack it in a different pile and put a war price on it, thinking he's really got something. And, I guess for many applications, he does. The point is, almost every blank is cut from the slab with beginning and ending points in the figure. I've even asked to come over and stand with the sawyer as the slabs come across the carrier. That way I can have him make the cross-cut that leaves straight grain through the wrist. He's a nice guy, and a personal friend, but no time for my "oddities" as he calls it. I would probably have a stroke if I walked into his mill and found a stack of blanks sawed like yours.

Yes Dave the other side matches. Stockmaker told me so, but I have no pics because the blank is out right now for the rough duplicating. I'm pretty particular about having straight grain in the wrist and stock head. Actually this gun (not a Fox) was in a padded case over my shoulder; and early one dark morning she slipped off and fell onto a concrete sidewalk at a hotel. I was happy the gun was protected, or so I thought, but later I found two cracks thru the wrist. Rats! It could have been acraglassed together, but stock already had some screwdriver marks along the upper tang inlet where someone helped it off the frame. Thus I decided to spring for a new buttstock. This one will have a somewhat higher comb than the original one. Frank

Have Macon or Wenig cut the stock from their wood and you finish. Wenig does a great complete job. macons wood andd inletting is equal& cheaper. Their[macon] finish& checkering is way below what it should be. i just had 2 krieghoffs done the finishing and checkering had to be redone. they never returned my correspondence. They took 9 instead of 6monthsjim Mayer

On the earlier question, if the other side of the new stock looks as good, here she is in the rough. Just back from the stock machining man. Pics taken by the stockmaker today. Silvers

That's just the right amount of figure, at least for my taste. A piece of wood like that can conceivably blend well on a SW up to a C grade. No forearm needed in this project?

Nope, I'm gonna use the original forend. As mentioned earlier and as many here can tell from the shape of the nose, this is not a stock for a Fox. She's going on a P-gun (not a Perazzi) that was stocked in black walnut by the factory.