Identification and Marking Issue

[MikeRuby]

I am a newbie to the forum and hope someone can assist me with a question regarding markings on my Fox shotgun versus the safety style. For the sake of clarity, I have a Grade A Ansley H. Fox S x S double triggered 12ga. with ejectors, barrels roll stamped “MADE BY A.H. FOX GUN CO. PHILA.P.A. USA” and “CHROMOX FLUID COMPRESSED STEEL”. It has what appears to be the Savage era safety slide but the latest patent date stamped on the ejector plate is Aug. 18, 1904. The serial or production number, 26444, appears on all three sub-assemblies. I was under the impression that the Savage era commenced in the mid to late 1920's but am also under the impression that there were a number of improvements and additional patents recorded on the Fox design after 1904. It may be that the visible patent dates only apply to the ejector mechanism. Can anyone provide me with an approximate date of manufacture? Thanks in advance.

[Researcher]

It would really help if you could post some pictures of your gun and the markings in question. There should be three Patent dates stamped on the forearm iron, but often these aren't stamped too carefully. My 1928-vintage Super-Fox only has one of the three dates completely discernable. Aug 18, 1904, is the date of Patent No. 767,621, granted to Max Wirsing, which covered an ejector mechanism for the Philadelphia Arms Co. Fox double. May 11, 1909, is the date of Patent No. 921,220, granted the Ansley H. Fox and George A. Horne, which covered the early style ejectors used on Ansley H.Fox doubles. May 2, 1911, is the date of Patent No. 991,375, granted to Fredrick T. Russell, which covered the later style ejectors used on Fox doubles from 1911 on. In one of his articles in The Double Gun Journal, Tom Kidd mentioned that A.H. Fox Gun Co. fitted many of the extractor guns they had sitting in inventory with the 1911-style ejectors when they first came out.

The only way to know for sure when your gun was shipped would be to get a letter fom the Savage historian. For $40 Graded or $30 Sterlingworth (last prices I've seen quoted) you can get a factory letter on most any Ansley H. Fox shotgun (Philadelphia or Utica) from Mr. John T. Callahan, 53 Old Quarry Road, Westfield, MA 01085. The information exists on the factory work-order cards, probably 85+% of which still exist. Send him the complete serial number and a check, and he can do the rest. That would tell you the specifications of the gun when it left the factory.

It is hard to know what may have been done to a gun since it left the factory 90 years ago. I use to own 26280, and it left the factory in the summer of 1920. It had the "standard" A-grade safety slide of that era.