Fox Collectors

OK, I am a bit of a gun nut, although stating that on this forum might be a bit redundant.

Anyway, about a week or so back, I ran across a Fox Sterlingworth 16ga on Armslist. They only had one grainy pic posted for it, but it looked like a decent gun, and they were asking way less than a grand for it. So, I responded and asked them to send me more pics. They did.... I got interested, and gave the guy a call. He didn't really know much about them, and was selling on consignment, he was a tactical gun dealer... I got what I could from him, then decided at the price he was asking, I wouldn't get hurt, so went ahead and bought it....

It arrived on Saturday, but couldn't pick it up, as I was attending a charity continental pheasant shoot to raise money for Mo Disabled sportsmen. So, picked it up just a bit ago... I am pretty happy with the purchase, and think I won't get hurt on it. The gun has mirror bores, locks up nice and tight, and has about 50% case colors left on receiver. I am not a great gun picture takerer, so the pics don't do it justice. Some small blemishes on the barrels, but over all pretty good condition. Now, for the bad... The butt plate has a chip, see pics(I knew about this), and there is a thin hairline crack(I did not know about this, and doubt the guy even noticed it) in the stock on the right side wrist area, you can see that in pics too(3rd from last). I still think i did good, but now can't decide what to do with it.

Do I restock it with a local stock maker, like Macon gun stocks, do I buy an "old stock" stock from pumpkin mountain and have it fitted and checkered, or do I just live with the crack. As for the butt plate, I need to do something.. Would like to keep it time period correct.

Or, do I go full gonzo on it, and have the barrels re-blued, and the gun restocked. I don't see a need to do anything to receiver. Would love to go to a semi-beavertail forearm, just fits my hands better.

As you can see in the pics, it does have a pretty cool serial # (361000) and was made in 1927.

I am open to advice, and curious what people think it's worth. I plan to keep the gun, no matter what though.

Everyone is different but I'd take it to the range, shoot some clays with it and if they were breaking, I'd leave it as is and kill some birds with it!

Ithaca33 wrote:Everyone is different but I'd take it to the range, shoot some clays with it and if they were breaking, I'd leave it as is and kill some birds with it!

That is one thought... I am at the very least gonna do something about that butt plate, or I'll risk making the stock even worse.

It appears to me as if the stock cracks have already been repaired. Shoot the gun and enjoy it, if the stock cracks open up there are plenty of good stock doctors who can repair the crack so it is sound.
I would not put any money into a new stock or further restorations except the butt plate. Enjoy.

replace the plate with a repo....nice gun otherwise......enjoy it...


with the plate nicely replaced Id say 1050/1200.....

The gun seems to fit me very nicely, so I am reluctant to mess with it much.

It's a lot more "slender" than the Ithaca NID I bought the week before.... Seems like it would be a joy in the field....

As for butt plate, can't decide on the reproduction hard black one, or something else.... But, I want it to be time period correct etc.

If you need a little extra length in the stock for your height you could just get a leather velcro or lace up style slip on pad and be done with it.

I have the velcro style which retails for something like $38.00. It makes its way around on to a lot of my guns that need the extra length and it affords good protection to the but area.

Looks like a very nice start into Fox smallbores. Congrats!! From the photos, the trigger plate appears to be a bit proud, and should probably be addressed before shooting. Also, of course, a Sterlingworth of that vintage would have started life with 2 7/16 inch chambers, intended for the 2 9/16 inch paper 16-gauge shells of the day.

P.S. What is the barrel length? Just want to know so I can add 361000 to my table of observed 16-gauge Sterlingworths.

Researcher wrote:Looks like a very nice start into Fox smallbores. Congrats!! From the photos, the trigger plate appears to be a bit proud, and should probably be addressed before shooting. Also, of course, a Sterlingworth of that vintage would have started life with 2 7/16 inch chambers, intended for the 2 9/16 inch paper 16-gauge shells of the day.

P.S. What is the barrel length? Just want to know so I can add 361000 to my table of observed 16-gauge Sterlingworths.

Barrels are 28" and appear to be M/F setup #3 stamped. The trigger plate, doesn't seem proud, but I can see where it looks that way in the pics.

When I was first looking at buying the gun, the serial # looked in the pic like 351000, which would have been the last 16ga made in 1913, the first year they did 16ga Sterlingworths.... I am happy either way though. I have already bought some 2.5" RST shells for it, as well as my 1926 Ithaca NID 16ga.

A Big 45 Frontier Metal Cleaner pad will remove all of the blemishes seen in the picture of the barrels and will not hurt the bluing. You can rub and rub and they will disappear. Do not use steel wool and oil. The pads work like a miracle.

Pumpkin Mountin/Jason probably has original buttplates to fix your gun.

Researcher, you are right.. I was lookin at wood to metal finish, but yes.. The trigger plate is a bit "proud" metal/metal...

What would cause this?

I would dam the buttplate area with duct tape and pour black acraglas into the missing area and file it to shape when hard. You will never make a repro buttplate look as good as the original.

Researcher wrote:Looks like a very nice start into Fox smallbores. Congrats!! From the photos, the trigger plate appears to be a bit proud, and should probably be addressed before shooting. Also, of course, a Sterlingworth of that vintage would have started life with 2 7/16 inch chambers, intended for the 2 9/16 inch paper 16-gauge shells of the day.

P.S. What is the barrel length? Just want to know so I can add 361000 to my table of observed 16-gauge Sterlingworths.

Inspecting it closely, it would appear that the rear tang screw, was tighten down too far, probably when they did the stock repair... The screw is "proud" behind the saftey just a bit... I would suspect, this is whey the trigger plate is up a bit.....

As much as it may not make much sense from a "money" standpoint..... I am seriously thinking about restocking the gun, and I'll just hang onto the old stock, in case I ever try to get rid of it. I talked to the good people at Macon Gunstocks a few times now, and while the price isn't cheap, I can get it done at a price point I can live with. I may even have the barrels re-cold rust blued while they are restocking it, and go with a semi beavertail forearm, and set it up the way I would want it if I was ordering it new. Does it make "financial" sense to do this... I dunno, but in the end, I'll end up with a gun I like, and I guess that's what is most important. If not for the stock crack, probably would have left it as is... But, since I am going to restock it, may as well really do it up.. Right, or wrong... Not sure, but it's not like I'm monkeying up a graded gun....

They said they will completely dis-assemble, and clean up, etc the gun before they restock it. Now, I just need time to drive over to warsaw MO....

Check to see If the set screw for the sear axle is completely seated . If not , it will keep the trigger plate from setting in flush.
Nice find!

setterspell wrote:Check to see If the set screw for the sear axle is completely seated . If not , it will keep the trigger plate from setting in flush.
Nice find!

Does the top tang screw, need to be removed to pull the floor plate? I know the tigger guard, and rear tang screw do, not sure bout the top tang screw.....