Fox Collectors

I have an AE grade with a poor Half Grip that I would like to re-stock with a straight English grip.

My question is can the trigger guard be modified to fit the English stock, or do I need to find a new one?

Yes, you can have an extension welded on to your original trigger guard.

I bought 2 straight grip from Tony Galazan and after some heating and bending I reshaped the new Fox triggerguard to fit a 20 gauge that I am restocking. I may reshape it just a little more to make it the perfect fit. I wish American shotgun mfgrs would look at the English shotguns to see how triggers and triggerguards should be shaped. Some American side by sides have triggers that are so misshapen that they remind me of a beautiful lady with fat ankles.

go with the welded extension

i found the Galazans straight tang to be too narrow compared to the action tangs on my Sterlingworth, leaving a gap

I really didn't think about the with of the tang. Since you are refinishing the stock then welding on an extension would be your best bet. I hope you can find someone that can weld small jobs with a TIG welder. I am about to buy my own and do my own welding!

Jim, will you be shooting any of your straight grip Foxes at the Southern? I'd love to see the way you made the extensions on the trigger guards. I always enjoy seeing good metal work.

oh
and I forgot- i had to recut the thread on the Galazans trigger guard to fit the Sterlingworth floor plate

of course -that was done before i found out it was just a bit too narrow

I use the Galazan guard on restocks. Bobby

This stock is original. But does the checkering look original? I don't remember ever seeing that shape on the cheeks before. Considering this was for an AE and the card shows no extra wood work, I would assume done after?

That cheek checkering is atypical, and sans any factory documentation it was probably done afterwards. Regarding a Fox straight grip trigger guard, good luck on finding one. Best bet is to cut off the tail and "stretch" a regular half or full pistol grip guard. Here's one that was made to the dimensions of a righteous one to include the hole spacings, and properly Grade engraved. Welding must be done by a competent man so that the filler wire and old/new sections will match when blued or whatever. Not what most amateurs can do with their new Harbor Freight mini-welder. I've seen many that don't match and they stand out like a sore thumb.

frank

Also, that stock appears to have an oval initial shield in the belly. Certainly not "normal" for any era Ansley H. Fox double.

I have an AE grade 16 that came from the factory with a straight grip. It was restocked at some point prior to my getting it.

However the stock pictured in the OP looks like a C grade or higher - based on the checkering of the cheeks and the quality of the (European) walnut. I do not think that Fox used European (thin shell) walnut on A grade guns.

Wenaha wrote:I have an AE grade 16 that came from the factory with a straight grip. It was restocked at some point prior to my getting it.

However the stock pictured in the OP looks like a C grade or higher - based on the checkering of the cheeks and the quality of the (European) walnut. I do not think that Fox used European (thin shell) walnut on A grade guns.

They did actually use European walnut on all the A grades and higher graded guns until the time Savage bought them. Once the 30s hit with the hard financial times even some of the higher graded guns were stocked in American Black Walnut. Sterlingworths were always stocked with American Black Walnut.

Up through the 1916 A.H. Fox Gun Co. catalogs the text for the A-/AE-Grade mentions "imported" walnut. From the 1917 through 1929 A.H. Fox Gun Co. catalogs the A-/AE-Grade text states "THE STOCK is made of selected dark walnut of good grain and figure, and is tastefully checkered."

The two sections of checkering appear to be done with diamonds at different angles and different spacings (LPI -lines per inch). That typically suggests it was done by a different "hand" as some stockmakers like to say. The cheek panel was probably checkered later and isn't original as others here have already suggested.

If you look at most any fine gun you'll usually see the grip and cheek panel checkering is identical in terms of LPI and angle of lines, and same with the forend checkering - it all matches properly. Montey Kennedy's book Checkering and Carving of Gunstocks is a great source of information on this subject. Newer books have been written, but I guess I'm old school now.

You still have a nice straight stock to work with. Best of luck with your project.