Fox Collectors

Fox Oracles:

I have acquired a very nice 1910 A Grade, 28", light twelve. It has about 95+% original blue and about 85% wood finish. The stock is pretty, but I would like to apply some kind of finish to places where varnish is rubbed off without altering, disturbing the rest of the finish. Do y'all have any suggestions? What finish did Ansley put on originally? What might be done to fill or raise small dents or gouges? Its a nice unaltered gun and I don't want to do anything major to the wood. Thanks Gents!

Your best option is a quality wax if you don't care to alter the finish. The results may surprise you.

This might be worth a try. Copied and pasted from a post on another DIY forum:

' I meant to add something for Hoot's question re refreshing a finish.

The short answer is "possibly, depending on what the original finish is."

In any situation, the first thing to do would be to clean the existing stock well so you can know what the actual condition of the finish is. Then try to determine what the finish is.

If it's shellac, it's the kind of finish which can pretty easily be "healed". A little thinned (w/ alcohol) shellac on an "egg" of cotton gauze wrapped in cotton cloth (an old t-shirt works well) and wipe a thin coat then let it rest in a dust-free environment a day or two and repeat.

After you're happy with it and it's even, then wax the wood with a couple coats of wax.

Old varnishes are susceptible of being removed with just about any alcohol. When stripping old bamboo rods - varnished - I often wind up using rubbing alcohol and q-tips. Works great. You don't necessarily want to strip off the old varnish, so be careful. Hand-rubbing in some new varnish - thinned well - over the entire stock without stripping off the old, allowing it to dry and repeating a couple times might heal out the varnish. When dry, then wax.

If it's an oil finish, then there are any number of experts on this site who'll tell you how to do that.

Modern poly finishes - not so easy to fix.'

SRH

Thanks Mr. Hillis and "Full Choke 16":

That is very helpful. Do you know what sort of varnish or shellac Ansley would have used in 1910? It doesn't appear to be an oil finish. What would be a good quality wax to use? I apologize for beginner's ignorance but I will hunt with the gun and want to protect the stock but preserve it as original as possible . Thanks!

Mike Ruff (Tallahassee)

Mike,

I cannot recall for certain what was used on Foxes, might have been a Duco product, but I have seen it mentioned here in the past. It might have been Frank who posted it in a previous thread, not sure tho'. Maybe he will see this thread and pop in. Frank is a wealth of information on the originality factor concerning Fox guns.

SRH

I qualify as a"rank amateur" but here is what I did to a couple of SW's with spots of worn-off finish. My philosophy was "if it doesn't work, I'll just strip and refinish."

I really cleaned the stock and got all the old dirt and crud off. Then I cleaned it again. This gave me a good look at the worn areas and revealed a couple I hadn't noticed. Then I simply put a little BLO on my finger and rubbed it into the worn areas until it was warm and sticky. I wiped the area(s) right away with a clean rag and let them sit overnight. It looked pretty good, so I did it again. And again. Everything seemed to blend together and the worn areas just disappeared. It looked so good that I gave the whole stock the wipe and dry treatment. I have no idea what the original finish was but the result left me with an old stock that showed honest wear but looked pretty good.

That was a couple of years ago and both those guns have seen plenty of usage with no special care. They just look like old guns that get regular use. I realize that these are SW"s and not graded guns, so maybe that won't work for you.

R.

I've never heard of BLO in this part of the world, I assume that it is an abbreviation for something. Please clue me in. Thanks, Fred

fullchoke16 wrote:I've never heard of BLO in this part of the world, I assume that it is an abbreviation for something. Please clue me in. Thanks, Fred

Boiled Linseed Oil.

Now that, I've heard of.

Sorry if I confused you with BLO. It's just easier to type than"Boiled Linseed Oil'. And SW is short for "Sterlingworth" for the same reason.

I'll just add that those old SW stocks looked like they were originally varnished and I was a bit surprised that the oil worked so well. These guns are "shooters" and have no collector value. But they get regular usage. I feel that birds should be shot with barrels arranged horizontally, and targets with barrels stacked vertical. I've got a pretty good dog and lots of opportunity, so those stocks see a lot of wear.

R.

fullchoke16 wrote:I've never heard of BLO in this part of the world, I assume that it is an abbreviation for something. Please clue me in. Thanks, Fred

the modern world- everything has to be a TLA


and so you don't have to ask - TLA = Three Letter Acronym

oldr31 wrote: I feel that birds should be shot with barrels arranged horizontally, and targets with barrels stacked vertical.

R.

Older31,

I fully respect what you like to shoot at birds and targets but I think a lot of us here like to stick with them two piper guns situated side by side to shoot at everything that flies.

I have an early A 12 gauge Fox made around 1907 +/- (SN 7983). I've owned the gun more than 47 years and have shot thousands of rounds thru it. Some on birds but most lately on targets. An over/under would definitely feel awkward to me and shooting someone's Browning A5 is really something to behold.

Maybe it's an age thing, I'm just a few months away from Eight Zero. Hope not!

Take good care of your Sterlingworth's. Great guns to shoot no matter what you're shooting at. And if your the owner of a Remington model 31, good for you. Another Classic.

Jolly

Oldr 31 and Gents:

Thanks for the tip about BLO. I definitely don't want to do a refinish with that old patina from 1910 on a streaky pretty piece of English walnut. A slight healing of the old finish is what's in order. Thanks for your help and I say shoot side by sides at everything!

Mike Ruff

Sorry guys. My brain went on holiday. I forgot that this was a "Fox" site and that my barrel orientation comment was inappropriate here. I apologize and hope you will forgive me. I'm an old guy and mild confusion is annoying when you goof!

By the way; the dog hasn't seen a stack barrel in three years. (Since the first SW.)

R.

Look into watco Danish oil natural/regular. Try it on another piece of wood first but it creates a nice finish but will fill in and blend in any scuffs