Fox Collectors

Over the years I have tried to measure every Fox gun I encounter. Maybe I am wrong but it always seemed that everyone i measured that was correct for barrel lenght; meaning that a lettered gun with 26" barrels will acutally measure 25 7/8" or 25 15/16". It seems like all of them were a hair under 1/16 to 1/8" under.

My feeling has always been that they were not cut, just finished out a hair under. i cant see a gun that letters with 26" barrels that measures 25 7/8" to have been cut.

So, after recently purchasing a 12 ga Sterlingworth Skeet & Upland 26" barrels, made in 1935, I measured the barrels and they measured 26 1/4" . The gun letters as a 26" gun, the barrels are properly serialed to the gun. The chokes are correct, all looks right. As far as I am concerned its right. but thats the first longer than stated length barrels I have found.

what have the rest of you found in this regards?

I agree with you Brian. Everyone I have bothered to measure is usually 1/8 inch shorter. Never encountered one that was over.

I went down to the vault and measured the 12 most readily accessable Fox guns and nine were right on the money. The three that were 1/16 if an inch short were a 1918 B-Grade that has been refinished, and two guns from 1938 and 39. I've found a lot of Ithacas made prior to the mid-1930s that are a bit long, as much as 3/16 of an inch, but later ones seem to be right on.

There was a thread in the Parker Forum a while back regarding this issue and some of the barrels lengths were also a bit over the stated length. Although, uncommon, I do believe it does happen and we must not disregard a gun as wrong.

Hi everyone, but I have to agree with Researcher. All of my Fox's measure exactly what they should be. I do have one 20 ga that measures a little over 26 inches, and when the factory letter came my heart stopped. It read your gun left the Philly factory at 28 inches.

Now I'm not saying this is always the case, but you can solve any mystery with the letter. If it says 26 and a little under I would believe the out of tolerance theory.

Best Regards
Witty1

Using my STANLEY Power Lock 25' All my guns that letter are plus or minus 1/16".

Tape measures are not acurate measuring devices. If you want an accurate measurement using a tape measure, do as a good carpenter does and "cut an inch". Hold the 1 inch mark exactly at one end of the barrells and subtract an inch from the overall length. Peter

I have a 1916 AE that letters at 30" and it measures a hair over 29-13/16". Well, you might say the barrels were trimmed back because of being damaged in a fall on a rock.... but its front sight is in the conventional location with no evidence of another hole ahead of it. There certainly would be remnants of a hole if the sight had been set back; alternately the front sight would be well forward of where it is if the original hole had been used.

I really doubt the Philly or Utica factories would have discarded a set of tubes that finished up a bit short. Likewise, for those a bit long, why set it up again on a machine tool to trim them back? Making a barrel set to an exact length (+/- zero) isn't too important since they do not mate precisely with another part at their front end.

Yep, they are most often right on size but IMO one that is a bit shorter or longer can also be "original". Silvers

I measured the rest last night, and all are within +/- 1/32 except the three previously mentioned that are 1/16 inch short. To Toolman's dismay I used a Disston Big Chief 12 footer! I guess all this proves is that I haven't bought any Fox doubles that aren't very close to being right on!

I have several and have seen several Foxes that were not on the money as to their lettered barrel length. I have a set of 20 ga. new old stock graded barrels that are nearly 1/2" shorter than 28 inches and the chokes are full and full! Bobby

I've got two 16ga Philly Sterlingworths here and they both measure 27 15/16"