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I have just aquired a Stirilingworth 12 guage double, 30" barrels, S/N 50243. Markings on the barrels read "Stirlingworth Fluid Compressed Steel made by" and "The Stirlingworth Company Philadelphia PA USA". And on the receiver block: "The Stirlingworth Company" on both sides. I can't find the SN listed anywhere Ive tried. Can anyone give me more info on the gun - date of manufacture etc?
Also, the metal is in quire good shape, but the wood is pretty bad with several bad gouges and in the checkering too, so I'm thinking of restocking it. Can anyone give me the name of a dealer that could supply semi-inletted wood for the gun?
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Last edited by Dr_Woof on Mon Feb 04, 2008 2:53 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Not to be a smart a$$, but if it's really stamped "Stirlingworth" maybe it's not a real Fox? The correct spelling is "Sterlingworth". My list shows Sterlingworth 12ga guns to start with 53800. Got any pictures?
Yep - thanks for your reply and you are right on that - my bad spelling! Should read "Sterlingworth". But everything else is as I said. I could not find any S/N on the internet that matches mine. but there was one inquiry from someone with a S/N very close to mine and the reply was that it was a gun manufactured in 1905, but the replier did not give a source for his information.
As I said, the metal is in very nice shape and the bores are clean and unpitted and it fires just fine, but the wood is terrible and has been poorly treated and someone put on a pretty messy shiny varnish (ugh!).
When Ansley H. Fox, was forced to add a lower priced gun to his line of graded Ansley H. Fox guns, in 1910, he didn't want to detract from the A.H. Fox Gun Co. name, so they dummied up "The Sterlingworth Company." The first year’s guns, beginning with serial number 50,000, were marked as being "Made By The Sterlingworth Company, Philadelphia, U.S.A." Actually the first few hundred were marked "Wayne Junction" instead of Philadelphia. They even produced a separate The Sterlingworth Gun Co. catalogue for 1910. These guns were built under the same patents as the graded Ansley H. Fox guns. The main moneysaving features were an American Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) stock as opposed to the more costly European thin shell walnut (Juglans regia) stocks on the graded guns, and the "Sterlingworth Fluid Steel" barrels instead of Krupp Fluid Steel barrels. Workmanship on these early Sterlingworths was generally excellent, better than graded guns from the 1920's and 30's. The early "The Sterlingworth Company" guns had a rounded front for the side panel of the frames. According to my list of observed specimens that was changed to the same pointed profile as the graded guns by #51,301.
See the Sterlingworth directory at the Fox Collectors home page --
P.S. That 53,800 is the serial number at the end of the year 1910. They started at 50,000.
Also Dr. Woof, what type forearm fastening does your gun have? These early guns normally had a Baker-style J-spring forearm fastening. Then when AHFGCo. added the Sterlingworth to the Fox line as the Model 1911 they began using a spring-loaded roller in the forearm iron against a fixed post forearm loop on the barrels -- J.C. Kremer & A.H. Fox Patent No. 1,029,374 of June 11, 1912 -- on the extractor guns; and a fixed roller in the forearm iron engaging a springloaded detent on the forearm loop on the barrels -- F.T. Russell Patent No. 1,029,229 also of June 11, 1912 -- on the ejector guns. They must have had some problems with the early Baker J-spring forearms because I've seen a lot of The Sterlingworth Co. guns retrofitted with either the Kremer-Fox or Russell style fasteners. A bit later they went to using the Russell patent fastener on both extractor and ejector guns and the Kremer-Fox style forearm appears on Parker Bros. Trojan.
Hello - and thanks for the comments. Looks like it has the "pointed" frame style, not sure about the forearm attachment. One question: On the inside of the frame floor there are two large threaded holes ; one on the right you can see the end of a spring in the hole and this is where the bolt screws in from the trigger assembly (what's the spring for??); but the left hole is threaded and is as found by me with nothing in it. So, am I missing a part here or is it just one of those unused things that manufacturers sometimes throw in?
I have some pictures of the gun dissasembled but no way to post em on this site and no access to a public server. I could sent them by email if anyone is interested.
A big Thankyou to Greg for posting the pics for me!
The two threaded holes in the frame floor that I mentioned previously are shown in the first pic. I really dont know what the spring is for on the right hole that accepts the bolt holding the trigger assembly on, and the left (threaded) hole had nothing in it as I found the gun. Any ideas , anyone?
When the trigger plate screw is in place, it puts pressure on that spring which pushes a pin up and holds the rotary bolt (and toplever) open when the gun is open. The rear hole likely held some jig during manufacture.
You've got the early Baker-style J-spring forearm fastening. I'm surprised by the frame profile, as previously all the guns below 50,800 that I've recorded have the rounded profile of the one shown on the Fox Collectors web site.
Thanks for the info Researcher. Good to know I'm not missing a part. Right now it looks like I need a trigger spring (the very end of the right side is broke off and its barely doing its job) and a safety slide spring (same deal - the right side at the front of the slotted spring is broke off, but it still works OK but I'd like to replace it anyway), and it would be nice to get a replacement for one of the caps on the hinge pin since one is rather beaten up. Would be nice too to get a sear pin cause one got bent when I took it apart - suprisingly there was an extra pin, without the center slot, stuck into a hole inside the buttstock - guess you cant have too many LOL. Any leads on where to pick up parts?
Dr Woof, There's a guy on GB that has been trying to sell Sterlingworth 12 ga. parts for several months. Do a search for Fox shotguns and you'll find them.
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