First Fox

[Dfree5119]

I purchased my first Fox shotgun this weekend, a 20ga Utica Sterlingworth, 26" barrels, ejector gun. Chokes appear to be cylinder and modified. It also has dual sight beads and a non-original recoil pad. Serial No. 2635XX indicates a late 1929 gun? I will be requesting a Callahan letter but maybe someone can shed a little light on a couple of my questions. The dual beads are a middle ivory bead and a red Bradley? front sight. Did Fox offer this sight combination at the time of manufacture? Also, I think the stock may have shortened at some time. Did Fox offer custom LOP on the Sterlingworth? If not, what should the LOP be to the back of wood and back of pad (assuming a factory installed pad)? Thanks for help.

[bbman3]

I have never seen a Fox Sterlingworth with red bead front sight,plenty with double ivory beads.LOP was usually around 14 1/8.Yes sterlingworths could be ordered with custom dimensions for added price. Bobby

[Researcher]

I have seen cards for very late Savage era guns that specify the Bradley sight. My 1928-vintage Super-Fox was back to Utica for a set of 28-inch barrels at some point in time, and when I bought it in 1963, it had red Bradley front sights and ivory middle beads on both sets of barrels. Whether Savage or someone later put those red Bradley beads on my gun I have no idea.

In the early years of the Sterlingworth special dimensions were $10 which added to the $25 price, put the gun within $2.50 of the A-Grade where better wood, choice of grips and any stock dimensions were part of the deal. 1911 --





A bit later they only offered slight differences in drop-at-heel for $2.50. 1914 --





A few years later that 1/2 inch dropped to 3/8 inch. I've always suspected that was withing manufacturing differences and that $2.50 was for a clerk to look through the guns in inventory to find one that met the request.

[Dfree5119]

Thank you for the great information. A research request is in the mail to Mr. Callahan. It will be interesting to see what the factory records show, or don't.

[Dfree5119]

Got my Callahan letter back. The gun left the factory in April 1936 as a 20ga Fox Sterlingworth Deluxe Ejector with 26 inch barrels, choked IC & MOD. Nothing was noted about the red front bead, although it is period correct. The original LOP was listed as 14 inches. An interesting note is that the gun was returned to Savage and placed back into inventory at some time and then resold to J.L. Galef Co. in 1940. That leaves me with a couple of remaining questions:

1. I think the stock has been shortened a little. What should the original butt stock dimension to end of wood on the Deluxe 20ga be and how thick was the original Jostam recoil pad? Still deciding whether to replace the existing pad with a thicker one or just leave LOP at 13 1/2" for my grandkids to shoot.

2. The chamber length was not mentioned in the letter and is not marked on the barrel. Given the vintage does this gun most likely have 2 3/4" or 2 1/2" chambers? Either way I will wait to shoot it until I can get a gauge to check for sure.

Will try to post some pictures in the near future.

[MARSHFELLOW]

Congrats on a rather "hard to find" little Fox.
tjw

[eightbore]

If the Jostam pad is a nice installation, leave it as is. Anything you do to make the stock longer will decrease the value. 13 1/2" is pretty common for a 20 gauge of the period. This is a good find.

[Researcher]

Savage didn't begin stating "chambered for 2 3/4 inch shells" until their 1938 Fox catalogues. However, I suspect the boys in the factory were doing that a bit sooner.

[Dfree5119]

The existing pad is an older Pachmayr pad that is 3/4" thick. Will consider replacing it with a period correct pad.