1922 Sterlingworth

[Bill Graham]

Fixing this up for my father-in-law's bucket list; hopefully in time for the Spring SxS. Got the color case work back today from Dan Printz at The Firing Pin, LLC. Really nice work. Pretty rough gun when we started. Bits and pieces of it had been sitting in four different drawers for the last 20+ years.

[OH Osthaus]

can't wait to see it wearing it's wood

[bbman3]

very nice looking colors. Bobby

[Bill Graham]

can't wait to see it wearing it's wood

Conflicted about the wood. The checkering is very shallow after all of these years. I'd like to have it recheckered for him, but I do not have the skill, the money, nor the time now to get that done. My father-in-law's not going to care if it's not recheckered, yet I expect he'd like it better if it were. Today, I'm thinking I'll leave it as-is, making sure not to fill in what's there with any finish other than a bit of BLO, and TruOil elsewhere. It will be nice, and have the character of a 94 year old.

[Bill Graham]

[Mills]

Looking good!

[Bill Graham]

All done. Thanks go to Pumpkin Mtn. for parts and advice, The Firing Pin for great color, and ibuprophen for helping my arthritis while sanding and filing.

[bbman3]

You did a great job! Bobby

[MilRob]

Very very nice!!!

[Jim Cloninger]

Good job! Looks like a new gun. Jim

[Bill Graham]

Thanks! The comments are very kind. I forgot to thank this forum in general too. I've learned a great deal here that helped me improve my rust bluing. Not top notch, but respectible for a working gun.

Thanks again.

[Mike of the Mountain]

That's a pretty Sterly!!

[simcgunner]

Great job.

[MARSHFELLOW]

Nice results.....had to give you a great deal of satisfaction.

tjw

[Bill Graham]

Nice results.....had to give you a great deal of satisfaction.

It did. It gave me a lot of anxiety too. This one came to my family through my work bartering for a friend. Because I knew that my father-in-law had always wanted a Fox, would enjoy going to the Southern SxS, and this may be the year last he'd be up for it, I decided to fix it back up as a gift to him. I hope HE likes it, and that it shoots well. It had been sitting in four different drawers, in two separate locations, for the last 20+ years and there was no memory of what it's issues were for it to have been out of service. It seems it's issues are that it's not a good gun for soft primers, and it's a bit harder to cock than expected. Anyway, he gets it a week from tomorrow as we head down to Deep River. Hope all goes well.

The anxiety is exacerbated by the fact that he wants his daughter (my wife) to come along too. Sounds great to me, but she's a new shooter, and it going well for both of them would be best for me. She'll be shooting the 20ga ejector, which her Dad and I found for her through similar circumstances, and has had its problems (captured in annoying detail elsewhere here). She's shot once, and when her Dad learned of this he decided she needed her own shotgun. I should point out, she didn't ASK for her own shotgun. She wants to shoot more, but it's not her "thing" as of yet.

Lastly, yet another Fox came our way. This one is an A and it's for me; also neglected, and devoid of knowledge of it's history or issues, but thankfully the least work of them all. Needless to say, I've been learning a great deal through this flurry of activity.

So, an old shooter,a new shooter, a tired shooter, three resurrected Fox guns, and a bucket list to help fulfill to everyone's enjoyment. If you all see a worn out middle aged dude who looks to be serving as a chaperone, that's me. Maybe it all makes for a good tale.

Thanks All.