Fox Collectors

It's an insane price compared to the modern day inter web. Good on you!

Looking forward to seeing pics, Allen. Thanks for posting about it. These are the kinds of stories that keep me dropping by pawn shops and little gun stores.

All my best, SRH

Here are a few photos (the good, bad and the ugly) of the gun. The old girl is solid and has super clean bores, but the exterior has some issues (wood finish and where someone thought it would be a good idea to aggressively attack some rust areas with either steel wool, sandpaper or something else that made no sense).

Let me know what you think---should I put some restoration work into her? Thanks.

Photobucket is having some issues causing cropped photos and some missing. I will be working to correct the issues.

Sorry for the problems.

Allen

You can post your photos here directly with out Photobucket.

http://foxcollectors.com/My%20Forum/php ... f=2&t=7296

Researcher wrote:You can post your photos here directly with out Photobucket.

http://foxcollectors.com/My%20Forum/php ... f=2&t=7296

Thank you. I will try that avenue.

You could leave that gun just as it is and have a lot of "fun per dollar". Nice job!!!!!!!

Jeff S wrote:You could leave that gun just as it is and have a lot of "fun per dollar". Nice job!!!!!!!

Thanks, Jeff.

The old girl should be able to get the job done. I think she has done plenty of work in the past, as she has some character about her.

A whole lot of gun for $500....

gunut wrote:A whole lot of gun for $500....

gunut,

Thanks for the positive thoughts. I am still amazed at how a gun that has been this well used is still solid after almost 80 years. She ain't no supermodel, but she has a lot of subtle beauty and character....even after many years of work in the field. Thanks, again.

Might be the best $500 you ever spent, nice pickup.

The only thing I would do it have the barrel wall thickness checked out on the shorter barrel set where they went after some pitting with emory paper or whatever and make sure they aren't too thin. Beyond that I'd consider a bit a rust blue of both sets of barrels and have the gun checked where the frame hits the wood. Seems to be a bit of a gap there that needs to be investigated. PS. I'm the kind of a fellow who would turn that into a 2 barrel custom set with new wood, engraving,etc. PS. I've already done that to a Fox 16 gauge sterly.

Allen_LA wrote:Here are a few photos (the good, bad and the ugly) of the gun. The old girl is solid and has super clean bores, but the exterior has some issues (wood finish and where someone thought it would be a good idea to aggressively attack some rust areas with either steel wool, sandpaper or something else that made no sense).

Let me know what you think---should I put some restoration work into her? Thanks.

As far as restoration, the barrels would be my main concern as far as how pitted they are or even if the pitting might go clear through the barrels in places. There may also be loose ribs as a result of corrosion. If either of these issues are present, restoration wouldn't be practical, in my opinion.

FoxintheHenHouse

vaturkey wrote:The only thing I would do it have the barrel wall thickness checked out on the shorter barrel set where they went after some pitting with emory paper or whatever and make sure they aren't too thin. Beyond that I'd consider a bit a rust blue of both sets of barrels and have the gun checked where the frame hits the wood. Seems to be a bit of a gap there that needs to be investigated. PS. I'm the kind of a fellow who would turn that into a 2 barrel custom set with new wood, engraving,etc. PS. I've already done that to a Fox 16 gauge sterly.

vaturkey,

Thanks for the insight. I had to take the gun to a local gunsmith due to the inability to get the bottom receiver screw to break loose. The gunsmith was not sure if the gun had been disassembled in a long time because of the lack of screw abuse and the fact that he spent 40 minutes getting the bottom receiver plate screw to budge---he is not surprised that I broke a hollow-ground flathead trying to remove the screw. He said the barrel thickness was not a concern, but I didn't think to ask about the receiver/wood gap. I have torn the gun down to "clean-up/refinish the stock", as I couldn't stand seeing it get worse. After talking to the guy who worked at the pawn shop where I bought the gun from, he admitted to "cleaning up" the "rusty spots" on the barrel set with some steel wool. I could have reached across the counter and choked him if I thought it would have helped anything----so I chose not to choke him and just told him to not touch anything "old" before letting me look first.

I will post a few pics of the refreshed wood when I get it done. Thanks, again.