The start of a modest little collection
Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2024 10:32 am
Last year around this time I came to own a nice original condition 20ga Sterlingworth, through word of mouth of other double gun nuts here in Canada. I had originally set out looking for a nice English 20 bore, but in chatting with one of our talented gunsmiths, he felt this little SW would fit me well. I have a soft spot for classic American firearms, so when I received the little 20, I liked everything about it. The fit is great, and my first shot at a wily Northern Ontario sharptail confirmed that it would make a good bird gun for me. I hunted with that gun exclusively all last year, from N. Ontario to Saskatchewan and North Dakota and took ruffs, sharpies, huns and pheasants all over my aging but talented 12 year old wirehair pointer named Wilma.
A few weeks back I saw an ad for a Remington 1894, and the text at the bottom of the ad mentioned it was part of a collection of classic American SxS that would be sold off over the coming weeks. I inquired, and was sad to hear there were no small bore guns save for one beat up Lefevre, but was intrigued to hear that there was an A.H. Fox 12ga grade B in the collection. A few photos were exchanged, and a price that I thought sounded fair was agreed on, and soon the gun was at my door. All the way from Whitehorse, Yukon to my home outside of Thunder Bay Ontario in less than a week. So I guess you can call me a Fox collector now, if two Foxes makes a collection. I think there are a few other Canadians kicking around on here as well, who I look forward to meeting. Shoot me a message!
It wasn't the deep cut, late style B engraving that I lust over, but the early style has a beauty of its own, and the wood looked great in the crummy texted photos I received, and looked gorgeous in person.
The gun has a lot of wear on the wood, but the metal is in quite good condition. I joined the collectors association here and obtained the card (thanks Craig), which explains the "extra nice stock". The dimensions are great, and it handles nicely. I need to pattern it but I think the 30" barrels have had the chokes opened up on one side - I'm getting 0.700 right and 0.730 left with calipers at the muzzle, but I don't have a proper bore gauge handy. So seems the right barrel has been opened up, which will suit me fine, and hopefully it patterns as nicely as the original chokes would have. Once I get a bit of shooting in with it, I think I'll send it off to Chris at Stillwater Restorations in NFLD and have the checkering and finish touched up.
Whoever ordered this gun really wanted something special, and they certainly got it. Now if only I can locate that spare 28" barrel!
A few weeks back I saw an ad for a Remington 1894, and the text at the bottom of the ad mentioned it was part of a collection of classic American SxS that would be sold off over the coming weeks. I inquired, and was sad to hear there were no small bore guns save for one beat up Lefevre, but was intrigued to hear that there was an A.H. Fox 12ga grade B in the collection. A few photos were exchanged, and a price that I thought sounded fair was agreed on, and soon the gun was at my door. All the way from Whitehorse, Yukon to my home outside of Thunder Bay Ontario in less than a week. So I guess you can call me a Fox collector now, if two Foxes makes a collection. I think there are a few other Canadians kicking around on here as well, who I look forward to meeting. Shoot me a message!
It wasn't the deep cut, late style B engraving that I lust over, but the early style has a beauty of its own, and the wood looked great in the crummy texted photos I received, and looked gorgeous in person.
The gun has a lot of wear on the wood, but the metal is in quite good condition. I joined the collectors association here and obtained the card (thanks Craig), which explains the "extra nice stock". The dimensions are great, and it handles nicely. I need to pattern it but I think the 30" barrels have had the chokes opened up on one side - I'm getting 0.700 right and 0.730 left with calipers at the muzzle, but I don't have a proper bore gauge handy. So seems the right barrel has been opened up, which will suit me fine, and hopefully it patterns as nicely as the original chokes would have. Once I get a bit of shooting in with it, I think I'll send it off to Chris at Stillwater Restorations in NFLD and have the checkering and finish touched up.
Whoever ordered this gun really wanted something special, and they certainly got it. Now if only I can locate that spare 28" barrel!
