Fox Collectors

I recently became the proud owner of a 16ga Fox Sterlingworth serial range 360xxx. IIRC the 16ga was stopped in 1933 in the 366xxx range. My question is -what is the chamber length- 2 3/4 or 2 9/16? Was the 2 3/4 standardized by the time my gun was made. Complicating factors when i tried to research it is that many of the older guns were supposedly short chambered in the belief that this improved patterns-which may have been true in the days of roll crimps, fiber wads, etc. but is does increase recoil. Gunsmith who checked it out just said the action was tight. Came with 2 boxes of Rem express 1 1/8. Is the gun safe to shoot with these or should i limit it to 1oz loads? Good chance it will wind up at Turnbulls in a few yrs for a facelift.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding; are you saying that they quite making the 16's in '33 with #'s in the 366XXX range? My Sterly 16ga is #372XXX and letters as shipping in 1936. FWIW the chambers are 2-3/4.

My original source on dates and serial # was wrong. BB of Gun Values shows last 16 Sterlingworth was #378,481 and was built in 1939.(BLUE BOOK OF GUN VALUES-Thirtieth Ed. page 769) There is a lot of bad info on the internet-that is why i came here to get more accurate data. Chamber length info came from the 16ga Society website.

Your Sterlingworth chambers, if original, are 2 9/16th inches. When Fox started making their guns with 2 3/4 inch chambers or re-chambered their barrels at the factory in the late 30's they marked them as such. As far as if the 1 1/8th ounce ammunition is safe to shoot in your Sterlingworth goes yes it is safe but a steady diet of heavy recoiling ammunition may eventually lead to damage to the stock head.

TB,

So you're saying that all guns with original 2-3/4" chambers were marked as such? Stamped on the outside of the barrels?

F2F,

I personally dont think all of them were marked as such in my experience.....but I am willing 2 be corrected if I'm mistaken. I have/had alot of "late" guns that were not marked.

tjw

I have 16 and 20 gauge guns with factory 2 3/4 chambers that are not marked as such anywhere except on the factory order. At least 1 was in the first 500 made.

birdawg wrote:I have 16 and 20 gauge guns with factory 2 3/4 chambers that are not marked as such anywhere except on the factory order. At least 1 was in the first 500 made.

Are these Sterlingworths or graded guns?