Fox Collectors

Came across an old add over the weekend where it said standard butt treatment for XE was a recoil pad. Guess it was because it was originally designed/designated as a Trap model. Assuming gets me normally in trouble ( so I won't assume) but what pads were offered and if one didn't want a pad what was the standard butt treatment?

PS. I saw real nice 12 gauge XE with 32" barrels at the NE/SXS that had a Hawkins heart pad that was owned by a participant. Looked pretty good and I thought the pad looked original to the gun.

The XE-Grades came "standard" with Lyman twin ivory sights and a leather-face Silvers or "Silvers type" pad. Other pads were sometimes ordered and from time to time no pad, just the regular butt plate (as the October 2010 Card of the Month)or at extra cost the skeleton steel butt (as the May 2011 Card of the Month). I've seen XE-Grade cards that specify the Jostam Anti-Flinch Pad, and I've seen them specify just an ivory front bead or just the single metal bead. Whatever the customer wanted.

Were those Lyman press in beads? Also, if the regular buttplate was used were the screws engraved? I recall some of the earliest high grade Foxes a flat head screws which were engraved.

I owned two XE 20s and one was one of the first made with snap on forend and other one about mint 202xxx series gun.The early one had st grip and had a wood extension fitted.I replaced extension with recoil pad The later one had leather faced silvers pad.Both had two ivory beads. Bobby

Engraved butt plate screws are hit and miss on C-Grades, but are pretty much the norm for X- and higher.

Would anyone know what type and make of pads would have been offered on a 12 ga. XE made in 1917? Thank you.

Unless the original purchaser requested something else, it would have been a Silvers recoil pad with a leather face. The earliest Jostam Anti-Flinch pad and the Huntley Sponge Rubber pad would have also been available at that time.

Thanks for the information so far. Would the Hawkins, Noshoc, or leather-covered pads been available on special order in 1917? Thanks.

No, no and don't know, but I've never seen such a thing as a factory original Ansley H. Fox with a leather covered pad.

One aspect not mentioned as yet is that the leather-faced Silver's pad commonly seen on original XE's is about 3/4" nominal thickness. This can be an issue for those who are restoring and value originality - as the commonly-used modern S W Silver's pad is 1" nominal and its cavity is too deep to allow 1/4" to be trimmed from the back end of the pad and not leaving a soft spot there. I understand that genuine S W Silver's pads are still available in 3/4" thickness but I don't have the sourcing info.

Straight grip 12-gauge XE shipped in 1918 - note the pad thickness relative to its black base

Yup, Frank, the Silver is thinner than the G&H repro, and the G&H is thin in the middle when shortened. However, the thin portion shouldn't ever break through, especially when covered with leather. My John Oberlies built 1903 Springfield has a full length G&H Silver pad with leather face and leather covered plugs. It is one of the most elegant rifles I own. However, I can see the need to shorten these pads in some applications. The talented stockmaker who worked on my '03 taught me to make leather covered plugs from wood rather than rubber. It simplifies the process and allows for a more consistent result.

By the way, the G&H repro has a slightly thinner black base than some original Silver pads. That has never presented a problem for me when using the G&H pad on a restoration.

CSMC can apparently make a thinner "Silvers" pad, or at least purchase one. When asked for a 1/2" overall pad, they provided this, with apologies for the shadows distorting the view: