New old clays guns comes to Va

[tom tutwiler]

Not your normal Fox one finds for sure. *Went to an auction on the Eastern Shore on 24 May and picked this 32" Fox Sterlingworth made in Philly in 1928.

Being a Fox guy it called to me. *I was actually there to bid on another Fox that went for big money and was about to leave when this one showed up (second to last gun at the auction). *I threw in a courtesy bid in literally the last second and no one else bid. *I had looked at the gun before the auction and determined it was sound and damn tight. *Being an eastern shore gun it had been exposed to the elements. *Wouldn't call it Cherry but it was in good shape.

My Skeets is in being serviced (I caught it in the garage door), so I only have a few measurements. *The measurements at both barrel ends are .684. *I think when I measured them at the auction I thought they were .035 and .040, but now believe they might be a tad tighter then that. * I'll know when the Skeets returns for sure. *Other interesting notes is the gun weighs 7 lbs 6 oz. *Barrels themselves weigh 60 oz even. *Ring like 32" wind chimes. *Original LOP to end of buttplate is 14 1/8". *I'll have my smith add an original Noshoc pad. *Barrels are marked with a crown over a D and are number 2 weight and I think I read somewhere they were made by Delcour in Belgium. * I have hopes of turning this into my Clay gun to shoot locally and perhaps elsewhere. *Might make an interesting Bo Whoop gun as well if I ever shoot at the NE/SXS in Pa. *I might have the stock bent and then I might add a temp comb riser as it has a 3" DAH, but I think for what I want to do she will be fine. * *Pretty neat little gun. *32" Sterlingworths aren't very common. *It nothing else I have one cool turkey gun for sure.


Took a few pictures. *Overall a very nice gun with really nice well cared for wood. *Look how far that lever is to the right * :

[TOOL MAN]

Easy to see why that one 'talked' to you Tom! She has the ol' THG......time honored GLOW!! What a dynamite clay/pheasant/dove swatter. And those 32" Titanic Steel barrels are pretty sweet, too!!!
Congrats.

[OH Osthaus]

nice find- reach out for some waterfowl this fall

[Thomas Garver]

Tom, if this was the Barfield auction were you after the Sterlingworth 20. That was a sweet, sweet gun, I looked at your purchase but there were too many to buy. I bought the LC Smith Trap grade Long range
Regards, Tom

[tom tutwiler]

Originally Posted by Thomas Garver

Tom, if this was the Barfield auction were you after the Sterlingworth 20. That was a sweet, sweet gun, I looked at your purchase but there were too many to buy. I bought the LC Smith Trap grade Long range
Regards, Tom

I remember that gun. Didn't you also buy a Remington model 3200 o/u?

I Was really after the AE 16 with the straight stock. However, the stock was repaired poorly and the case colors had been redone and the second set of barrels wasn't original to the gun. One wouldn't know that if one didn't actually attend the auction. My back up plan was the Fox BE 12 gauge also with 32" barrels in mint condition. That one however sold for more the $7,000. I was actually speaking with the fellow who bought the BE about that gun when this one came up. I literally looked over his shoulder as he was speaking to me and threw up my card one time and was the winning bidder on this gun. I think most folks were still thinking about the BE and no really noticed this gun has 32" barrels. If it had been any other barrel length I would have passed. However, I really wanted a 32" to shoot some clays (and perhaps a few gobblers) with.

[Thomas Garver]

Tom, I didn't buy the Remington. I bought the LC 20 ga. right after the trap grade and wanted the Sterlingworth 20 but I had spent enough for 1 day.

[Mills]

That is a very nice gun. You did well.

[tom tutwiler]

Originally Posted by Thomas Garver

Tom, I didn't buy the Remington. I bought the LC 20 ga. right after the trap grade and wanted the Sterlingworth 20 but I had spent enough for 1 day.

There were some pretty nice guns there. That was one auction you really needed to be there for. Pictures on the Web were pretty awful. Wish I would have had more time to conduct a review of the other guns. I really focused on the Foxes, but there a couple of Parker there that sold cheap for sure.

[Larry the Gun Guy]

Originally Posted by tom tutwiler

There were some pretty nice guns there. That was one auction you really needed to be there for. Pictures on the Web were pretty awful. Wish I would have had more time to conduct a review of the other guns. I really focused on the Foxes, but there a couple of Parker there that sold cheap for sure.

Talk about a teaser line......

Are you going to tell the rest of the story?

[tom tutwiler]

Ok. DH 12 in real nice shape sold for $1,300. I think another DH in 10 gauge in really nice shape sold for $1,700. Both needs some work but not too much. Both were really good buys.