Trojan vs Sterlingworth -- Opinions being like a------s and everyone has one, I will risk venturing mine.
As to workmanship, I'd say that when the Sterlingworth came out in 1910 as a $25 gun its workmanship was really quite good. The Trojan when it came out a couple of years later at $27.50 was also of good quality. After WW-I the prices went up steeply and by 1919 the Sterlingworth had a list price of $55. Fox then cut the price to $48 in 1922 then to $36.50 in 1926 and of course workmanship and wood quality suffered. While Parker did eliminate the rib extension on the Trojan overall quality stayed high and so did the price with a price of $51.50 in 1927 and $55 by 1929.
A Fox unless everything is just right can sometimes be hard to open because of firing pin points sticking in primers. Parkers with rebounding hammers don't have this fault. Trojans in 12-gauge are built on the #2 frame and tend to be heavy. It is fairly easy to find 30-inch 12-gauge Sterlingworths right at 7 pounds and shorter barrels a bit under. Similarly I believe small bore Sterlingworths tend to run lighter than Trojans. Sterlingworths were offered in 26-, 28-, 30-, and 32-inch barrels in all three gauges while Trojans had a more limited selection of barrel lengths -- 30-, 28, and 26- inch in 12-gauge and only 28- and 26-inch in the small bores. There should also be many more Sterlingworths out there to choose from as Fox made about 111,000 in 12-gauge, 28,000 in 16-gauge and 21,000 in 20-gauge, as to about 33,000 total Trojans by the Brothers P. Also, Sterlingworths were available with ejectors. Sterlingworths were offered with single triggers from 1914 on, while the single trigger was only offered on the Trojan right at the end of production. They are not often seen on either of these entry-level guns.
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Threaded Mode