Sterling worth No. 258697

[Dean Romig]

Can anyone tell me the year of manufacture of the above Fox?

Yes, I finally crossed the line. :whistle:






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[Steve Huffman]

What gauge if a 20 I think 1926

[George Stanton]

1927. Fox guns are not as finely finished as Parkers, inside or out. But they sure are strong, simple guns that rarely break down. You may want others.

[Dean Romig]

It is a 20-gauge ejector gun with 28" barrels.

Thanks.





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[Steve Huffman]

Sounds nice !

[Dean Romig]

It is brand new and even a bit stiff to operate. Still has the original lubricant which is more like cosmolene.



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[Jerry Harlow]

Pictures? Another closet Fox collector is born!

[Dean Romig]

A few...

That second picture looks like the engraving was polished off.... here's a new one.

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[Frank Cronin]

Wow! Nice Dean!

[Daniel Carter]

WOW!!! Thought my VH was new.

[Mills Morrison]

Yes, I finally crossed the line. :whistle:

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:eek:

Seriously, good job and enjoy. Fox small bores are great

[Daryl Corona]

Now will you really cross over and shoot for team Fox?:whistle:

Seriously Dean that is a very nice gun. I have one in similar condition but w/o ejectors. Fox guns are built like tanks and the only weak point they have is there ejectors IMO. Now compare it side by side, no pun intended, with one of your 0 frame 20 Parkers or better yet a 00 frame 28. Therein you will see the beauty of the smallbore Fox frame. Enjoy.

[chris dawe]

Don't know about the strong part as I've put three back on face this past year along with a myriad of other problems ...the simple part I agree with ,the crudely finished part I 150% agree with !!!
the design and dimensions of the action make a hell of a nice little gun though and its right there where they get my admiration ,

Dean that is a wicked find for damn sure !!!!

[Pete Lester]

Very nice gun Dean, congrats on your find.

[Dean Romig]

Now will you really cross over and shoot for team Fox?:whistle:

I really don't think Team Fox would want me. I shoot mediocre enough with a 12 bore Parker - imagine what I'd do with a 20 bore Fox? And I haven't even measured the chokes yet.

Seriously Dean that is a very nice gun. I have one in similar condition but w/o ejectors. Fox guns are built like tanks and the only weak point they have is there ejectors IMO. Now compare it side by side, no pun intended, with one of your 0 frame 20 Parkers or better yet a 00 frame 28. Therein you will see the beauty of the smallbore Fox frame. Enjoy.

I think I will check them beside each other - first the 0-frame 20 or 16 and then the 00-frame 28 bore.






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[Russ Jackson]

Dean ,That is Truly a Fantastic Little Gun,Ejectors Even !!!!!!!!!!!!!:bigbye: As you can see I am Green with Envy ! Congrats !

[Daryl Corona]

I think I will check them beside each other - first the 0-frame 20 or 16 and then the 00-frame 28 bore.


You will be surprised at the results of the comparison. Let us know what you find.



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I really don't think Team Fox would want me. I shoot mediocre enough with a 12 bore Parker - imagine what I'd do with a 20 bore Fox? And I haven't even measured the chokes yet.

You'd be surprised what a 20ga. Fox can do for your shooting prowess.:eek: Do yourself a favor and shoot the Sterly first before you measure the chokes.

[Dave Noreen]

Dean,

That Fox serial number chronology that Lightner Library first put out back in 1976, and is now available various places on-line for free, is worth just what you pay for it. The only way to really know for sure is a letter from Savage --

https://www.foxcollectors.com/mechanisms/factory-letters

Letters were pretty good when we had Roe Clark and then John Callahan as the historians doing them, but we've heard somewhat dismal reports on the letters since Savage took over doing them. Hopefully they will get better.

Better yet would be our friend Toolman talking his way into Westfield and bringing those boxes of old production cards home to the A.H. Fox Collectors Association, Inc.!

[Reggie Bishop]

Very nice Fox 20, Dean!

[Phil Yearout]

Wow! Did you find a hidden time machine Dean?

[Bill Jolliff]

Yes, I finally crossed the line. :whistle:


Dean, that line you said you crossed? I think you wiped it out!

You won't find a Sterlingworth any nicer.

Beware of some Fox guy waving a gorgeous Parker under your nose as trade material.

Sweet.

[Jerry Harlow]

I've never seen a SW in that condition. It is the Holy Grail of Philly's best work, and the photos let us see something I personaly have never seen before.

You are lucky to own it. I could not shoot it though.

[Richard Flanders]

Oh yeah, I'm in love! That is gorgeous.

Edit: Perhaps the Parker crowd will take up a collection and PAY you to shoot for the Fox guys! (trust me, I know the feeling).

[Mark Ray]

What a great find and gun. Those Fox guns were my start down this double addiction!

[Brett Farley]

Dean, you can get a letter from Savage that will give you the specifics on the gun.

[keavin nelson]

:rolleyes:Dean,
1926, and if you don't have the list put out by Galazan some years ago on production years I will send it to you.
But, wow, nice gun! Would look great in my safe next to my 16s, yes Foxes!

[charlie cleveland]

just brand new dean......charlie

[Mills Morrison]

I have a Sterlingworth 20 with modified and full chokes that is my go to wood duck gun.

[Mark Ray]

Picked up a Sterly “trap” 32”, 12gauge a few months ago, in 90+% condition. It looks like a beater next to this gun of yours Dean! Going to try this gun on windy day pass shooting Whitewing’s!

[Dean Romig]

I just got around to measuring choke constriction on this little twenty-gauge Sterlingworth.

Right choke = .020"

Left choke = .038"...:eek:


If this were a Parker I would enter it into the "People's Choice Award" Waterfowl Guns at the Annual Meeting.





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[Frank Srebro]

I just got around to measuring choke constriction on this little twenty-gauge Sterlingworth.

Right choke = .020"

Left choke = .038"...:eek:



Dean, I once owned a 20 bore Sterlingworth Ejector gun with 28-inch tubes and .626" bores with 20/R and 41/L points of constriction as measured with an accurate Stan Baker bore mike. I called it my "Super 20 Sterlingworth". Reason being that ordinary Fox 20's generally have bores of about .615" diameter - but the 60-some known HE Grade Super-Fox 20's were typically overbored to about .625/626".

Why my 20 bore Sterly Ejector was made with .626" diameter bores and 41 points of choke in the left tube is anyone's guess.

With this as background I wonder what the bore sizes measure on yours?

frank

[John Dallas]

My 12 gauge Sterly has .044" choke in each barrel It reaches WAY out

[Dean Romig]

Frank - I’ll measure the bores just as soon as I return home. And I'll post them here.

Thanks, Dean





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[Brett Hoop]

Let me guess. You were in the store parking lot and there was a little old lady that needed help opening her stuck trunk lid and when you gave her a hand she propped the lid open with a leather case. Congrats!!

[Dean Romig]

Reason being that ordinary Fox 20's generally have bores of about .615" diameter - but the 60-some known HE Grade Super-Fox 20's were typically overbored to about .625/626".

Why my 20 bore Sterly Ejector was made with .626" diameter bores and 41 points of choke in the left tube is anyone's guess.

With this as background I wonder what the bore sizes measure on yours? frank

Just got around to measuring mine...

Right bore in beyond the 4” of choke taper is .620 and the left bore in beyond the 5 1/2” of choke taper is .622”

What does that tell you Frank?... if anything?






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[Todd Poer]

Dean sounds like you have a Cliff Robertson AT&T Gun "Reach out and Touch Someone". That would be great high flying dove gun. No wonder it is in such pristine condition. Prior owners could not figure out what to hunt with that gun. By the time the pattern opens up on that gun birds are in the next county, if I am getting your constriction numbers correctly.

Might make a great early season teal gun, but on bigger puddle ducks I like a little more kaboom than a 20 gauge.

Oh that might make an incredible turkey gun with those tungsten loads. I wonder on a gun like that if they regulate the barrels out to greater distance.

BTW that is very nice gun. Hope it shoots as well as it looks and you can find some big open spaces to use it. You ever head to the Dakotas, that would be a gun to take. Load of #6 would be incredible on pheasants with that gun.

[Frank Srebro]

Just got around to measuring mine...

Right bore in beyond the 4” of choke taper is .620 and the left bore in beyond the 5 1/2” of choke taper is .622”

What does that tell you Frank?... if anything?

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Dean, about 70% of the A H Fox 20 bore guns in my records have .615/616" bores, with a few outliers in the .617 to .620" diameter range. Many were measured using my current Baker bore mike which I've verified to be accurate, and others were done with two earlier mikes that had some +/- drift after being calibrated. Your bores are a little larger than typical but not that much so. Fox was buying barrel tubes from different specialty manufacturers and I'm sure the company ordered 20-gauge tubes within some range of tolerance on bore diameter. Fox also did the bore finish machining and on that note I've measured Fox guns with one bore (usually on the left) that was a few thou oversize relative to the opposite bore. It's my belief that such tubes were "reworked" by finishing oversize in order to remove machine tool marks such as a gouge or imperfection in the bore made during the first finish operation.

That 5-1/2" long choke is quite unusual in a Fox 20 bore and was probably done because of the very heavy choke constriction in the left tube. You might try patterning it some day with ducking size lead shot, maybe 4's or 5's.

frank