Savage Fox B 410

[Larry Baer]

I have a Savage Fox B 410 double in pretty good shape. It shoots terrible. Meaning the shot is centered abut a foot low at ten yards from both barrels. We have shot it for years but it's tough to remember to shoot really high all the time. Is this something that could be corrected by a competent gunsmith?
Thanks

[John Dallas]

What are the stock dimensions? If there is too .much drop, lace on a comb riser

[Eric Eis]

Pitch of the stock could be off too. I had one English gun that I thought fit me but I was shooting high with, took it to Bachelder's and Brad had me throw it up and said right away pitch was off so he cut the butt slightly to change it and it shot right on.

[Larry Baer]

Maybe I'm thinking about it the wrong way? I couldn't hit a thing with it. I took it out and sighted down the barrel. It has a mid bead and a regular bead on the end of the barrel. I lined those up like rifle sights and shot a few shots on some paper and that's how I figured out it was shooting way off.
Does that matter?
I talked to my Dad and brother and they both laughed and told me that's why they never liked hunting with it. It was my grandpa's and he used it a lot but I don't know if it fit him or he just aimed ''high''.
Are you both of the opinion that can be corrected with a stock adjustment?
I'm not doubting your advice I just do not know much about this.
Thanks

[John Dallas]

When you are writing down the barrel, if the beads are lined up then the gun presumably Fitzhugh okay. Only other thing I can think of is that the choke was bored eccentrically. I would suggest looking at the muzzle end of the gun, after making sure that it's unloaded, and see if the wall thickness appears to be equal around the hole dimension of the muzzle.

[Robin Lewis]

Larry, where a bullet from a rifle and the shot from a shotgun hit can both be adjusted. A rifle or pistol point of impact is adjusted by moving the real sight. A shotgun is adjusted by moving the stock fit.

A shotgun can be "made to fit your specific measurements" which can be found using a "try gun" by making a stock or if the gun in question is close to what you need, the stock can be bent to fit. Bending has restrictions; for instance bending up or down may be limited buy the metal of the frame.

Things that can be changed are the amount of stock alignment to the right or left of center line drawn from the barrel (cast on/off), amount of drop at the heel and the angle of the toe of the stock.

When all fits correctly, everything just feels right; your head lays along the stock naturally and the eye just naturally lines up with the sight picture. The arm and hand are comfortable at the trigger and the heel & toe fit tight and natural at the arm pit.

When it works it's like pointing your finger and knowing that you are on target.

Not easy to explain in a simple message. There are books written on this topic.

[Brian Dudley]

generally patterning is done with mounting the gun quickly and taking a number of shots that way since this is how shotguns are shot, not aimed like a rifle.

However, for the sake of your test, "aiming" it and finding it to shoot that low at such a close distance does sure indicate that the issue is more with the gun's barrels, boring or choking instead of the stock dimensions on the gun. The point of aim is way off by the sounds of it.

The issue may just be what it is and is not able to easily be fixed. I would speak to skeets gun shop, mike oren or briley about what the options are for re-boring to try and correct.

[Jerry Harlow]

I bought a "new" Fox Model B .410 at the Southern this past spring. Don't know why other than I just wanted one. Made in 1965 with double triggers. The first day I shot it this fall I hit every thrown bird off a stationary thrower with the left barrel. I never hit a single bird with the right barrel in ten tries. It did not shoot where pointed on the right barrel was my unscientific conclusion. Anyway, that made it useless to me on doves. I sold it to a friend a month later for what I had in it.

It certainly was not a Parker, Fox, Ithaca, L.C. Smith, etc.

[charlie cleveland]

i bought a set of these b grade foxes about 6 months ago got a 410 a 20 ga a 16 ga and a12 ga they were all unfired made in the 1960 s i was offered a profit and down the road they went.....charlie

[Bill Murphy]

I think Parkers shoot better.

[Phil Yearout]

I have that gun in a Stevens 5100. It seems to shoot right where you point it; my problem is I don't point it very well :rolleyes:.

[charlie cleveland]

my stevens 311 -410 points and shoots straight...my dad bought me a stevens 410 double over 60 years ago....charlie

[Joe Graziano]

My father’s late friend owned a Stevens 311 .410. My father and I, Al and his son all hunted together. I watched him kill many pheasant and quail with it over the years. My favorite was a rooster who surprised us during lunch. I watched Al shoot it, Stevens in one hand, sandwich in the other. He even sold us a GSP pup from a litter and it was special to see our dog and his mother hunt together. When Al passed, his widow gave that Stevens to my dad. My dad still hunts with it and in October, I had the pleasure of shooting a wild Georgia quail with it on a hunt with my dad and my son.

[Bill Murphy]

Presently, I am cleaning up a lovely little Springfield double .410 for a contractor friend who was given the gun. It was a pile of rust when I started on it, with three major cracks in the stock and forend. Today I will shoot glue in the cracks, sand the residue, and oil the wood. I have finished the metal and fixed a balky sear and discovered perfect shiny bores. The problem is that he said this and a Winchester 1894 with 26" hex barrel are not for sale. The 1894 was also a rustbucket. I am hoping he has a change of heart and sells me one of them. Stay tuned.

[Phil Yearout]

There was a contest to pick the ugliest double gun ever; I believe it was a tie between the Winchester 24 and the Stevens/Savage/whatever .410 :). But hey; even a poor man needs a .410, huh?

https://i.imgur.com/7qCLl2Gl.jpg

[charlie cleveland]

even stevens 410 s aint cheap no more....like the stevens shown.....i have a soft spot for old stevens guns....charlie

[Bill Murphy]

I sold my last Stevens .410 for about $1000. The Springfield I am cleaning up now is one of the Stevens .410s that has exposed breech balls, a nice touch.

[Joe Graziano]

For a lot of us, it’s the memories attached to the Stevens, usually hunting with family and friends, rather than the gun itself. However, as I mention above, my father’s 311 has taken many birds over the years. She may not be the prettiest gun in the field, but she sure is a cherished one.

[Jerry VanHorn]

Not a .410..but a Stevens..My Dad and Grandfather were bird hunters..We still have the farm in Indiana where I first walked with them. He bought me Remington 510 when I was 10 to shoot at our local NRA Rifle Club. I still have it. When I decided I needed a shotgun..of my own..Dad was not as interested as I thought he should be..but I kept the pressure up for a Christmas gun..This was 1959. I looked all over for where he MUST have hidden it...never found it..Xmas morning..there was the gun..a Stevens 311 20 gauge..26" M/IC.. This was at a time when I carried that gun on my bicycle ..on my morning paper route.. to stop at a woods along the way to hunt squirrels. I asked Dad where it had been..UNDER my bed..for the week before Xmas. Years ago, I had Dennis Smith restock it in XXX wood and convert it to straight grip. It and the 510 will go to my son... My Dad was quite a guy...j..PS... The gun was $68.50..I still have the hang tag..

[Jerry Harlow]

even stevens 410 s aint cheap no more....like the stevens shown.....i have a soft spot for old stevens guns....charlie

I paid $950 for the "as new" 1965 Fox Model B .410 at the Southern, and thought that was a good price. Until I could not hit targets with it, so off it went for the same price.

[Phil Yearout]

I sold my last Stevens .410 for about $1000. The Springfield I am cleaning up now is one of the Stevens .410s that has exposed breech balls, a nice touch.

A friend had one of those; makes for a better looking gun for sure!

[Robert Brooks]

I own one and it is the second one made and says so on side of frame! Bobby