Did AHFox produce straight grip Sterlingworths?

[allen newell]

A friend of mine brought to the club today his father's 12 ga 1913 sterlingworth that he said is dad bought from a farmer in new hampshire yrs ago whose farm that he hunted on. This Philly produced Sterly has a straight pistol grip or rather no pistol grip. My friend says that although his dad had some restoration work done on it (yrs) ago, the straight english style grip is original to the gun. Could it be original?

[Craig Larter]

Never say never but in all my years of collecting Foxes I have never seen or heard of a factory straight grip from that era. A straight gip Sterly was made after Savage took ownership.

[allen newell]

I asked him if he had a letter on it and he said that he did but he was not explicit about the straight grip other than saying he believed it was original. Ill take some pics of it when next he brings it to the club. His father had a new forearm made for it and my guess is his dad had the guy who made a new forearm convert the stock to straight grip. The sterly has been re blued as well. Stay tuned.

[Dave Noreen]

From its introduction the Sterlingworth was a "made for stock" gun, made to standard specifications. Here is the 1913 vintage Sterlingworth folder --

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and here are the Sterlingworth pages from the 1914 A.H. Fox Gun Co. catalog --

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Note that the text under STOCK always says "Full capped pistol grip only."

[Dave Noreen]

Just to muddy the waters a bit, in the first two A.H. Fox Gun Co. catalogues to include the Sterlingworth, "Campfire" Catalogue No. 24 (1911) 12-gauge only --

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and "Campfire" Catalogue No. 25 (1912) 12-, 16- and 20-gauge --

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While under STOCK they say "Full capped pistol Grip Only." they also carry the line "Any change of stock, deviating from standard length, drop, or style, additional...……………………………$10.00" net. Adding $10 to the $25 price of a Sterlingworth got one to within $2.50 of an A-Grade ($37.50) where a grip choice was part of the deal and you got better walnut and Krupp barrels.

[Frank Srebro]

Over the years I've seen a few older Sterlies that were factory converted to straight grip by Fox/Utica. All of them had 2-3/4" chamber markings on the left barrel breech and the Savage SP/oval stamp (re-proof) on the barrel flats, typically on one of the raised edges. Also, all had the original pistol grip short tail trigger guard straightened and reused for the restock. Practically speaking, there were some lean profit years during the Great Depression and it seems the factory folks were accommodating if someone wanted a stock conversion done.

[Larry Stauch]

One of my young co-workers kept bugging me for a Fox to hunt with. I came across this BE grade straight grip that had been expertly restored at Cabela's. Expressing my enthusiasm for this beautiful instrument, and not really thinking future events all the way through, I shared with him my thrill of discovery.
With pure and total innocence he asked if this was the one I had found for him....I made him swear that if he ever sells it that I get the first opportunity to buy it.:banghead: