I'll start out by saying that I have been a Parker 20 ga. guy for 40+ years and love them dearly. That was until I bought my first Fox 20 ga., a Sterlingworth with 30" tubes. It ain't fancy but I shoot it as well if not better than any Parker 20 ga. I own and I have them from 26"-32", damascus and fluid steel.

So, this got me to thinking after shooting smallbore stuff almost exclusively at the Southern this year and this past weekend.

Fox 20 ga. guns are truly built on a scaled down frame. I compared the Fox 20/30" with a Parker VHE 28/30", OO frame. Both with pistol grips, splinter forends the only difference being ejectors on the Parker.

Here are the stats:

Parker
6.25 lb.
width of frame at standing breech 1.60"
length of frame 3.0"
weight of barrels/forend 3.25 lb., stock/receiver 3 lb.

Fox
6.0 lb.
width of frame at standing breech 1.60"
length of frame 2.27"
weight of barrels/forend 3.25 lb, stock/receiver 2.75 lb.

This just goes to show how well designed the Fox smallbore frames are to achieve their wonderful handling and balance. Anyone coming to Hausmann's is welcome to shoot the Fox at the Bo Whoop to see for yourself. Get rid of my Parkers, not quite yet. But certainly on the hunt for more Fox 20's.
The bottom line is the Fox, IMHO and that of a renowned gunsmith, is a better designed gun but the Parker is still dear to my heart.

Not necessarily. I kept my Parkers. ; )

In this case it is definitely the Indian not the arrow. Fox has some very accomplished (as in Master class) shooters.

At the time the Ansley H. Fox Gun came on the market in 1905, Parker Bros. advertising was stating "135000 in sportsmen's hands." So, from then to the end during WW-II, Parker Bros./Remington produced about 107000 guns and A.H. Fox Gun Co./Savage produced about 190000. Looking at the numbers, the Fox edge was all in the entry-level guns. In 1910 the Sterlingworth was introduced at $25.00. A couple of years late Parker Bros. introduced the Trojan Grade at $25.50 but almost immediately upped the price to $27.50. Inflation associated with The Great War began raising prices and in 1916 the Sterlingworth went up to $30.00 and both guns were up to $55 after the war. Parker kept the quality and price high, eventually selling some 33,000 Trojans. A.H. Fox Gun Co. cut the price to $48.00 in 1922 and to $36.50 in 1926, a dollar less then Ithaca Gun Co.'s new Field Grade NID introduced that year. Fit and finish suffered but apparently the market favored the lower prices and about 141000 Sterlingworths were sold. While the Trojan was only offered in limited barrel lengths and never ejectors, the Sterlingworth was offered with all four barrel lengths in all three gauges and offered with ejectors and single selective triggers.

I have pictorial evidence that Parker won it at Addieville some years ago.

Does anyone else remember Toolman on bended knee presenting Larry Frey with a crisp $twenty?

I sure do.....






.

Isn't it a little like sex?

Never had a bad one!

All you have to do is open and close the gun to see which is the better gun.
I have both in several grades and the Parker guns all work smoother and crisper.

Foxes and Parkers are my favorites, although I own a lot more Parkers. It is really a matter of personal preference.

In response to Daves accounting of both the Sterlingworth and the Trojan, it is well known that the Trojan, for Parker Bros. was a "break even" proposition at best. Parker designed and manufactured the Trojan simply to 'stay on the map' while other gun makers were stealing their lunch with the cheap guns they were flooding the market with. It was sink or swim.
The VH was Parker's low end introductory gun until the Sterly came along.
Of course Fox could produce their gun cheaper - it had way fewer parts but that fact doesn't make it a more well made gun... just a better design is all. Yes, fewer parts equate to fewer things to break or malfunction.
IMO a small bore Parker is a far nicer gun to look at, even the Trojan, but a lot can be said for the embellishments of a graded Fox, but I'll take the Parker any day.

Daryl - Did you have to look very long to find such a heavy 00-frame 28 gauge Parker? 7 1/4 lbs seems on the heavy side for such a Parker. My 28 ga. 00-frame VHE with 26" tubes is 6 1/4 lbs and I can't understand how 4 more inches of barrel accounts for 1 lb.?





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Not really Dean, I posted 4lb for the PB receiver in error and it's 3lb. It's 6.25lb total I scarfed the first 30" 28 I came across. It's really a well balanced gun and I agree that Parker has the edge on aesthetics as far as the Sterly's are concerned but if you had seen and handled that 32" CE Fox 20 that was at the Southern you would have to rethink that. I'd put it up against any high grade Parker.

The word to describe the smallbore Fox is lithe. So is the 30" Parker 28. My comparison in my previous post of the two guns was to show, in my opinion, that you have to go down to a OO frame PB gun to get the feeling of the Fox smallbore. Obviously your mileage may vary but it sure works for me.