More pics of DE-spl
 

Gun weight is 5lbs-2.5Oz 26" barrels.

Congrats on a fine gun Kenny. You have a great gun there.

No one can deny that the CSMC Foxes are finely made and beautiful guns. The question is are they really worth the eye popping price for a new one? Perhaps they are, but I am skeptical. Galazan has only itself to blame for that skepticism. Look at their asking prices for any used gun of any brand that they market on GunBroker. Its laughable---typically about two to three times what the gun is possibly worth, and consistently across all makers. When it comes to pricing credibility, CSMC has shot itself in the foot, IMHO. That's why I am reluctant to conclude that their Foxes are worth the price tag, especially when one considers that a British best in very sound condition can be had for roughly the same price.

I do not think CSMC is getting rich selling hand made guns. I think they do well on some items like A-10, RBL, mini tommy guns while guns like the Fox make very little profit. The number of Foxes are just to small. The size and scope of his operation carries the Fox production and allows it to happen. Those who want a gun like the custom Fox are lucky to have Tony willing to fool with them! I wonder how long they will offer them?.....few are being made due to the cost. Lou tells me my XE-16 Fox order was sent back to the factory and is in the system to be started...(-: SXS ohio

Kenny, beautiful gun. I too agree that Tony is not making much on the Foxes, when he had the semi trailer / showroom at the Vintagers a third of it was devoted to Model 21's over a third to RBL's and over on one wall sat four beautiful Fox custom guns. He sure was not highlighting them.....:shock: Which tells me he is not making a huge profit on them like the others. They are just plain beautiful guns and I an proud to own my FE.

Has any one ever asked Tony or Lou if they would make a custom Fox in 12g ?
Dave

I have been looking for the right Fox in 16ga. for years!!! Even thought about sending one out for full custom work. That turned out to be a huge undertaking and I got cold feet about the unknowns...dollar cost and time involved this and that kinda stuff. I looked a the few used CSMC Fox 16-s and never found one that was just what I wanted. I even called Lou about one I looked at with skeleton plate that Robbin Hollow still has that the pull was too long for me....Lou said it would be a big project and I would do better to order a new gun to my liking. After that conversation I started thinking about it???...man he was right! For just a little more I could do just that and have a gun made to order...sweet. So after long thought I called Lou back and asked about my two trades, told him what I felt was fair trade in values and he said bring em up. Plans were made and the deal is done! Now I started searching the web looking at all the CSMC Fox guns to get a better idea of what I like and did not like. My favorite gun and its twin was the DE-spl that Steve had on GI....I looked at that 28ga and its twin the 410 everyday. I could not take it! I called Steve about the 28ga. and made him a cash and one good trade offer. He agreed with no hesitation.....I was surprised at that!....the gun now has a new home. I am the 2nd owner not counting Steve. I liked the gun so much I called him to ask about its mate the 410...I was so dang lucky....its already SOLD!!! I might have took a loan on my house! SXS ohio

Steve is a great guy to deal with period! I would have had the CSMC DE 28 IF he could have traded but like I said before it's a consignment gun and I have two Parker 28's.

Ruff Hunter please tell me where I can buy a Boss, Purdey or Holland & Holland small bore for $20K. I have a very nice Holland & Holland Badminton 20GA (also purchased from Steve) that was significantly more than a CSMC Fox.

I admit that presently $35,000 is a little rich for me for one gun. Thinking about it 10 years ago I did not own any gun valued at over $4,000. Then, the thought of buying a $10,000 gun wasn’t something that I could comprehend. At least not for me. Today my safe has several exceeding that figure. Those five-figure guns are perhaps the only ones that appreciate in value! I’d be better off selling off most of my guns valued at less than $10k and investing those funds in high dollar guns.

What if today were yesterday? Let us suppose that it was the year 1900, give or take a decade. Most of us mature men would be shooting one or two DH grade Parkers or comparable grades by other makers. Those DH Parkers would have cost us the equivalent of $10,000 in 2015 dollars. Okay, I admit this is a hard comparison because there are so many economic factors to consider. For the sake of this please work with me… : )

At the pigeon or trap club there were a few gentlemen who sported AH grade Parkers which cost three times as much as did our DH. And heck, we could outshoot them DH vs. AH! Those AH shooters didn’t much care because they loved having the top of the line Parker. They let us handle and shoot their AH Parker and we think that maybe when the son has finished college and the daughter is married that maybe we would treat ourselves to an AH Parker. So a few years later we sit down with Arthur W. DuBray and lay down a year’s salary and order a custom made AHE. The AHE is delivered 6-12 months later and we shoot it on nice days for the rest of our life. Our wife may have lost her loveliness long ago, as did we, but the AHE never did. Beauty in our hands gave us pleasure as an old man as holding our lovely fiancée did decades ago.

Forward that scenario to today. We can purchase an AH, AHE, Fox DE, or other 100+ year old highest grade SMALLBORE vintage shotgun for $20,000 to $40,000. If we could find a 20 gauge AHE unfired, it might cost us $50,000.

Now, here is a guy who wants a gun made especially for him. He demands the finest wood, engraving, balance, and workmanship made to his specifications. A bespoke gun comparable to a London best. Okay, maybe a CSMC Fox doesn’t compare to a modern $100,000 London best gun but it is still a heck of a nice custom made for him gun. He orders a CSMC Fox and doesn’t look back.

For me, I do look at CSMC Foxes on the secondary market which sell for $15k and up. Maybe someday I will buy one just for its loveliness. To hold it in my hands as I slowly walk an upland field behind my aging dog. That alone for some reason will bring me pleasure and inspire memories and dreams of my younger days…

Rich, I have been lusting over that little CSMC Fox for at least 5 or more years. I first saw it on foxriversporting.com when it was listed for thousands less than it is now. It sold. A couple of years later it popped up on Barnett's site for thousands less than when Fox River Sporting had it listed. It sold. Now it shows up again on Barnett's site at ~ $9K more than the last time it was listed a couple of years ago. The best pics of this gun that I've seen are still on the Fox River Sporting site:
http://www.foxriversporting.com/prod...x-de-28ga-csmc