screws in top of the rib
 

noticed a gun that has small screws in the rib. What does this show ?

That the gun is not worth as much as it would be without the screws. There is a gunsmith who can make them disappear, but I don't know how much he charges per hole. I have a gun with four 5-40 holes and I have not yet addressed the problem.

If the screws are near the breach end of the rib then the gun might have had one of these installed at one time.

Patrick

Patrick, is that some sort of prism mounted at the rear?





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Dean,
I am not sure. I have never owned one of these but I have had 2 nice double guns that had previously had these gizmo's mounted on the rib. Here is a pic I found on google from the back end of a model 12.

Patrick

and here is the rib after one is removed. :eek:

Thanks Patrick. I had never seen one but I have heard of them.

I wonder if they ever really were a benefit to shooting....?

Has anyone here ever shot a gun with one of these?






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Back when I was a teenager, my Mother's doctor for her rheumatoid arthritis had one on his Model 21 and swore by it. All I've ever done is swear at the holes in the ribs!!

thanks to all !

Jeff Cooper was a big advocate of them at one point. I have never seen the need.

I have a minty 20 gauge late VHE with four holes. I tried to line up the holes on two Nydar sights and neither one had holes that would line up with the holes on my gun. Apparently, some other aparatus was installed in the holes.

When I was shooting skeet at the DuPont club near Newark, Del in late 50's, early 60's, there was a gentleman who had apparently had a tough experience in WW2. He showed up with a telescopic sight somehow mounted on his shotgun. Scary

Weaver made the K1 scope for use on a shotgun. I tried one on a gun someone had down at the Potomac River Gun Club one time. Couldn't say it helped or hindered my skeet shooting, but certainly seemed unnecessary. One is pictured on page 162 of Shotguns by Keith, but the one I shot was decades newer then the one Keith pictured.

I had a friend of mine show up at the range with one. I tried it and found it was one of the dumbest things I have ever witnessed.

I have a very nice condition Philly Fox Sterlingworth 20 GA, w/ 30" bls, ejectors, and 2 screws in the top rib. My question is whether I should have it repaired? What would be the cost? Who could do such work? Or, should I leave it the way it is? Your advice would be helpful.

Many Thanks........Jerry

I think Steve Bertram can do it. There was a post or thread not long ago about this. I will use him if he is the one mentioned.

I would definitely leave those screws in the rib; just make sure they're "timed" each time before and after you use the gun!

I have a Super Fox that had screws in the bottom rib from a non-factory swivel. I asked Doug Turnbull about welding them up and spot re-blueing. I was told it could be done but the blue over the weld would take a little different color and the repaired holes would be still visible under bright sunlight. I decided to just have two screws installed flush and timed. Satisfies me. Just part of the guns history. Like many I sometimes get a little crazy about trying to make a gun original, not worth the expense in most cases.

Perhaps I may be of some assistance.

It's easy, in today's world of easy access internet, to forget that in the Victorian age and thereafter, it was not nearly as easy for the sportsman to access materials of interest.

Many a fine gun, Parkers included, were drilled to allow a stereoscope (see below) to be mounted. To the casual observer, it merely appeared as though the gentleman was out shooting his gun at whatever game was available. No one was any the wiser, no one was offended. But with the stereoscope, one merely needed to insert the desired photograph(s) and one could enjoy oneself afield as we do now in the privacy of our own toolsheds.

Thanks. I won't be filling those holes.

This is my L.C. Smith Ideal with a Nydar sight mounted. I've shot it quite a few times and once you get used to holding your head way off the stock it works well. In fact, with a properly designed stock it would probably work great. I think I read somewhere that the guy that put these into production was a gunner on a WW2 airforce bomber and the machine guns used a reflex sight like this. I'm leaving it on. At least I won't have to worry about filling the screw holes.
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...arleftside.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...dartopview.jpg

Wow. That thing is bigger that I imagined.
Kinda like a TV mounted on your elsie.

It does ruin the smooth, flowing lines of the Elsie. You don't have to have your eye perfectly lined up straight down the rib with this. You can still see the target circle and dot with your head a bit off center and it seems to still shoot where it should.

Once again, what is in the brass fixture at the rear of the Nydar sighting aid?





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Dean, on page one in the first photo you can see a small circle and dot at the rear of the sight near the brass part on mine. The rear projects the circle and dot onto the glass circle at the front of the sight. I called it a reflex sight in first post but I think the proper term is reflective. Basically gives it the single sighting plane of a telescope.

For fox ribs, you have the great option of having John Hosford re-matte the rib for you. The holes can be repaired. The machine then shaves the rib down and puts freah matting on it. Then the rib blung just beeds to be re-done.

You could get away with the repairs for around $500. And end up with a rib rib that looks factory new.

Thanks Bob - I understand it now.




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