Sterlingworth questions
 

Hi all just picked up a 12 ga sterly Philly gun locks up real tight top lever far right of center bores very good some external dings. Bought it as a shooter not a collector 7 lbs 4 oz. here's where it gets unusual. 28 7/16" barrels. Both barrels measure .727 and both chokes measure .686. 2 5/8" chambers. Both chokes measure just shy of 3" long. Sn range is 113xxx any one ever seen these barrel lengths? I thought the barrels had been cut but with 41 thousands restriction maybee not any ideas would be apprieciated.

At that length, I would suspect them to be cut as well. Do the tubes touch at the muzzle? Does end fill look right?

Hi Andy,

My guess would be cut as well, down from 30". Most Philly Fox chokes were 4 to 4.5 inches in length. It varies of course, but 29" certainly wasn't a standard Fox barrel length.

Mike

Tubes do not touch. Did fox have parallel chokes as these are still 41 thou which I understand is about 5 thou tighter than standard full chokes from fox

My Sterlingworth is untouched, with .044" in each barrel :shock:

They are cut.

Just to clarify something here with respect to A H Fox guns. Many original Foxes have tubes that do not touch at the muzzle - hence "tubes touching" is not a definitive test of original barrel length for Foxes, either Philly or Utica made. That may be valid for some makers but please let's not perpetuate that notion for Fox. :banghead:

Regarding the Sterlingworth cited here - from the postings it would seem the barrels have been cut from 30-inches. Fox barrels could run up to 3/16" or so short - but I've never seen anything like 7/16" overlength on a Sterly. That would rule out longish 28-inch barrels on this gun, at least in my mind. Fox "full choke" for regular 12-gauge guns (not Super-Fox) will average ~40 thou constriction, plus/minus a few thou. Andy, you may want to check the calibration on your bore mike. 41 thou constriction with cut barrels isn't what I would expect with Fox tapered choke(s).

Frank is right. They don't all touch at the muzzle, and some chokes are way long, like over 4". If you are really really interested in "finding out", you should request a Callahan letter on your gun. In the meantime, you should be very happy with a great gun.

Thank everyone for your responses. I did triple check my Hastings bore mike and the chokes are 41 thousands. I do look forward to shooting some clays this weekend with the new fox.