Fox Skeet and Upland Wood Finish

[Adam Steinquist]

Hi all,

I just picked up what I believe to be a Fox Skeet and Upland Game gun (research letter already order and am yet to receive). It’s in decent overall condition, though it was definitely used, not pampered.

I’m curious if anyone knows what finish might have been used on these guns. I’ve read that the Philly guns had lacquer - does anyone know if the process changed once Savage took hold of the reins?

My gun appears to have a shellac or alcohol based finish and in my testing on a discrete location of the gun there does not appear to be a lacquer finish beneath the current one.

The finish that’s on the gun looks un-professional and “glommy” but due to my limited experience with Foxes I’m wondering if someone can tell me whether or not there’s a chance the existing finish might be original.

[Bill Murphy]

Looks like some varnish or Tru-Oil was applied over a worn original finish. I would strip it down to bare wood and start over. This will be a great gun with new wood finish.

[Adam Steinquist]

Thanks Bill! Is Tru-oil alcohol soluble? Whatever is on the gun now is very easily alcohol soluble. Do you know what might have been period correct for these Savage era guns? I’m a guitar builder and am ver comfortable with wood finishing so would feel comfortable applying most finishes, but would love to be as close to period correct as possible.

Also, maybe on a tangent, but do Fox collectors care less about original wood finish? I feel like I see many more Foxes going for good money that have been refinished than I see with other guns. Does “period correct” or wood refinishing matter less to the typical Fox collector?

[Researcher]

DuPont DUCO Lacquer

DuPont DUCO Lacquer ad.png

[Adam Steinquist]

Thanks Dave! Would it be the most appropriate course to refinish this also in lacquer since it seems this finish isn’t original? Or now that it has already been refinished by someone, would it be more advantageous to refinish in a different method?

[Keith Sirmans]

Timberluxe is very forgiving to use and holds up well.

[Pay Dirt]

+1 ^

[Craig Larter]

During the majority of Fox production the Sterlingworths, A grades and B grades were finished in sprayed lacquer. Lacquer chips easily and crazes with time. Most have had some type of finish restoration either top coated or fully redone. Finding a other than very high condition Sterlingworth with original finish is very rare.
The only solvent for a dried oil finish is a long soak in Acetone from my experience. Alcohol will remove shellac easily, lacquer thinner will remove lacquer.

[Cold Spring]

E I DuPont's "Duco" as used on late Phila and Utica Fox guns was a nitrocellulose lacquer that was somewhat flexible when hunted in extremes of temperature. I'm quite sure it was sprayed to apply and suspect but don't know for sure that it had a coloring compound added to darken lighter shaded walnut. Of course that Duco finish has become more brittle over time and as Craig noted, honest lower grade Foxes that were hunted will show chips, flaking, crazing, etc. The closest authentic finish you might do today is with Guitar nitrocellulose lacquer as available on Amazon and otherwise on-line in both liquid and spray cans. The liquid as applied using a small sprayer would probably give the best finish with a minimum of fine sanding between coats.

[Aaron Beck]

Has anyone used permalac? Its pretty good stuff