Fox 12 bore Pin Gun

rickey hughes · 02-23-2013, 11:05 AM

I found a Fox 12 bore Pin gun. 30 inch barrels. The gun has been custom stocked english style. nice job plus period red pad. price is $1400. but for less maybe $1200. Looking for duck gun. it is full and full and barrels and chambers have not been touched. What say ye?

BRDHNTR · 02-23-2013, 11:08 AM

any way to post pics os same?

Harold Pickens · 02-23-2013, 12:45 PM

Recently picked up a Sterlingworth Co pin gun and I like it alot and I dont shoot 12 ga much. Mine however has 28" barrels and seems to be choked cyl/mod which was a standard offering in its 4 weight barrels( F0xes lightest). It certainly is more of an upland gun than one for the duck blind. Didnt have to pay near that much, but then it doesnt have a custum English stock--it would be great if it did. The Va Turkey who watches this forum seems quite knowledgable about Foxes, you might pm him. Doubtless, there are alot of PGCA members as knowledgable about Foxes as they are their Parkers.

Big Friend Ten (BFT) · 02-23-2013, 01:56 PM

Sterlingworth pin guns were their first year only (give or take a little) and thus have certain collect-ability and higher prices than other Sterlys. One can buy a decent Sterlingworth 12 gauge for $800 or less. If you desire a pin gun, then okay. If you like the custom wood, okay. If however you only want a decent SxS for ducks then save yourself a few hundred and buy a non-pin Sterlingworth.

What ever gun you buy pay attention to the wood at the head of the stock. If it is black or very dark is is probably oil soaked. If so, heavy duck loads will cause a crack before too long. Good wood is the key and then skim coat it with super glue or Accru-Glass from Brownells.

If that pin gun is stocked with tight wood to metal fit, fits you, and you liek ti then go make and good deal and shoot some ducks next season!

I assume you realize that through anything more that about improved cylinder, roughly .010" constriction in a 12 gauge, you should use a soft non-toxic shot such as Bismuth, Nice Shot, or Kent TM?

wayne goerres · 02-23-2013, 03:28 PM

you should probable measure your chambers. Most likely has short chambers (2 5/5"). I am not a duck hunter but Heavy loads in that gun are going to stress the gun and probably kick like hell.

Researcher · 02-24-2013, 09:53 AM

Sterlingworth -- When Ansley H. Fox, was forced to add a lower priced gun to his line of graded Ansley H. Fox guns, in 1910, he didn't want to detract from the A.H. Fox Gun Co. name, so they dummied up "The Sterlingworth Company." The first year’s guns, beginning with serial number 50,000, were marked as being "Made By The Sterlingworth Company, Philadelphia, U.S.A." Actually the first few hundred were marked "Wayne Junction" instead of Philadelphia. They even produced a separate The Sterlingworth Gun Co. catalogue for 1910. These guns were built under the same patents as the graded Ansley H. Fox guns. The main moneysaving features were an American Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) stock as opposed to the more costly European thin shell walnut (Juglans regia) stocks on the graded guns, and the "Sterlingworth Fluid Steel" barrels instead of Krupp Fluid Steel barrels. Workmanship on these early Sterlingworths was generally excellent, better than graded guns from the 1920's and 30's. The early "The Sterlingworth Company" guns had a rounded front for the side panel of the frames. According to my list of observed specimens that was changed to the same pointed profile as the graded guns by #51,301.

In 1911 this field grade gun was added to the A.H. Fox Gun Co. catalogue as the Model 1911. "Model 1911" is stamped in the forearm iron. (A very few graded guns made about this time are stamped Model 1910) The lowest Model 1911 serial number I've recorded is #53,140. All of these early Sterlingworths had a recessed hinge-pin head like Parkers, or Ansley's earlier guns made in Baltimore and the Philadelphia Arms Company A.H. Fox gun. The highest "pin gun" Sterlingworth serial number I've recorded is # 62,244. After that Sterlingworth hinge-pins are dressed smooth like the graded guns. When the small-bores (16- and 20-gauge) were added to the Ansley H. Fox line they were briefly referred to in some flyers as the Model 1912, but I've never seen one so stamped. Graded 20-gauge guns have serial numbers beginning with 200,000 and 20-gauge Sterlingworths 250,000. Graded 16-gauge guns have serial numbers beginning with 300,000 and 16-gauge Sterlingworths 350,000.

$1200 to $1400 is barely a third of a really good restocking job. If the gun fits you that could be a real bargain. Proper RST Niceshot non-tox loads that are suitable for these old guns are about $3 every time you pull the trigger.

Harold Pickens · 02-24-2013, 11:46 AM

Dave
After reading your post, I had to go check out my pin gun #52042. No, it does not have the Model 1911 on the forend iron as you dicussed. I have only put 1 shell thru the gun since I bought it, but it brought down a big cock grouse over Betty, the dog in my avatar. I have loaded up a bunch of 7/8 oz loads and look forward to breaking a few clays this spring.

Harold Pickens · 02-25-2013, 12:02 PM

Dave,
Why are some of the "pins" on the pin guns slotted and some unslotted. I have seen pictures both ways. Mine does have slotted pins.

Researcher · 02-27-2013, 05:21 PM

I guess it is just a time period thing.

Top to bottom -- 50471 no slots, shipped March 24, 1910; 60726 slots both sides, shipped July 22, 1912; 62126 ejector gun no slots, Shipped August 4, 1913 --

The 1911 A.H. Fox Gun Co. "Campgire" catalogue shows slots --

The 1912 "Campfire" Catalogue uses the same picture, but the text includes the smallbores and we've never seen a smallbore "pin gun".

Some of my Parker Bros. doubles have slots and some don't.

wayne goerres · 02-27-2013, 06:33 PM

I have two philly foxes an A grade 20ga and a 12ga sterlingworth. If memory servs me, both were made around 1915. Neither has a pin with a head on it (headless). Must have something to do with date of manufacture.