Ansley H. Fox

[OLD GEEZER]

I rescued a 12 ga. A with 28 inch Barrels today that is ser. no. 26294. I was wondering if someone could tell me if these would be the correct length of barrels for this ser. no. Thanks Thomas

[OH Osthaus]

It may exist, but i have never seen a serialization book for Fox. Shotguns. I think you would need to get a letter to confirm original configuration

[Double Lab]

Thomas;
You might have better luck on the Fox Collectors site. There is no serialization type book for Foxes like we have for Parkers.

[tom tutwiler]

Gun was made in 1920. Without requesting a factory letter its pretty tough to know with absolute certainty what the original barrel length was. That said, a pretty good indication is how long the chokes are. Most Foxes have parallel chokes that run 3.5-4.5 inches long. If the chokes length is less then that they are most likely cut. Reason I say mostly likely cut is Fox did allow some latitude when it came to orders. For example, if someone special ordered a gun chokes cylinder and mod, in some cases there are examples where Fox actually cut the barrels on a longer barreled gun to meet the customers needs. Another rule which is not 100 percent certain is touching barrels at the ends. Seems like a fair amount of Fox 26" barrels don't touch at the ends, but that doesn't mean they were cut.

Sort of rambling here, but if the gun is choked full/mod and the chokes are 3.5-4.5" long I'd bet a large amount of money they hadn't been cut and would consider that a pretty good bet.

[DoubleDown]

Hey Thomas,

You won't have to wait for a Callahan letter, the factory order cards are available. If you join the Fox Collectors Association, you get one free card lookup per year, and you can pay for additional card lookups via paypal. Several of the Admins have access to the cards and are usually very quick to respond. They will email the card to you so you will have a copy. A card should be available based on the serial number you have listed.

Congrats on the new Fox!

Mike

[Cold Spring]

Make that: full tapered chokes, not parallel. Open chokes such as IC, and sometimes Mod, can be less than 4" or so (tapered reamer was run in farther).

Except for very late Savage guns, almost all Fox chokes are full tapered from the start of the choke, to the muzzle. One exception is "Fox Cylinder" in some Savage upland guns which has a slight reverse taper at the muzzle.... kind of like an hourglass in profile.

To reiterate Mike's answer...... card lookups for graded guns > s/n ~10,000 only ........ are available to AHFCA members. Membership info is on the Fox Collectors' home page. A card lookup will verify the original barrel length and gun build specs.

Frank

[Steve McCarty]

I have a letter for my Fox Sterlingworth that was made in 1929. It came with the gun. According to the letter, it was made full and full, but is now a full and modified. Has 30 inch tubes and has been refurbished, but just right so it looks old, but well cared for. A fine old Fox that, except for the thinish finish, is like new.

Those Fox guns work extremely well and have an excellent safety that is easy to flick "off" on the covey rise. I've never shot mine at trap/skeet, but the low comb would make it a little difficult to hit with...least that's my guess.

I may raise the comb with an add on and shoot it at trap just because the triggers are so light and crisp.

[Steve McCarty]

Just for grins, here is my Fox Sterlingworth. I have the letter and will post it.

[Steve McCarty]

Here is what a Fox gun letter looks like. It was in the bottom of the leg-o-mutten case and when the gun was dropped in their it crushed the letter. I did not crumple it on purpose. Sorry it is sideways, but that is what I had to do to show it all.

[OLD GEEZER]

Steve: Great looking gun and case. I believe you can hit the rotate button when storing the photo's. Thanks Thomas