why is my Fox a Parker?

[B. Dudley]

The "Pin" sterlingworths are kind of a carryover from the earlier Philadelphia arms shotguns which were very much a copy of Parker guns from a cosmetic standpoint (frame profiling was very similar, recessed hinge pin, the forend parts are identical to parkers and the rib matting and makers marks are also identical). The Philly arms guns also had some parts in them that were right out of the LC smith Parts bins. I actually suspect that Fox (philly arms) may have actually purchased raw parts from these other makers to save work on their end.

The only hold over in the "Pin" sterlingworths from the Philly Arms guns was the recessed pin and the checkering patterns used on the wrists. I do not know why they would have decided to hold these features on only the Sterlingworth, and not the graded guns of the same period. The "pin" sterlingworths are certainly a curiosity for these reasons to most people.

Another tidbit of information on these guns is that they were only made for less than 3 years and they actually have 3 different forend fastening systems on them that are all totally different from each other. The first style used was the "Baker" style latch which utilized a "J" spring to hold the forend on. Many of these fronds ended up getting lost over the years and they are very hard to find due to their limited production.