doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Sterlingworth Double Barrel Shotgun - Year?

I recently found (after many years of it being with my now deceased brother) a Sterlingworth double barreled shotgun that I inherited from my great uncle early in the 1960s.

I found the serial number list here for these Fox made guns but the serial number of mine is not listed.

The bores, at the "business end" of the gun, measure a bit over 16mm. Markings on the gun include:
* Sterlingworth on the both sides of the receiver,
* STERLINGWORTH FLUID COMPRESSED STEEL on the top of the right barrel,
* MADE BY A.H.FOX GUN CO. PHILA. PA. U.S.A. on the top of the left barrel,
* The word "SAFE" forward of the safety lock,

and, of course, the serial number, which is 350475, a number just a bit below the lowest listed in this
table on this site. http://www.doublegunshop.com/dgsnos1.htm

The serial number is just to the rear of the trigger guard. This same serial number is repeated on the receiver on a flat area visible only when the gun is broken open.

So my questions are?
* What year was it made?
* What gauge is it (I obviously don't know shotguns)?
* What load should I use if I decide to shoot it?

I can post pictures if that would help.
Thanks in advance!

John Falconer

Most likely 1912/13.
It's a 16.
Loads for what?

Your Sterlingworth is a 16ga gun. The 16 ga Sterlingworth serial numbers began at 350000. I would guess your gun was shipped in 1912. The first year of production.
RST makes shotshells for vintage guns, have it checked by a qualified gunsmith first. Check out www.foxcollectors.com

When your 16-gauge Sterlingworth was built the heaviest "standard" 16-gauge loads were 2 3/4 drams equiv. of bulk or dense smokeless powder pushing 1 ounce of shot out of a 2 9/16 inch hull. Get some of their delightful 7/8 or 1 ounce loads in 2 1/2 inch cases from RST.

And, here is my comments on that old Fox serial numbe chronology --

The only way to know for sure when your gun was made/shipped is to get a letter on it from the Savage historian --

http://www.foxcollectors.com/factory_letters.htm

Fox serial numbers are in blocks by gauge and whether Sterlingworth or graded gun --

12-gauge Graded Guns -- 1 to 35280
12-gauge Sterlingworths -- 50000 to 161556
16-gauge Graded Guns -- 300000 to 303875
16-gauge Sterlingworths -- 350000 to 378481
20-gauge Graded Guns -- 200000 to 203974
20-gauge Sterlingworths -- 250000 to 271304
Single Barrel Trap Guns -- 400000 to 400568

I have some real problems with the published Fox serial number chronology, which was originally put out in 1976 by Lightner Library.

For 16-gauge Fox-Sterlingworths they are showing production of 500 (1931), 600 (1932), 600 (1933), 700 (1934), 1100 (1935), 1500 (1936), 700 (1937) and then 1600 for 1938. Then the serial numbers from 374800 to 378481 are given for 1939 up to the last gun made 8/9/1939. I don't believe there is any way they all of a sudden pumped out 3681 16-gauge Fox-Sterlingworths in eight or nine months!!! From my 20 or so years of recording serial numbers of observed Sterlingworths, guns in the 375,xxx, 376,xxx, 377,xxx and 378,xxx range certainly exist.

On the 12-gauge Fox-Sterlingworths they estimate the highest serial number for 1937 as 145000, for 1938 as 150000 and for 1939 as 155000. Again from my years of observing and recording serial numbers, I haven't recorded a gun between 143802 and 160195, leading me to believe there were about 16000 serial numbers skipped. Perhaps the high 143xxx range was the end of regular production and the guns in the 160xxx and 161xxx range were cleanup of parts and barrels on hand?!? All of the guns I've recorded in that range are 26-inch barrels except one two-barrel set that also has a pair of 28-inch barrels.

Thanks to all three of you who responded to my query - most useful information!

I found the foxcollectors site - obviously some people really like these guns - that's fun to know. Thanks too for suggesting (I know I'd have to confirm it via the factory letter) the date of 1912 as a ship date.

I expect we'll just keep this around as a bit of family history but I will have it looked over by a local gunsmith should I decide to shoot it.

Thanks again, John

Researcher,

Even if numbers were skipped and production is not as high as indicated, would the serial number ranges, and therefore the dates of production, still be fairly accurate?

In the Philadelphia years the Sterlingworths seem to be fairly close, but the Savage era Fox-Sterlingworths are not. In graded guns we find guns a thousand numbers apart shipped the same month and year and I have two guns 14 numbers apart shipped four years apart.

I have photocopies of many of the pages Roe Clark used to tabulate the graded 20-gauge guns for McIntosh's book. He did them in blocks of 50 records per page, just grade and shipping date. One of those blocks of fifty has shipping dates from the late 1920s into the 1940s!?!

When it comes to non graded shotguns such as Fox Sterlingworth's. NID Field grade's, Parker Trojan's and LC Field grade's don't you think that it is a bit silly to be concerned with production dates except to know when major events or changes in designs occurred? After all condition and utility of shooter grade guns should be driving the price shouldn't they?