Purchased a Fox AE 16 made in 1918. Gun was ordered with a Capped Pistol Grip and Cylinder and Mod chokes and an Ebony Forearm Tip ala Grade C gun. Somewhere in its life the buttstock was cut and then also repaired (badly).

Anyway a new buttstock is required and its in for that work now. The question is whether to replace just the buttstock (and refinish the forearm to match), or to go all in and go ahead and recut the engraving and have it recased at the same time, trigger guard reblued etc. Just curious of thoughts on the subject.

FWIW, my original goal was just to get the buttstock done and leave the rest as is. There is currently no case color and the barrel blueing is far from perfect. Thoughts?

Butt transplant?...Geo

Cheaper'n a new stock.

Some Fox afficionado's have become quite adept at spending $5000 on $2000 doubles.
W@hat kind of afficionado are you?

It's hard for them to get their money back, and it's easy for their heir's to sell them for 2000. Two of the clubs I shoot at have a surplus of RGS members with redone Foxes. It seems a common path to follow.

My custom Foxes will be coveted by all collectors and sell for very high prices. However, I am not a full house custom fan. If it needs a stock, give it a stock.

Added the picture. Butt transplant isn't an option unfortunately.

Do the butt. I hate doing the fore end as well. Just as much work as the butt alone to me.

I support this message. It is far better to restock to measure then to throw money away on complete restoration.

I'd go with just a butt stock and then use it,,see if you fall in love with the gun.
It might end up one that becomes trade bait after all and any extra work you would have put into it would be tough to recover.

If you do end up with the ultimate keeper,,then go ahead and complete a restoration on it.

Or go all out and make your very own FE Special

If it wasn't already a special order gun I would have tricked it out and upgraded it to an XE. Love an XE small bore Fox.

My way of doing things like this is what Kutter said. I like a little at a time. If it grows on me, then I go further. Besides, I don't always know what I will really be happy with at the time. I have a 30" Fox in Texas having an extra set of 32" barrels fitted to it. They are in the white..........finished except for a bead and bluing. My instructions were to fit the barrels, send the gun home to me, I will shoot it 6 months too see if I really like the 32" barrels as they are, or if they need some further striking, then I'll send it back. As I said, I just like a little at the time. That is not to say that I have never considered doing a full blown custom Fox "all at once", I've just never gone through with it for the afore mentioned reason.

Have fun with it, Tom..........SRH

Cheek panel restoration is another option, tut. I am going to have an HE, which had the cheek panels checkered at some time in the past, "restored" by having an expert apply a veneer of matching walnut over the checkered areas, then blend it in so that it is unnoticeable. That stock looks nice except for the diamond inlay. Same thing could be done to it.

SRH

Unfortunately it has a 12 1/2 LOP to the end of the wood. Gun was ordered with 13 1/2" with a recoil pad. Sucker must have had short arms. Think I'll just do the buttstock and see where I end up and take it from there. Nice little gun.

It's your money to spend and enjoy, or not.

Very nice gun. I would start by calling Jason at Pumpkin Mountain and see what he has for buttstocks. A 16 gauge C grade sure deserves a new buttstock. I would have the butt replaced and the forend restored to match.

Me. too. It's not that hard to do, matching the forend wood to the butt, or vice versa. See this thread I started some time ago for an example.

http://forum.foxcollectors.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=7229

SRH

Stan,, curious about who will cut your rib on your ITW bbls,, can't recall who has the cutter from savage at this time.

Mr. tut,, your bbls look like they have been re-done,, but the action looks to just have worn-off colors which I think look great on the later A engraving.. why not consider leaving action as-is and tone down bbl blue if looks too black? Bbls may be a DIY job if you have some guidance? I regret putting non-original colors on two Fox's I have had work done on.. Seems to hide the the stuff I like to look at and I won't live long enough to wear down the fresh bone 'n charcoal colors..although I believe both of my examples have colors that are very pleasing to the eye with nice balance of that straw hue that comes through in the original cyanide applied in Philly.. and yes, I have an original example to compare & contrast.. all my opinion and delivered with utmost respect to both you and Stan,, real Fox guys! Best jmc.

Oh yeah,, I would pay a premium for flat-top checkering on that pistol grip replacement.. if I knew who could do it like it was back in the day.. I have no idea why pointed up checkering becam the standard,, don't ever recall blaming a miss on the darn checkering pattern! Pretty sure those A grades were flat like the Sterlingworth which looks so cool when left as they came.. again, JMHO. Best, jmc

Thanks, imc. I'm just a hacker, but I enjoy shooting my guns. As to the rib matting..........mine was already cut when I bought it. This wasn't a set like you would get from Jason at Pumpkin Mtn., but was a very unusual situation. The barrel set was completely finished by Fox (Utica)..........rib was matted, chokes cut, barrels roll-stamped, and chambered to 2 3/4" with the ejectors already installed and the rims cut. The only things not done is that there were no beads installed, and the barrels had not been blued. They were bought from a private collector who offered them to me years ago.

I like flat-topped checkering on the guns originally done that way, but also like nicely pointed up diamonds where they are apropos.

Thanks for the posts, SRH

Yeah, Stan,, I wasn't sure if Pumpkin Mtn carried any barrels that were checkered and haven't been on their site in a while. Sure would like to know if the original tooling from [ultimately] Savage, was acquired and ever put to commercial use by a business that may longer be 'in business' anymore? Thought that I heard something like that a while ago... any how, your find of the 32's is quite fascinating in itself! I shot a friends 32" bbl Parker on Canada geese and it took a few misses before I 'harnessed' them but then it was a great joy to reach out a bit with confidence. - jmc

Thanks all. Jason doesn't have the original Fox barrel matting machine. That is now owned by Jon Hosford I believe. That is original checkering on the buttstock and it is pointed. Sterly's had the flat top checkering. Think I will stick with the buttstock replacement to match the original Forearm for now.

Thanks for the thoughts.

John does have the machine and it is operating and he will matte ribs. He has the roll dies as well. I have had him do a few sets for me.

Tom restock it and enjoy. Bobby