doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Striking off the barrel legend - how does it look?

I've been following this thread with some interest maily because I also did a custom Fox on a Sterlingworth. At thime that I did the gun Oscar Gaddy asked me if I planned on removing the Sterlingworth lettering. I said no it is what it is. That said, if I had access to a laser welder like I do now I probably would have filled in the lettering and had something like "Custom Fox Blah Blah Blah" engraved on the barrels.

I did spend countless hours filing and polishing the internal parts to the point where they are much nicer than any factory Fox that I've ever had apart. I've never worked on an FE so they may be better but I doubt it.

I do understand Miller's point on the use of "Krupp" but that said....CJ that is a really nice Fox! Great work!

This is meant to be something of a technical question and surely not intended to be emotionally provocative. At what point does a Stirlingworth cease to be a Stirlingworth in the customization process and become a "Custom Fox"? It seems to me that the reserection of a beater Stirlingworth and its transformation into something "better in the eyes of the owner" is a noble undertaking. I see only two ills. One is any attempt to fake a higher factory grade gun. The second is the destruction of a collector grade piece of Americana.

2-p, I see your point as to a gun being what it was made at the factory. On the other hand, I can easily believe that customizing a gun could be for reasons other than being ashamed to be seen with a lowly grade. Must beautiful guns be seen as status sybmols? Can a lowly person legitimately own a beautiful gun?

Doug,

I've only seen one of your custom Foxes. I didn't see the barrels, but, as I recall, the beautiful gold grouse on the frame didn't seem to be inlaid over a Sterlingworth stamp(?).

2 piper, I think the point is that CJs gun was never intended to fool anyone into thinking it was something other than an upgraded Sterlingworth , like we often see. Steven Hughes made a living doing them beautifully at one time. It still has the unmistakable Sterlingworth numbers, probably the Sterlingworth forend, and custom engraving that someone would have to be really gullible to believe was an unknown, one of a kind, factory collector piece.

Now, if he had changed serial numbers, forend type [possibly], and put a factory engraving pattern on the gun, you might have a point. Now he just has a really cool "FOX".

Mike, I did have the Sterlingworth stamp on the frame TIG welded. The Sterlingworth engraving on a Fox, as you know, is very shallow so I removed it with a file. I just wasn't fond of the idea of the heat from a TIG weld on my barrels although I'm fairly certain that it would be ok. The heat issue, if there is any, is why I like laser welding so much more. It's tiny, precise and very very little heat generation that I'm aware of.

Boy,.. I sure stirred the pot with this post,...sometimes I wonder why I bother to post at all, but I guess life would be too dull if I just sat on the sidelines
I was about to post some more work I just finished doing on a little British double, but now I think I'll wait

Thanks Doug,..the Tig welding I use is done under a microscope,.. well controlled. Anyway, some of those stamps are so deep that I think striking them off would not be a good idea, even though the bbls are pretty thick in that area
Murphy,...I engraved the bbls myself

CJ

Thanks,Doug. I've wondered about how to deal with the barrels legend myself, but it hadn't occurred to me to ask any owners of custom guns. And thanks, CJ; now that I've seen yours I know how to approach it and mine will read ...

"Made for Mike Campbell"

"By A.H. Fox Gun Company"

CJ - OK, so there was a tat bit of conflict. However, look at all the information that came out of the discussion. I felt that the exchanges on ethics were worth every word I read. That is a topic that hasn't been heavily discussed, IMO. Please, do post your work; I love it.

What constitutes "destruction of a collector quality grade of Americana"? I have a well worn graded Fox that has mildly pitted bores, some pitted frame areas, and a stock that was brutally attacked by the previous owner with a random orbital sander. If someone were to restock, or file and re-engrave the frame, or hone the bores, would this constitute destruction of a the gun?

That is why we are taking opinions. Ultimately, it is your choice. But, you might like to listen to what several other "sensitive" types have to say. Personally, I'm kinda middlin' on the topic. I near gag at the prospect of cutting up a high condition gun of almost any grade. On the other hand, I can't see telling someone not to spend an unwise amount of cash on the birthin' of a fine custom gun from a clapped out gun of most any grade. Oh, there are a few really rare grades of guns that probably ought be only restored to as near former glory as possible, but they are, as I say, rare.