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There are some articles in the DGJ that are plenty technical, this was not one of them. I understand it's not a gunsmithing magazine.

The claim to fame of this thing is supposed to be it's simplicity, so maybe I'll just get out the crowbar and splitting maul and have at it.

Certainly it didn't come out of the factory 82 years ago with a 12 pound rear trigger, did it?

Usually about 3 1/2 pounds front, 4 rear. If it takes twice the weight of the gun to pull it there is something wrong.

Researcher: The three pictures are interesting. Do I also see three different styles of engraving on the border lines and two styles rib dressing?

Why the three radius changes,strength,head splits or production cost cut's?

That is interesting, I have a 1929 16 ga Sterlingworth (366321) that has the square fitting at the frame top. I wonder if this was on all gauges or just the small frames?

Your Trigger

Regarding the trigger, strange things can occur internally in any of these old fellas we're so wrapped up with. I haven't had a Fox apart for thirty years, but as I recall, they come apart fairly easily. If I had a trigger that bad, I'd want to disassemble the receiver enough to remove the butt, reassemble the receiver and then carefully examine both components. On the wood, I'd look for splits, cracks, deteriorated wood, etc. On the receiver, other than something easy to spot, I'd cock it, pull the triggers and see what I could see. A special little thing I'd do is to try to tighten both rear tang screws to the same level of tension I found them in before disassembly. Then I'd vary that tension and continue testing. Don't forget the safety, either. Chances are along the way you'll discover why your rear trigger is so contrary and have a leg up on fixing it. This little protocol also provides a chance for thorough cleaning.

The DGJ Articles

Got what I expected out of them. If their titles had been "The Fox Shotgun - 101", I would have expected more mechanical and "how-it-functions" type info. But they weren't. What they gave me was more of the fine-grit type info on the Sterlingworth Fox I crave, as a fairly advanced Sterlingworth admirer. The articles met my specs.

Barrel Extension - Frame Join Point

Never noticed this before. Wonder if there were any subtle dimensional differences in barrel width/height, or the same for the receiver, among the three. Is the wider radius deeper, along with being wider? Is the rib on the 1910 model lower than on the Utica model? Maybe just some sort of production economy - don't know - but interesting.

Researcher - Old 1021xx here which the tables say is from '25, exhibits the tang radius of your second pix, but the border engraving is much tighter, similar to #1 pix. Just another data point for you, though I'm sure you've seen dozens (if not hundreds) of the things.

Thanks for the tip on the trigger. Could be just corrosion - I'll find out when I get time to crawl inside.

Update - I couldn't stand the suspense and had to tear into it while my interest is still high. It's very beefy and heavy duty as you guys know, but mine does exhibit some fairly extensive corrosion - especially (surprise) on the sears. The nose of the left sear needs a polish job and it should be fine.

This one is a 30" job and undoubtedly has seen much use as a waterfowler. It has been apart, but it would seem not recently. I'd almost recommend based on this that a regular disassembly and cleaning isn't a bad idea if the gun is used outside in the real world much at all. Better to take it part while you can still get it apart.

I think I'll leave more complex SxS guns to the pros.