doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com New Guy with an A.H. Fox question

Hi Folks. I have been reading this forum for a few years now. I am an avid upland hunter living in western Canada. I have been searching for a Fox 20 gauge (Philly) for some time now. I found a private sale Sterlingwoth this week that dates from 1914. However it has a few issues and I would appreciate input on whether or not they may be difficult or very costly to repair. The first issue is a small dent in the right barrel. It is not a crease, it is a small round indentation but still visible when sighting down the inside of the barrel. The second issue is that when the lever is pushed over to the right to open the action, the lever goes back to center while the action is open making it necessary to move the lever to close the action. Other than those 2 issues the bores are gleaming, the screws appear unmolested and the case colour is very good. The stock is in good shape, but has a 3 inch drop at heel and is 13.5 inches from front trigger to pad. The seller is asking $1200 for it which I,m sure is negotiable. Do you think that the repair costs I might incur would make this a poor buy? I have seen some pretty high prices for 20 bores recently and they are very rare in my area. For me to import one from the U.S. is prohibitive due to the poor Canadian dollar. Would a Sterlingworth of that vintage have come stock with 2.5 inch chambers. wasn't able to measure them when I viewed the gun. Thanks for any advise that you could provide.

the fixes are no big deal to any good double gunsmith..the lever is usually a broken or missing small spring, or worst case a small worn part that is easy to fabricate......the dent is easy to remove but will leave a mark....then you have to decide to just live with the mark, have the spot touched up, or the barrels completely re-blued.....and yes it would of left the factory with short chambers.....

Both of those issues are not uncommon, and are easily corrected. IMO, $1200 is not really high, but I would certainly try to buy it for as much less than that as I could. If there are really no other issues with it, you should be able to get those two items sorted out for somewhere in the $300+ range. I had the exact same two things corrected on a Fox a couple years ago.

SRH

the dent - if no creases should be a simple task for a "qualified" gunsmith

the lever issue sounds like a broken or missing spring that goes under the floorplate screw- its often lost when the screw is removed by someone who doesn't know it there and does not watch for it. a small coil spring is what you need, i once replaced one using the spring from a ball point pen.

yes it is likely short chambers

Tim, welcome aboard. You are Canadian. Ignore what others say here about the probable cost of repairs. It's Canada and it's a very different double gun market than the US, for purchase prices and repairs.

I agree about the simplicity of repairs with the other posters but be very selective about who you get to do the work. I don't know where in the west you are so can't recommend anyone that might be near you at the moment except some guys in Kelowna.

Hey James ,you could recommend some way out east if you like

Newf does wonderful work at reasonable price.

Chris, before I give him your contact info I need to find out if he speaks Newfoundland. He may not be bilingual.

Stan, $1200 up here is equivalent to $850 USD. It's a pretty good price for a SW 20 gauge. Although that is said with no knowledge of the specific gun except as posted originally.

I figured you were just distracted by that swoon Les Canadiens are in c-back. They better get Price back quick. Sorry for the hijack Tim. I gave you three stars. Two for a good first post and one for Canadian politeness.



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