Author |
Message |
< 16ga. Guns ~ Another 16 has joined me...Fox A Grade |
|
Posted:
Sat Feb 13, 2021 7:14 pm
|
|
|
Joined: 10 Aug 2005
Posts: 16
Location: CT
|
|
Another 16! I acquired a 1920’s A.H. Fox 16ga A Grade with 3wt barrels, refinished in the 70’s so I was told. I don’t know much else about it, but will be ordering the card for it. 28”, 2 beads, 2 3/4” chambers, IC/IM. I’m guessing the chambers and chokes were altered.
I will most likely install a period correct (repro if I must) pad for it. Need to do homework on that. Problem is I need 15” +/- a little length of pull, so I will need to figure out a way to lengthen it without it looking “too modern.” LoP to the end of the wood is about 13 7/8” and to the end of the pad is about 14 3/4” (so it’s close).
It seems to potentially have a trigger/firing issue with the 2nd trigger. 1st trigger seems fine, but the 2nd seems soft and does not “click” when using snap caps. I haven’t actually shot this gun yet. Previous owner says he recently shot some clays with it, and it was fine.
Anyway, on to the pics:
[url=https://fishrising.smugmug.com/Category/n-jxzHf/Fox/i-9RfpPTZ/A]
[/url]
[url=https://fishrising.smugmug.com/Category/n-jxzHf/Fox/i-N3b9WLJ/A]
[/url]
[url=https://fishrising.smugmug.com/Category/n-jxzHf/Fox/i-BFPRmNM/A]
[/url]
[url=https://fishrising.smugmug.com/Category/n-jxzHf/Fox/i-rn2GMbV/A]
[/url]
[url=https://fishrising.smugmug.com/Category/n-jxzHf/Fox/i-7MdcnqK/A]
[/url]
[url=https://fishrising.smugmug.com/Category/n-jxzHf/Fox/i-z8N945n/A]
[/url]
Trying to link a video of the trigger sounds, 1st sound is safety off, 2nd is the 1st trigger, 3rd is the 2nd trigger. Listening to this sounds better (like the 2nd trigger is fine) than I am hearing when I do actually do it:
https://fishrising.smugmug.com/Category/n-jxzHf/Fox/i-9fhxnkq |
_________________ Ben
"fishrising"
16 Fox A Grade
16 AOC/SG Ugartechea
16 Model 37
16 Belgium Guild Hammergun |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Sat Feb 13, 2021 8:00 pm
|
|
|
Member
Joined: 15 Apr 2007
Posts: 9472
Location: Amarillo, Texas
|
|
Wow!!
Nice shotgun
Use it well and often
Mike |
_________________
,
USAF RET 1971-95 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Sat Feb 13, 2021 9:03 pm
|
|
|
Joined: 27 Aug 2020
Posts: 95
Location: SE TX Marsh and Young County Tx
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Sun Feb 14, 2021 7:12 am
|
|
|
Joined: 24 Jun 2013
Posts: 2069
Location: canandaigua - western n.y. (formerly deerhunter)
|
|
SWEET !! |
_________________ Molly sez AArrrooooooah ! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Sun Feb 14, 2021 8:39 am
|
|
|
Member
Joined: 27 Jun 2012
Posts: 1115
|
|
Beautiful gun, you have found a real keeper. On your pad issue, you might be forced to fit two pads, one for shooting and a second period pad for show. Galzan has quite a few period recoil pads to choose from. On your pad for shooting, when I'm forced to use spacers with a pad, I like to epoxy the pad and spacer together and grind it like an extra thick pad. My A H Fox Special needed more length and a change of pitch that I solved by epoxying a tapered spacer to a Pachmayer SC-100 pad. It fits me great now.
|
_________________ An elderly gentleman, his faithful dogs, and a 16 ga SXS. All is right with the world. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Sun Feb 14, 2021 9:43 am
|
|
|
Joined: 07 Jun 2020
Posts: 233
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Sun Feb 14, 2021 11:15 am
|
|
|
Joined: 19 Jan 2019
Posts: 289
Location: Idaho & South Dakota
|
|
Really nice! |
_________________ "A gun should be a thing of beauty, something which gives its owner pride and pleasure. For that reason, most men will buy the best gun they can afford. With a good gun on his arm, a man becomes a sporting gentleman, both on the field and off." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Sun Feb 14, 2021 7:22 pm
|
|
|
Joined: 16 Jul 2015
Posts: 2127
Location: Hudson,Wy
|
|
Saw elsewhere that gun has #3 barrels, so I imagine it is light and well balanced. Be careful adding a spacer that will get you to 15" since it will affect this balance. Of course, there a ways to remedy this, usually strategic removal of wood inside the stock.
The traditional method of lengthening over in England is to add an extension, made of wood that matches the color and grain of the original stock as closely as possible. There is the inevitable seem where the two meet of course. The only method I know to completely hide this, is to do a series of inlays all the way around the stock (think pool cue). This is an attractive option (even without an extension to hide) but an awful lot of work ($$$ if you are not the guy with the inlay skills).
I would try the gun before passing judgement on the trigger. However, as reliable and well built as Fox guns are, one of the few issues that pop up on guns that have been fired a tremendous number off times, is the trigger sear. Being a double trigger gun, I would think the front trigger/ right sear (most fired) would be the problem and not the other. Like I said, give it a try and go from there. |
_________________ Only catch snowflakes on your tongue AFTER the birds fly south for the winter... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Mon Feb 15, 2021 7:18 am
|
|
|
Member
Joined: 06 Aug 2004
Posts: 2175
Location: Kansas High Plains
|
|
Nice gun! I love mine and bet you'll love yours too. If you decide on an extension our own Uncle Dan Fan can make seam that invisible. |
_________________ I feel a warm spot in my heart when I meet a man whiling away an afternoon...and stopping to chat with him, hear the sleek lines of his double gun whisper "Sixteen." - Gene Hill, Shotgunner's Notebook |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Mon Feb 15, 2021 8:15 am
|
|
|
Member
Joined: 27 Jun 2012
Posts: 1115
|
|
WyoChukar wrote: |
Saw elsewhere that gun has #3 barrels, so I imagine it is light and well balanced. Be careful adding a spacer that will get you to 15" since it will affect this balance. Of course, there a ways to remedy this, usually strategic removal of wood inside the stock.
The traditional method of lengthening over in England is to add an extension, made of wood that matches the color and grain of the original stock as closely as possible. There is the inevitable seem where the two meet of course. The only method I know to completely hide this, is to do a series of inlays all the way around the stock (think pool cue). This is an attractive option (even without an extension to hide) but an awful lot of work ($$$ if you are not the guy with the inlay skills).
I would try the gun before passing judgement on the trigger. However, as reliable and well built as Fox guns are, one of the few issues that pop up on guns that have been fired a tremendous number off times, is the trigger sear. Being a double trigger gun, I would think the front trigger/ right sear (most fired) would be the problem and not the other. Like I said, give it a try and go from there.
|
Note that some spacers are solid phenolic material and therefore a little hefty, but some that Brownell's sells are made from a much lighter material and shouldn't affect the balance significantly. Another trick on keeping the lengthening as light as possible is using as large of a Decelerator or SC-100 pad as you can without grinding into the metal reinforcing plate. The Pachmayer pads are hollow with ribbing in the middle and a medium pad on a stock will be lighter than a small pad on the same stock. |
_________________ An elderly gentleman, his faithful dogs, and a 16 ga SXS. All is right with the world. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Mon Feb 15, 2021 10:36 am
|
|
|
Joined: 07 Sep 2011
Posts: 572
Location: wheeling, wv
|
|
I have an A 16 also with 28" barrels that I assume were orig. M/F, but someone made it IC/IC--which is just fine for how I hunt over my setters. I think it weighs 6 lbs 4 oz. I bought it back around 1990. |
_________________ we salute you bird of thunder |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Mon Feb 15, 2021 12:07 pm
|
|
|
Joined: 13 Jun 2009
Posts: 696
Location: WA/AK
|
|
None of the wood is original. Firing problem may be with the inletting of the new stock. |
_________________ Share the knowledge |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Mon Feb 15, 2021 5:03 pm
|
|
|
Member
Joined: 12 Aug 2007
Posts: 1376
Location: Northern Illinois
|
|
Really nice looking find.
You may want to consider having the stock extended by our own member:
https://www.marklarsonart.com
He can do it with a variety of materials and then he extends the existing mineral streaks and the end result is an invisible extension. You could add a period butt or have it checkered.
Good Hunting,
Mike |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Tue Feb 16, 2021 4:19 am
|
|
|
Joined: 28 Dec 2017
Posts: 88
Location: Northern Utah
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted:
Wed Feb 17, 2021 5:03 am
|
|
|
Joined: 12 Sep 2010
Posts: 1975
Location: Maine
|
|
Researcher wrote: |
None of the wood is original. Firing problem may be with the inletting of the new stock.
|
What Researcher said. The cheeks of the buttstock don't match up correctly with the receiver's lines, and there are gaps - tiny but noticeable - in some of the inletting. Also, some of the screws could be overtightened or improperly tightened. This is, of course, based only on the photos - an in-hand inspection by a smith specializing in doubles is necessary.
If the LOP is too short, rather than going the full route of an extension, a slip-over pad can do the job quite well for a lot less money and time. And since the LOP you need can vary depending on how much clothing you wear, such a pad can be adjusted or removed if and as needed.
Finally, take some time and shoot the gun to see whether it works for you as is. It is not uncommon for someone to know "their" "numbers" and for the gun's "numbers" to be all wrong, yet the shooter cannot miss with that gun as is. The proof is in the shooting. |
_________________ “A man’s rights rest in three boxes: the ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box.”
Frederick Douglass, November 15, 1867, speech in Williamsport, Pa. |
|
|
|
|
|
|