16ga.com ~ View topic - Fox Sterlingworth Double

A few weeks back I mentioned a Fox Sterlingworth Double I fell in love with ...

Well last night it came home with me.

What a svelt feeling gun

Anyway, this gun was made for Savage, in NY, alledgedly in 1934 - so what does it have for chambers ? 2-3/4"; 2-9/16"; or 2-1/2" ?

I don't recall seeing anything stamped on the barrels.

And oh by the way will it do any damage to fire 1 oz ounce 2-3/4" loads through it ?

Measure it yourself, Bill. I explain how to do it with a simple-to-make strip gage here: http://www.16ga.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17473&highlight=

Chances are in 1934 it was 2 3/4", but I can't swear to it. No, you won't hurt a Sterlingworth shooting 1 oz. loads even if it was chambered for 2 9/16" shells. By the way, my 2 9/16 inch chambered 1919 Sterlingworth 16 actually measured 2 3/8 inches! It was common for some manufacturers to chamber guns about 1/8 inch shorter than the shells for which they were intended, so yours might measure 2 7/16" or thereabouts. In those days, paper hulls were thicker and wads (paper/fibre) did not expand as well to seal the bore, hence chambers shorter than shells and non-existent forcing cones, too. I shot the current type Winchester Expert Silver Box low base one-ouncers and Remington Game Load one-ouncers for years before I had the chambers lengthened in my Sterlingworth. The effect of the short chambers was to slightly choke down the ends of the fired hulls, which still loaded great again as 2 3/4 inchers. In old guns with no forcing cones, the abrupt chamber end usually severs part of the case mouth and it gets blown away. You won't have that problem.

I used Mike Orlen to lengthen my chambers, ease the forcing cones and open my chokes. He's good, quick and inexpensive, and many here have had success with him.

So what did it cost to get the chambers lengthened ?

Here's a link to a previous 16ga.com thread about Mike Orlen that includes contact info and a link to his price list.

http://www.16ga.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=126850&sid=24926da0587b1f9bc8020a096e466cfb

Or, you could just do as I do, shoot 2 1/2" RST's in it, great shells, and do pretty much about everything that a 16 ga should be asked to do.

Dale

Joined: 13 Jun 2009 Posts: 696 Location: WA/AK

Savage didn't begin including the line "Chambered for 2 3/4 inch shells" in their Fox catalogues until 1938. Prior to that the "normal" Fox 16-gauge chamber was 2 7/16 inch, intended for the then "standard" 2 9/16 inch shell.

The longer 2 3/4, 2 7/8 and 3-inch 16-gauge shells were offered by our North American ammunition companies from the late 1890s well into the 1930s, but they were never very popular as the only thing they offered over the "standard" 2 9/16 inch 16-gauge shell was more/better wadding.

In the 12-gauge shells one could get 1 and 1 1/8 ounce loads in the 2 5/8 inch shell, but one could get 1 1/4 ounce of shot, and a bit more powder in the 2 3/4 inch and longer shells.

In the "standard" 2 1/2 inch 20-gauge shell the heaviest loads offered were 2 1/4 drams of bulk smokeless powder or 18 grains of dense smokeless powder (such as Infallible or Ballistite) pushing 7/8 ounce of shot. In the longer 2 3/4, 2 7/8 and 3-inch 20-gauge shells one could get 2 1/2 drams of bulk smokeless powder or 20-grains of dense smokeless powder pushing that 7/8 ounce of shot.

In late 1922 or early 1923, Western Cartridge Co. added the 16-gauge to their progressive burning powder loads called Super-X, but unlike the 1 1/4 ounce 12-gauge and 1 ounce 20-gauge Super-X loads which were put up in Western's 2 3/4 inch FIELD shells, the 1 1/8 ounce 16-gauge Super-X load was put up in their 2 9/16 inch FIELD shell. When the Lubaloy shot Super-X loads were introduced in July 1929, they were put up in Western's high brass RECORD shell, but the 16-gauge still in a 2 9/16 inch length case.

The 2 3/4 inch 16-gauge shell really began to get some traction when Remington Arms Co., Inc. introduced their Model 11 and "Sportsman" autoloaders in 16-gauge in 1931, chambered for 2 3/4 inch shells. While Remington's regular Nitro Express 16-gauge progressive burning powder load was put up in a 2 9/16 inch hull with a load of 3 drams equiv. pushing 1 1/8 ounce of shot, for their new 16-gauge autoloaders they introduced the slightly faster Auto-Express with a 3 1/4 drams equiv. charge pushing 1 1/8 ounce of shot --