I finished this up in early December, then worked a couple kinks out of the ejectors after it was assembled. There always seems to be some little thing you have to go back and tinker with.

I posted these pics on another thread around October I think it was.
The stock was fitted and the metal was roughed out, but no engraving or checkering was done.





A Philadelphia mfg AH Fox Sterlingworth in 16ga w/ejectors. 28" bbls, still M & F chokes.
I restocked it, changed it to a straight grip in the process. Went with a heal & toe cap, ect, ect. New trigger guard was an in the rough replacement originally for one of the Spanish SxS's. I bought several a few years back and they've worked out well on projects. Lots of filing though.
Frame breech reshaped to follow the bbl contour and a few other small changes like reshaping the side panels and the thumb lever.
Files are your friend..
Frame was 'rebated' top and bottom for the stock. A small detail but appreciated by collectors and admirers of SxS's. I didn't scallop the sides as I've done on some. I think it's a little much especially on the small frames but it can look classy if not over done.


The finished gun. Engraving is kind of an F pattern but not a strict copy. Setter on each side, gold grouse on the bottom and woodcock on the guard.
Receiver, heal&toe plates and forend escutcheon finished in a french gray,,the bbls, top lever, trigger guard and forend iron are rust blued.

The checkering is 24lpi and again is close to what the original F grade Fox pattern was but not an exact copy. The forend got an ebony tip at the last minute,,actually while I was doing the checkering on it.
All the work was done by me, nothing sent out. Engraving was about 50hrs. The entire project about 150/170 hours,,somewhere in there. I keep track,, kind of,,, but not as closely as I did when I had to bill customers!

Shoots nicely,,shot a few rounds of skeet with it.
Put it in the corner.
Time for another project..

Pictures aren't very good. I appologize for that. I should graduate from the floppy disc era.

That came out very nice !!!! You are a true Craftsman.

That is amazing! Beautiful work.

You, I am sure, are very proud of your work on this shotgun. Top notch!

Best Wishes,
Tom

Nicely brought back to life, you're work is great. What value would you put on it now? The wood is an excellent up grade with a very nice touch with the butt plates. What's next on your plate? Larry

You do outstanding work Sir.

I.m amazed that there still are true artists out there! In today's vernacular...AWESOME! Thank you!

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Term limits!

Yes indeed, excellent! I'm not a big fan of engraving except on shotguns. Wanna do my Stoeger?

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Regards, Ron
USASA 1965/69

That is very nice. I used to be a serious quail hunter, so I am a fan of nice double guns. Thanks for sharing those pictures.

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Georgia On My Mind

Absolutely gorgeous! I have a 12 ga. Sterlingworth (1917). They are a very strong gun, and I still take Pheasants with it every season.

Been thinking and I'm sure your not just a small town gun restorer. You're past business has to be nationally known. I put you on the scale with SDH that visits this forum. Could we find out whom you are? Your work is nicely done. Larry

You should be very proud. Nice job.

Well done! The work looks first class.

I have couple of quick questions. Did the top tang need any bending to go from pistol grip to a straight stock? If it did, did that cause any function issues that needed to be dealt with?

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Bill Bates

Holy ****!! Awesome is a gross understatement... you are a true master craftsman.

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Conrad
SWCA #1830 SWHF #222

Drooool!

medxam

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Doc Garrett
Dead Man's Doctor

What a varied set of skills you have. There's a lot of life left in that gun and you sure brought her back to her former glory, and then some! Well done!

A thing of beauty.

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<><

I wish you had done my 20 Ga Sterlingworth I started with 70
Years ago.

Awesome. Awesome! This is the sound of two hands clapping! Beautiful wood grain, where did you find it?

Very nice. I never could figure out why so many double trigger shotguns had pistol grips. The straight grip lets you slide back and forth from trigger to trigger.

Right now my DB shotgun is a Darne copy with 2 triggers and a straight grip. Only took me 35 years to find one I could afford.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

To go along with this question, did you fabricate the longer bottom tang/trigger guard yourself? I apologize if you addressed this in the first post.

If I understand your post, you did the engraving as well? That is an amazing range of skills.

That right there, sir, a refurbished with love 16 ga. Sterlingworth, is my grail gun. Being a grouse and woodcock hunter, well it's just absolutely over the top. Lovely.

Have mercy!!!That is beautiful!

Well, well- about time you showed off a little. I'm glad to finally get a chance to comment about you.

I met this man several years ago.
He has always stayed busy, so he never promotes himself much.
He is a first class gentleman. Quiet, and very laid back. I've handled a couple of pieces of his work, and viewed a few albums of photos. Stunning is an understatement. 'Astounding' is almost an adequate adjective. He engraves in several styles, and executes them all at the Master level, which is quite amazing in itself.

For years, I've watched him comment about engraving and engraved guns in threads on this very forum, always in his laid back style. He MAY have prefaced his comments once or twice with "I do engraving", but usually not. He has simply commented in his quiet, laid back manner. Not understanding who was speaking, it was obvious many brushed by his comments with little grasp of how pertinent his data is. I've smiled (smirked?) quietly on a few occasions when his data was disputed or challenged by people far less qualified. I don't think I ever saw him offer a retort.

My point here is that we are graced by his presence. His skills, knowledge, experience, background, and observations over decades is probably not matched by even a handful of people walking the earth.
My advice to all-
Next time you see him post, PAY ATTENTION!


Don't ask me who he is.
If he wants to reveal himself, he will.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

And, oh YEAH, I like the Fox.

How 'bout some pics of the forend tip and iron??

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

I've always enjoyed good double guns & a 16 Ga. is my favorite. Been shooting a 16 since 1945. Yours shows master craftsman workmanship. Congratulations.

What a beautiful piece; you are a very talented artist.

Absolutely stunning piece.

I love the A.H. Fox doubles. I have a a 12ga 1922 Sterlingworth that has been super reliable, and have been trying to find a 16 ejector, as 16's are my favorite. My only issue with them seems to be that I prefer closer to a 3" drop, and they all have much straighter stocks.

RSD

2152hq,
Very nice. I have a 1926 A.H. Fox Sterlingworth 12ga thar I'd love to refinish one day. I especially like the butt pad treatment.

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Freedom isn't free.

Thank you for all the nice compliments and comments.

The Fox SxS is a favorite of mine and I had the wood lying around from another project that didn't go as planned.

The (new) wood was originally a piece that was to be semi inletted for a 12ga Fox frame,,just the frame no other shaping.
The job was so poorly done you could throw your hat through the gaps.
Plus they nicely shaped the butt stock and a forend to unwanted oversized, grotesque P/grip specs.
I nearly tossed that piece out more than a few times and it layed under my bench for almost 20 years.

Then I (Finally) got the bright idea that with all the bulk wood left on it and the extra length that the primo wood technician never cut off, I could maybe save it by using it for the small 16/20ga size Fox or something similar in straight grip form.

That worked, by setting the action back into the wood nearly 1 1/2" to have solid wood to work with again. I still had enough at the other end to have a 14 1/2 LOP so I was all set.
The other plan was to cut it short and use it on a through-bolt gun like a pump or something like that but I had a matching piece cut for the forend so that settled that.
Pistol grips would have been an option I guess, I don't make many of those anymore.

They were supposed to cut the forend for an ejector 12,,but supplied an extractor 12 instead,,more of the ongoing story. But that again worked out as the narrow inlet of the extractor forend iron allowed me to reinlet it for the wider ejector 16 forend here.

I could have saved 10hrs working from a plain blank, but I just hate to waste stuff including this wood,,even though it came close a couple of times!

I bent the tangs,, both upper and lower.
Bent upwards a bit on this one to get a better look to the finished stock. You can stock it to any drop you want with the tangs the way they are.
Sometimes you bend them to avoid funny looking stock lines in the finished product like a very tall comb to wrist 'ski jump' or an overly large or short length butt plate.
When you do this you move the triggers (bottom tang) and the safety (top tang) so you have to watch and make sure the mechanism still functions right.
This one took only a bit of work on the trigger blades to get everything back in order. I'd rather work on them than bend sear arms, but sometimes you do.
The safety didn't work when I got it as the tangs were too close together from over tightening screws over the years. Rebedding during the restock and the very slight bending solved that. They're all not that easy sometimes!

The trigger guard was pistol gip originally. I sub'd a straight grip guard . It was generally done by cut and welding an extension onto the original guard.
I like to save original parts when I can and I have a bunch of these straight grip guards in the rough guards from a Spanish mfg SxS (Arietta?).
Just rough formed w/the spur welded into place. No holes in the tang which is good. The stud is some metric thread but it recuts to #12 size nicely as does the Fox trigger plate.
I make screws to fit for the guard and in this case the heal and toe plate as well.

The plates were a gunshow special for $5 IIRC. They are nice and thick at 1/8" and appear to be punch pressed out. They were flat (probably why they were $5). Some simple forming while at red heat and presto, a nice set of heal and toe plates.

I welded in the original 5 lines to the inch type checkering on the thumb lever, then faced that off and reshaped the lever a bit to get rid of some bulk and the S/W look to it.
The Sterlingworth marking on the sides I welded in and faced off. I free hand polish w/a belt grinder on flat surfaces where I can. It goes fast, but so can things disappear that you don't want too. It takes some experience before you feel confident to place a Parker, Fox or LCS up against a belt grinder. But it's not far from what the factorys used.
The side panels reshaped as well as the top of the frame. That's all file work and hand polishing.

Engraving, I use a Lindsay air tool now cause I can't hold hammer & chisel steady anymore. 45yrs so far, 35 yrs hammer and chisel and I thought I was done at that time. I would have been if it wasn't for Mr Lindsay's fine invention.
The entire pattern is done with one tool ,,a simple V point.
No flats, rounds, different sizes of anything, liners, ect,, just one boring V point. 60+ degree angle on the face.
I did use a couple of small dot punches in the borders here and there,,I cheated I guess. I usually don't use them much, but I guess I wandered way out of my comfort zone on this one.

The figure details are done w/a flat chisel point to make tiny lines. The lines are criss crossed as a pencil artist would do to create light and dark areas. It's punch work more than engraving in the sense of how most all of the lines are created on them.
The grouse is 24k gold. The woodcock just cut into the steel.

The wood is actually quite light in color w/no stain or finish on it.
It's stained with solvent based stain and oil based stain in a combination of steps that I've found that seem to compliment each other.
The finish is my standby Homer Formby Tung Oil Varnish.
People laugh, but there it is and it with stands the weather.
There's a lot to technique in creating a nice finish,,much more so than what you apply to the surface.

Checkering ,,it's 24lpi. Checkering slows me down more than anything else it seems. New work like this can get tedious for me.
Re-cutting old work goes right along it seems. I just finished up recutting a Rem31 Skeet stock and forend in the re-do process.
The wood cut smoothly doing the borders and fluers (what ever they'er called). Some very nice wood can cut very badly.
Small ebony forend tip I made and inletted & shaped after I had started to checker the forend. Seemed like it just needed to be there.

Slow rust blue on the blued parts with a bit of a different pace on the trigger guard top lever, ect so they (hopefully) result is brighter finish than the barrels. I think that succeeded OK.
Most of the originals had charcoal blued trigger guards and small parts. But I didn't feel like dragging that stuff out, and I've gotten the rust blue to the point where I'm satisfied with it for that. It's not a strict restoration.
The frame and trigger plate are french gray or coin finish,,take your pick on terminology. Just don't leave it in the acid too long.

A splinter of tooth of the pachyderm shaped up on the lathe made into a new front sight bead. The battered, plier marked original shiny white metal one needed to go.

A couple of extra pics,,forend mainly. The inside of the f/e iron is engraved as is the frame flat.
No extra super special custom model markings or grade on it.
Just the original Sterlingworth 300,000 series ser# on the action, forend and on the new trigger guard tang. I have a small punch I made w/my initials in a shield that I marked inside in a couple of spots.

I signed the piece in the grouse scene,,just underneath the birds tail. I can't see it w/o my work magnifier on and I couldn't get a picture of it w/my M/Mouse brand camera either. Yes I'm pretty low key.
That's the story about the Fox.
Hope I didn't bore you with the details..







I have to clock that inside screw on the forend don't I..

Not at all! I enjoyed reading about the process nearly as much as admiring your amazing work. I could sit and watch a craftsman work for hours on end.

You Sir can never bore anyone with this example of your many skills. Thank you for sharing a photographic progression as you performed your magic and for the written narrative as well. I really admire you for your ability to transform metal and wood into functioning art as you have. It is very clear that this isn't your first project, you are a master craftsman and deserving of all the praise. Thank You Sir!

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Sam
S&WHF 333 S&WCA 2198

Thanks for the further description of the process. Excellent!

2152hq thanks you so much for the details of your build.

I've seen a few Sterlingworths that have been used as a canvas for custom projects. Someday, if I win the lottery, it is something I would love to have it done to a 20 Gauge Fox Sterlingworth.

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Bill Bates

Not boring at all. I have a friend who made custom stocks for doublegun's (he's retired now), and I wish I had the time to learn from him when he offered to teach me. The amount of time and artistry that goes into a well fitted stock is something to see. Your ability to be able to engrave as well is absolutely amazing.

I still want to learn, and do play around with my own stuff a bit, but keeping a job with decent insurance has taken precedence.

I do hope there are still craftsmen out there capable of doing this in the years to come.

rsd

Wow.
That muzzle engraving is a nice touch.
The forend treatment is simply splendid. The ebony had to be there. The engraving on the inside of the iron is just flat classy.
I'll bet that screw gets clocked.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

That's fabulous workmanship all the way around. My Dad had a Philly Fox, and his Dad an L C Smith, both in 16 gauge. Both guns left the family before I had any chance to grab them. I had to fill that void, and found a 1913 Ithaca 16 gauge Flues a few years ago. I wish it looked like the OP's, but then I'd never hunt with it. Biggest issue was finding the 2 1/2" shells, especially here in MA where it's hard to buy ammo online.

Unbelieveably beautiful!! The story adds much to the visual impact. World class work.

Muley Gil: If your Darne dopy is a Charlin, it's not exactly a copy. the mechanism is different and it locks by a toggle lock like a Luger, while the Darne has a mechanical connection between the sliding breech and the barrel. They're about equal in quality (Very good). Darne bought out Charlin in the '60's I think.

2152hq, Thanks again... so much. I love it. I must've shot 500 grouse w/her already, -right in my livingroom and without a miss... although the dogs seem confused. Best regards. -db

"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house..." But I will make an exception for this one..... I covet my list mates Fox....

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always trust your cape...

A masterpiece.
Thank you for showing that Fox. Beautiful, and a real nice read to go along with it.

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Halfway and one more step

Believe me when I say, the pictures do the gun a bit of a dis-service. The fine detail is incredible -best seen w/ a loop. ..stunning, both in looks and handling. His work is beyond masterful. And no pointers to be seen, -even my setters approve.

That's some stunning work sir. We need to see more pictures

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Jorge

Wow! I'm throwing my Sterlingworth in the trash now after seeing that.

Sterlingworth's are wonderful guns and it's not only good to see them getting a lot of respect, but to see how one can be used as a blank canvas. Gorgeous work!

Nice to see another Darne/Charlin fan here, too. Very few people appreciate those slide breech guns.

Great thread! Cheers,

Sirhr

I have a western auto revelation double barrel shotgun from the early 70's it's still in New condition. How much would it cost to do a job like that on it?