The bbl wgt #'s were punched in prior to striking the tubes down to final weight. So a lot of times the number is very faint and in some cases gone by the time they finished their work.
The lighter weight numbers 3 & 4 are the most common to be missing all together.
These bbl wt #'s were stamped on the bottom of each tube just forward of the bbl flats.
Nice AHF,,1923 is settled well back in the Philadelphia era yet.
They didn't sell out to Savage till 1929/30.
Engraver Wm Gough was responsible for the design of the 2nd era engraving style patterns used on the AHF guns.
The earlier patterns were much more intricate for lack of a better word,,time consuming was the problem. Time = money.
So the 2nd generation patterns like this A were designed to be cut much faster. They also covered much more area on the lower grades than the 1st generation patterns.
The one grade that didn't change much if at all was the C grade. That stayed pretty much the same through the change over.
What was added was an X Grade with the new 2nd generation of patterns. The wild 'Oak Leaf' pattern.
It was placed inbetw the C and the D in the second generation engraving Grades. A,B,C,X,D,F
Add an E after the grade if the gun had Ejectors.
Each grade had it's own checkering style that went with it. But customers could cross-order checkering patterns and engraving patterns on the same gun. Money talks.
The OP's gun looks like an orig straight grip gun, not a conversion done aftermarket.
I'd guess the butt stock has been refinished and the checkering recut. Hard to really tell alot from the pics.
Case colors at that point were done by the Cyanide method, Bone Charcoal pack method was used earlier on. Then the switch to Cyanide colors after WW1.
The colors wear off just the same from use. But the hard surface remains. The colors are for looks, the hard surface is for wearability especially inside.
Fox used to have the Cyanide hardening done by a company not far away from them in NJ called Fred Heinzelmann & Co (sp).
That same co is still in biz AFAIK and was still doing cyanide case color hardening the last I knew. They had an FFL and would accept actions and parts for cyanide color hardening.
..Wonder where those as-new looking AH Fox shotgun finishes come from??
Looks like a very nice A Grade Fox. Straight Grip,
Check the top tang screw under the top lever,,it maybe could use and extra 1/2 turn to tighten it up. It looks like the head is just slightly above the surface of the tang and the under side of the top lever rubbing on it when closed.
..and it might just be the picture.
Congrats!, Just in time for the Fall..
