Fox SxS

Spent my youth hunting with a 16 ga Fox SxS.
Sweetest girl...oops...gun ever!!

You better buy it, if the price is right. A good old Fox is a hard gun to beat.

Mac

Is it a Sterlingworth? If so 825 is a good price. Don't tarry too long in the morning.

Mac

Edited to correct spelling.

Back up a second.........are you talking about a genuine AH Fox from Philadelphia or a Savage Fox? The two are not even CLOSE to each other............

Yea, what George said. A Fox Model B, made by Savage, is a $450 gun at best. Simply put, they're only a rebadged Savage 311. A Philly Fox is a horse of a different color. Much slimmer, lighter, and quite well made. Truly the epitome of the gun-maker's art.

Mac

Fox, or Savage/Fox. I bought one of the Savage/Fox guns when I was in high school around 1974. It was a POS. I kept it about 10 years and it literally spent more time broken than working. After I got it repaired the last time I sold it at a flea market. It was just a dressed up Savage 311 which aren't any better.

Those guns were made at a time when a typical hunter might shoot a box or 2 of shells in a year. At that rate most of them could last a lifetime for most guys. But most of the ones still out there are about used up. They were never intended for the guys who shot a lot at clay games or competition. The internal parts were cheaply made.

jmr40 said:

Fox, or Savage/Fox. I bought one of the Savage/Fox guns when I was in high school around 1974. It was a POS. I kept it about 10 years and it literally spent more time broken than working. After I got it repaired the last time I sold it at a flea market. It was just a dressed up Savage 311 which aren't any better.

Those guns were made at a time when a typical hunter might shoot a box or 2 of shells in a year. At that rate most of them could last a lifetime for most guys. But most of the ones still out there are about used up. They were never intended for the guys who shot a lot at clay games or competition. The internal parts were cheaply made.

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Was yours the B-SE? If so, it mirrors my experience with the B-SE. The B and the B-SE are very different guns mechanically in some important ways. The B-SE with its too-weak and poorly executed ejector system and single, non-selectable trigger isn't worthy to own, IME, while the B with the double triggers and extractors (instead of ejectors) is a solid and durable gun.

I sold my B-SE and bought a B, have had it for about 42 years of good shooting and no issues. Mine were both 20 gauge guns, which I prefer because the 12s are pretty chunky/hefty guns. My shooting buddy from back in the day has also had a 20 gauge B for about 3 years longer than I have, and hasn't had issues with his either. We used to burn through a TON of rounds shooting clay targets, Blackbirds (they would invade the area where I grew up by the hundreds of thousands if not millions in the fall and winter), and doves.

I had a BSE-20 and it had a NON-selective trigger, R (IC) barrel first, L (M) barrel second. The internals are cheap; when mine had issues, the gunsmith had to fabricate a spring part for it to get it working properly again, and back in the safe it went for 20 years. Someone else bought it from my LGS a few months ago.

BTW, here's a REAL Fox Sterlingworth for $695:
https://www.gunsinternational.com/g...nice-original-case-color.cfm?gun_id=101500602

Basically the same price range as the Savage........I'd get the original.

Here's some more mixed in with the Savages:
https://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-for-sale-online/shotguns/fox-shotguns.c620_p1_o6.cfm

These are all Sterlingworths:
https://www.gunsinternational.com/g...ns/fox-shotguns-sterlingworth.c1415_p1_o6.cfm

George P said:

I had a BSE-20 and it had a NON-selective trigger, R (IC) barrel first, L (M) barrel second. The internals are cheap; when mine had issues, the gunsmith had to fabricate a spring part for it to get it working properly again, and back in the safe it went for 20 years. Someone else bought it from my LGS a few months ago.

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You're right -- the trigger on the B-SE is non-selective. I mis-typed above and have edited to correct it. Thanks!

Gunsmith Roy Dunlap said that based on the number of doubles in his area vs the number brought it for repair, the Fox was the least troublesome make.

Bfh_auto said:

Except for my brother's Browning 20 ga

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S/S or Is it a Citori? Or newer model. Good shotguns.

Mighty fond of the Fox I am.
The B is a Stevens and a capable shotgun and I regularly hunted with mine(purchased new in 1982) for 30 years, but the original Fox is one sweet SxS. Unfortunately lead shot for hunting is forbidden in my state, so the B and a vintage 1915 Sterlingworth are both safe queens now

If you opt for an old Sterlingworth make certain that it is chambered for modern shell length or has heavy barrels to allow refitting to accommodate slightly longer modern chambers to avoid custom loading shells using a short kit.

The Savage Fox 311, and B models were solid guns. Not a Purdey, but quite workmanlike. Their enduring popularity in Cowboy shooting - a very tough environment for shotguns - is testament to their toughness. The single trigger and/or ejector models had issues just like 99.5% of all inexpensive doubles with those features. If a part did fail, which I never experienced, Savage was just a phone call away back when they were still making them. I had a 20 gauge 311 and a borrowed J.C. Higgins 12 gauge version got me started on a life of duck hunting. I like SxSs and probably went thru dozens costing up to 40 times what that 311 cost me, but only a few still have as warm a place in my heart as those first two.

John Joseph said:

Mighty fond of the Fox I am.
The B is a Stevens and a capable shotgun and I regularly hunted with mine(purchased new in 1982) for 30 years, but the original Fox is one sweet SxS. Unfortunately lead shot for hunting is forbidden in my state, so the B and a vintage 1915 Sterlingworth are both safe queens now

If you opt for an old Sterlingworth make certain that it is chambered for modern shell length or has heavy barrels to allow refitting to accommodate slightly longer modern chambers to avoid custom loading shells using a short kit.

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RST sells 2". 2-1/2", 2-9/16" as well as low pressure for really old guns