How does the single trigger work on a Fox BSE?

[stiab]

LGS has a clean Fox BSE with cut checkering and single trigger for $500, but I'm not sure how that particular single trigger works. On my Browning the ST is selective, but this one appears not to be. Which barrel does it fire first, and is there any way to alter that? Thanks in advance!

 

[kudu]

On non-selective single trigger SxS's the right barrel is usually the one that fires first, also usually the more open of chokes. My SKB is a single trigger non-selective, right barrel. I have never seen one that had other than that. Double trigger guns have front trigger right barrel. Don't know if there is any way to alter the trigger from right to left.

 

[I6turbo]

I had a B-SE back in the day. On mine, the right barrel was modified choke and left was full. The right barrel fired on the first trigger pull, left on the 2nd. No way to change it.

At the same time my most frequent shooting buddy had a Model B. I liked the Model B and it seemed I couldn't miss with that gun. I subsequently bought a Model B and like it much, much better than the B-SE -- still have the Model B today and it's one of my all-time favorite shotguns to shoot of the 15 or so I've owned. The Model B is much more ruggedly built (the single trigger and ejectors in the B-SE just felt flimsy, and in fact I had a bit of trouble with mine because they just weren't robust enough), and has double triggers which I prefer in a SxS, and just has extractors instead of ejectors.

This latter is good with me because a.) I keep my hulls for reloading, and b.) ejectors are likely to give trouble eventually in a lot of guns (especially those like the Savage Fox that cost a few hundreds of dollars instead of a few thousands).

My advice, find a Model B instead. You should be able to buy a pristine one on GB for about $450.

Edited to correct the left/right chokes and order of firing in the B-SE.

 

[stiab]

Thank you both for your replies. After having a double in my distant youth, I feel drawn to them again. Picked up a near mint 20 ga. Stevens 311C for $300 the other day. Based on your info I will pass on the BSE, thanks again.

 

[I6turbo]

Thank you both for your replies. After having a double in my distant youth, I feel drawn to them again. Picked up a near mint 20 ga. Stevens 311C for $300 the other day. Based on your info I will pass on the BSE, thanks again.

As you probably know, that 311 is very similar to the B except for the beaver tail firearm on the B. Mine is a 20 also. 12s are bulky in those guns, IMO.

 

[jmr40]

I bought one of those new back about 1974 with money saved mowing lawns. I kept it about 10 years and finally got rid of it around 1984 or 85. I'm not exaggerating when I say the gun spent more time in a gunsmiths shop than under my roof. I had issues with it from day one. Took it back to the store where I bought it and they sent it to a local gunsmith for several months. I'd get it back, use it a few days and something else would break.

Sometime in the early 80's I closed the action and heard one of the firing pins drop with no trigger pull. I took it to a gunsmith who kept it for several months. Finally one day I went by his shop and it was closed and he had moved. Seems he and his wife divorced and they both moved out of town. It took over a year, but with some help with local police I was able to track down his ex wife who was working as a waitress in a nearby town. She had the gun and it was repaired, for the time being anyway. She wanted nothing but to get rid of the gun, but I gave her $20 and sold it ASAP at a local flea market.

It is basically the same as the 311, but with a single trigger and ejectors instead of extractors. Usually a little nicer wood. But I'd not touch either of them. The 311 is less complicated and should be a bit more reliable. But all of the internal parts on both of them are cheaply made and won't hold up long term. Most of them have already seen most of their useful life.

 

[PapaG]

First pull, right barrel, second, left. Right, more open, right tighter. Had several, always wanted selective. Kind of big and clunky.
Like my AYA and SKB doubles better.

 

[PapaG]

If you have two triggers, front, right barrel, rear, left.

 

[stiab]

Kind of big and clunky.

That was my impression too, just from holding it in the gun shop. Thanks again to everyone who replied!

 

[I6turbo]

That was my impression too, just from holding it in the gun shop. Thanks again to everyone who replied!

I agree the 12 gauge is a big clunky (as are most 12 gauge SxS guns). I find the 20 gauge Model B to be a nice size even though it's a little bulkier than some of the thin, lightweight 20s.

 

[eastbank]

i was offered a charles daly model 500 two triggered 12ga double barrel made by miroku in japan, the same company that makes a lot of browning firearms by a friends widow a few years after his death . and its as solidly built as my browning shotguns, its my go to hunting shotgun for bad weather- rough condition. its leaps a bounds above the savage 311 series shotguns. and they are generally offered at very good prices. eastbank.

 

[The Bushmaster]

I have a Browning 12 ga BSS with single trigger. When I was still pheasant hunting it was my favorite field gun.

 

[Virginian]

There is no comparison between the single triggers on a Miroku/Browning single trigger gun and a Stevens/Fox. The Browning single trigger is mechanical in actuation whereas the Stevens/Fox was inertia operated. Also, the Brownings are very well respected American style SxSs with an excellent service record. The Stevens Fox two trigger guns were very solid performers, even in the J.C. Higgins versions, and many are still in service. They were never Purdeys or Bernardellis, but they didn't cost like it either, and with the smaller fore ends I didn't think they handled all that badly. Killed a many a duck with one in 12 gauge and a many a quail with a 20. The single trigger and single trigger ejector guns often had issues. (sound like Stoeger any ? )