doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com A. H. Fox Sterlingworth - 1910 or 1911 & other ???

I have custody of this family heirloom A. H. Fox Sterlingworth and I have some questions. If you click on the link you can see my complete write-up together with more photos.

#1 - the forearm is marked Model 1911 but the serial goes to 1910 according to the references I have. Could Fox have replaced the forearm when they replaced a burst barrel? Is this likely the reason?

#2 - why did Fox ommit the "I" in the "STERLNGWORTH FLUID STEEL" mark on the barrel? Was this the standard mark or is it the result of damaged tooling?

When Ansley H. Fox, was forced to add a lower priced gun to his line of graded Ansley H. Fox guns, in 1910, he didn't want to detract from the A.H. Fox Gun Co. name, so they dummied up "The Sterlingworth Company." The first year’s guns, beginning with serial number 50,000, were marked as being "Made By The Sterlingworth Company, Philadelphia, U.S.A." Actually the first few hundred were marked "Wayne Junction" instead of Philadelphia. They even produced a separate The Sterlingworth Gun Co. catalogue for 1910. These guns were built under the same patents as the graded Ansley H. Fox guns. The main moneysaving features were an American Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) stock as opposed to the more costly European thin shell walnut (Juglans regia) stocks on the graded guns, and the "Sterlingworth Fluid Steel" barrels instead of Krupp Fluid Steel barrels. Workmanship on these early Sterlingworths was generally excellent, better than graded guns from the 1920's and 30's. The early "The Sterlingworth Company" guns had a rounded front for the side panel of the frames. According to my list of observed specimens that was changed to the same pointed profile as the graded guns by #51,301.

In 1911 this field grade gun was added to the A.H. Fox Gun Co. catalogue as the Model 1911. "Model 1911" is stamped in the forearm iron. (A very few graded guns made about this time are stamped Model 1910) The lowest Model 1911 serial number I've recorded is #53,140. All of these early Sterlingworths had a recessed hinge-pin head like Parkers, or Ansley's earlier guns made in Baltimore and the Philadelphia Arms Company A.H. Fox gun. The highest "pin gun" Sterlingworth serial number I've recorded is # 62,244. After that Sterlingworth hinge-pins are dressed smooth like the graded guns. When the small-bores (16- and 20-gauge) were added to the Ansley H. Fox line they were briefly referred to in some flyers as the Model 1912, but I've never seen one so stamped. Graded 20-gauge guns have serial numbers beginning with 200,000 and 20-gauge Sterlingworths 250,000. Graded 16-gauge guns have serial numbers beginning with 300,000 and 16-gauge Sterlingworths 350,000.

Most of the Philadelphia produced S-worths had the word "Sterlingworth" roll stamped on each side of the frame. After production moved to Utica, Savage started using a "Fox-Sterlingworth" roll stamp.

When the Sterlingworth came out in 1910 it had a price of $25. That climbed to $55 by 1919. A.H. Fox Gun Co. reduced the price to $48 in 1922 and again to $36.50 in 1926. Workmanship of course declined. Savage kept the $36.50 price until June 1932 when they upped it to $39.50. On February 10, 1936, they upped the price again to $42.85 (the digits 2 and 8 are transposed in McIntosh's book). On February 1, 1938, Savage tried a price cut and dropped it to $35. February 1, 1939, they upped the price to $44.75. January 2, 1940, up again to $48.50. January 2, 1941, up to $52.65 and June 16 up again to $56.50. January 2, 1942, up again to $64.95.

For $40 Graded or $30 Sterlingworth (last prices I've seen quoted) you can get a factory letter on most any Ansley H Fox shotgun (Philadelphia or Utica) from Mr. John T. Callahan, 53 Old Quarry Road, Westfield, MA 01085. The information exists on the factory work-order cards, probably 85+% of which still exist. Send him the complete serial number and a check, and he can do the rest. That would tell you the specifications of the gun when it left the factory.

The space is there for the I in Sterlingworth, it just appears that it had broken off the roll stamp on the day your gun was made, and the company didn't have a new roll stamp ready to go.

Hobie,

1) The reference chart on this site actually suggests it was made in 1911 (http://www.doublegunshop.com/dgsnos1.htm). That said, on the few SW's I've examined, I've never seen the Model 1911 stamp.

2) No doubt the missing letter was unintentional; kind of interesting though....there's space for the "I" but it's missing entirely, not just lightly struck.

Regarding the "Model 1911" perhaps Researcher will weigh in.

There ya go!

Thank you both.

I suspected damaged tooling because the "I" is entirely missing.

Here's a photo of the forearm iron. Sorry it is such bad photo. I think some dust got on the lens... However, you can see the MODEL 1911 stamp.



I beleive that the originall owner bought the gun new so the date of manufacture is important.

If the date is important, you may want to contact Callahan for a letter. Others here can supply contact info.. MDC

I think there could be some nit-picking all the way up to the Savage Fox, and there are some who would not dismiss these years.

Hobie,

Very nice gun. Do yourself a favor and get the letter from Callahan.
Mr. John Callahan
53 Old Quarry Rd.
Westfield, MA 01085

If nothing else, it will tell you when it left the factory and who it was sold to. So at least you will know where your uncle did his shopping.

I picked up a nice 16ga. To my surprise the letter said it was originally sold to a dealer in Cuba.




Researcher,

You are wealth of information! If he was buying barrels from Krupp, any idea who was making the "Sterlingworth Fluid Steel"? Was this an in-house operation?

Pete

The date is important in that I'm doing genealogical research on "Uncle" George. I'm doubting that he was an actual uncle. The date would have made him "uncle" to my grandfather but my grandfather's father's name was George (and there was no other brother George ). On the great-grandmother's side, I've not yet found a brother named George. But of course, none of this is really important to this forum.

What is interesting to me is that "Uncle" George was gunny as many of us are. Although he had little enough money, he bought the very best he could afford and covered all the bases well. I wish I'd known him.

PeteM,

I'm unfamiliar with Mr. Callahan. Is there a fee?