My plans to restore/upgrade a 20 bore Fox are still ongoing but quickly approaching the one year mark. I've yet to find an A grade that wasn't too nice, too beat up, or too expensive for my project. The search will continue but I have recently started thinking about upgrading my 28ga AyA 4/53 (which I bought initially because of its understated looks and simplistic design). It is a gun that I can generally shoot well. My plans would include a significant wood upgrade and some nicer engraving. Maybe some finer touches like heel and toe caps or a unique checkering pattern. The barrel blue is OK but it could be better.
If this was your gun and your project, what would you set your budget at? The dimensions are good as is so I'm thinking a stock replication could save me some money. Would you have work done to improve the innards? Polish the parts? Would $3000 be enough to cover my initial plans? Most, if not all, of the work would have to be outsourced and I would most definitely have more money in the gun than I could ever hope to recover. Although I don't have kids yet, this would be my custom gun to hand down.
Have any of you taken on a similar project with an AyA? Any pitfalls? Any pictures of the results? I look forward to hearing some of your opinions.
Matt
