PB: Almost all shotguns made around 1900, give or take a quarter-century, have what today seems like a ton of "drop" ... draw an invisible line down the rib or sighting plane and extend it out beyond the buttplate. The distance from that line down to the top of the comb is the "drop at comb" and the distance to the "heel" (as opposed to the "toe") of the butt is the "drop at heel". Today, most shotguns have a drop at the heel of anywhere from 2 to 2.5 inches (Browning Superposeds and A-5s usually have a drop of 2 3/8 inches), but in the old days, 3 or even 3.5 inches was pretty common. I have found Foxes to be among the worst on drop, and it's hard to find even a late one with more modern, "straight" dimensions ... Savage-era gun are best from that standpoint. Fox was not alone, though, as Parkers, Lefevers and the rest also configured stocks to meet the preference of the day. There's a lot of debate as to why shooters 100 years ago liked their guns that way, as bodies haven't really changed. It takes practice for a modern shooter to relearn how to shoot a gun with that much drop, because it becomes real hard to shoulder and sight accurately. The solution is a so-called "head-up" position, where you basically don't move your head down at all when you shoulder the gun. My two cents, anyway. TT
