doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Reading about Bo Whoop....

It's interesting, I suppose.....I consider it one of those 'wooden nickel' guns. Meaning I wouldn't give a wooden nickel for it. It the Holy Grail to some but to a lot of others it's a big yawn.

The real question is if it's really "the" gun or not. There are quite a few things about it that don't lend themselves to the facts that are known about the original. It's a Fox, not a Becker, it was just made when Becker worked for Fox and he bored the tubes. Why would Fox allow him to put his name on the barrels when they didn't on any of the others he bored for them when employed there? That's just one point, there are others....

Destry

Here are some of the relavent pictures --











Here is a picturefrom the original Derrydale edition of Ole Miss.

Destry: I'll post here the reply that I made to a post on the Fox Forum (just to show that I'm not "clamming up"): " I don't know Jim, if it's not Bo-Whoop it sure has fooled a lot of very knowledgeable folks. The stock in Julia's preview has been identified by the stockmaker who made it. The serial numbers match Mr. Callahan's letter. Are you saying that someone produced a Super Fox with fraudulent serial numbers? Julia's is a pretty big outfit and they could be in a heap of trouble selling something that wasn't what was purported to be."

In addition, when I saw the gun I was told that the present owner wanted only for the gun to be properly cleaned, but no restoration was to be done to the metal. Therefore the patina of 60+ years remains very much in evidence.

Best Regards, George

Where is the original stock? Did the guy who restocked the gun keep it?

Did the current owner know he had Bo Whoop before he had the work done, or after?

Was the gun's real serial # known a long time ago? Or is this # a recent discovery?

Where did the hang tag come from?

What about pics of the forend?

And finally, why isn't Julia playing this up more? There is only ONE pic of this gun on his sight and it's buried way down in the Selected Highlights listings for the spring auction.

I would imagine him giving the gun a lot more play.

I sense some doubt...

Thanks

OWD

George,

You claim to not be an expert but you post and defend the gun everytime anybody says anything negative. If you don't have any stake in the sale why are you so insistent that it's the real deal and should auction for big bucks?

If you know the whole story then how do you explain the weirdo badly stamped Becker marking on the barrels when no other Magnum Fox made when he worked for the company has anything like that?

DLH

Neither the broken stock with the gun or the new stock on it are the original XE quality stock with the Jostam Hy-Gun pad, the gun had in the picture from the Derrydale edition of Ole Miss. Notice how the gun below BoWhoop (probably 33050) is pitched differently. Perhaps Nash had BoWhoop restocked after the photo was taken to match the lower gun?!?

I have looked at every factory record card still in existence for all 900+ 12ga Super-Fox guns. I have also examined 25+ actual HE's. It is my opinion the factory cards were completed prior to the start of production. In-process changes and modifications made prior to shipment are not always recorded on the cards. However, it is troubling that the factory card for 31088 does not mention the barrel engraving and the craftsmanship is so poor. I have never seen Fox factory work on the exterior of the gun exhibiting such poor workmanship. Also, factory cards routinely mention custom engraving if requested by the customer. 31088 appears to be an original factory XHE to my eye. As Dave Noreen mentions the stock is not original. It is possible the barrel engraving was completed by the factory and is original to the gun but was not recorded on the factory record.

Destry: No, I am not an expert on Fox guns as others here surely are. I am going strictly by what I saw and the letter from Mr. Callahan which authenticates SN 31088 to Nash Buckingham. I do not have a dog in this hunt. I, personally, believe that this gun is the real Bo-Whoop. You, of course, can believe what you wish. I cannot explain the barrel stampings other than to guess that it was done by hand and not roll stamped. I can't scan Mr. Callahan's letter but if you send me your fax number I would be happy to send it to you.

Best Regards, George

After Nash did his original tryout with the newfangled shells (soon to be on the market as Super-X) from Olin and John Olin's specially bored Fox shotgun, recounted in the story "Magnum Opus" in the September 1955 issue of Outdoor Life, Nash wasted no time in getting a Super-Fox of his own. He may have had a couple of regular HE-Grades during that time. Then when Ad Roll, the A.H. Fox Gun Co. salesman, was visiting the sporting goods store in Memphis circa 1926-7, he hit Nash with the idea of him having a special Super-Fox built for Nash by Burt Becker. That is the gun that became known as Bo Whoop, very likely 31088.