doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Fox Gun enthusiasts...I need a little help!

I have recently come across a Fox double gun that will soon become available for purchase. Although I have a modest collection of American doubles, I have never owned a Fox and know little about them and their present values. As a result of having read Michael McIntosh's book on A.H. Fox, I do know that this gun I'm about to show you is a Fox Model SP, and I'm of the opinion it may be rather unique to say the least.

First the gun's description and then some pictures followed finally by some questions.

Description:
Savage-A. H. Fox, Utica, New York. It is a slim, light weight, hammerless box lock double chambered in 16 gauge. The sides of the receiver are not scalloped like a traditional Fox’s. 26” barrels with double beads and excellent cleanable bores. Equipped with extractors and a single selective trigger. Excellent action. Very lightly engraved receiver retains 60% thinning blue. Trigger guard has a repair and is worn to silvery gray. Dent free barrels retain 95% satin blue. Excellent checkered walnut splinter forearm with a retaining latch and a black contrasting tip. Excellent, slightly lighter colored, straight grip stock with matching checkering and a heavy grooved hard rubber butt plate with a “widow’s peak”. Wood does have light handling marks.

Photos:







I am thinking about "putting a move on" to acquire this gun. The problem is, I don't have a great comfort level that this gun is original, nor do I presently have any idea how much something like this might set me back. I've not found any at auction, present or past, on any of the Internet gun auction sites, nor have I found any reference in my latest (25th Edition) copy of Fjestad's Blue Book.

Does anyone have an idea of what a fair price might be for this Fox SP? If not maybe someone may have a copy of a recent Gun List listing one for sale?

When is the last time you've seen one of these? Any ideas as to value? Do you see anything in either the photos or description that might lead you to think it may not be an honest gun. I've not seen the gun as yet, but want to brace myself / set a realistic expectation level.

Also, you will notice, from both the description and the picture, that the rear of the trigger guard has been broken and repaired. I am led to believe that the Model SP may never have been offered in a straight grip version. Does anyone know this to be true, and if it is true, is it possible/probable that the break in the bow may have occurred when a former owner may have tried to reshape the guard tang to fit the straight grip of the stock?

Your thoughts, comments and any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

SP Foxes are pretty scarce, in any condition. this one has an awfully lot of blue ware on both the frame and barrels. I personally think the gun is re-stocked.. How long is the trigger gaurd tang? I sold a decent SPE 16 bore about 12 years ago foe $1500, but 12 years ago, It was hard to move a 16.. I'll let the Fox pros take over.. MDC

The checkering looks like they converted a pistol grip gun to straight grip. That would also explain the repair to the guard. The pattern is abbreviated and not what an original straight grip Fox SP would have.

looks like a conversion.

llyod,
Trying to PM you. email me at bpgunsmith@catskill.net

There is no real BlueBook value guide for this gun. It has many questions and issues. It is not original. It has a poor repair to the trigger guard, looks like they broke it when they were bending it straight. The stock looks like it was converted to a straight grip from a pistol grip stock. The bores should be looked at first as pitting will lower the value a lot in my book. Good barrels are a must and bad ones are a deal killer, anything in between is mixed ground. And last, is the single trigger original or reworked as well? Lot of question on such a small gun.

Get the serial number and pay for a letter to see how this gun started out in life. I suspect that you will find that this gun has seen extensive time on a gunsmiths bench.

So there is no collectors value, only value as a shooter. Value it as a shooter in decent shape with some issues. Fit and finish on the Savage guns was never anything to write home about. If it was in good shape, with no issues, as a "shooter" it should be well north of $2,000.00 . As it is now, if it suits you shooting needs it still should be worth about $2,000.00. This is not a collectors grade gun and can not be valued as one.

The SP-/SPE-Grade Fox doubles featured a very clean line, and did not have the stock cheeks of the other graded Fox doubles.

This is a 28-inch barrel 16-gauge SP-Grade with the Fox-Kautzky single selective trigger.

That gun has nice lines. The forend is fairly slim, and if the bores are in good shape and you end up getting it, I would send it off to Kearcher for a re-blue, have the tang tig welded and fixed properly (and possibly extended if it has the original pistol grip short tang), have the action checked out, and have an extension done on the checkering to make it more graceful. I actually like the flat side of the stock just behind the receiver. Maybe that could be checkered too. For not a huge amount of $, you could have a really nice and fairly rare shooter on your hands, although it goes without saying that it's missing a trigger