doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Fox Sterlingworth 16 ga. value ?

I was looking at a Fox Sterlingworth 16 ga. that was in fair to good condition. Barrels have thinning blue. No case colors. Bores are clean but there is a slight ding on the right barrel.
The unfortunate issue is the stock was completely broken two inches behind the receiver. The owner repaired it with two SS bolts. The gun functions well other than appearance. How much would a re-stock job cost? What would the gun be worth as it is now?
Thanks,

ohiojack

Re-stocking could cost as little as 500 if you do some of the work( actually quite a bit)or a lot more depending on what kind of wood suits your fancy.
The barrel ding is not as big a problem but needs to be addressed.
The value now would depend on the length of the barrels(for me) and how bad you want it. If your passions over ride your sensibility you could be in trouble. I would think that a 16 that needs as tock and barrel work should be in the 600.00 range. This may be a high number.
I am sure someone else will have a more accurate figure.

I restocked a Sterlingworth (stock and forend) and with the blank of English walnut the total cost was around 1100.00 including the checkering.

You might get lucky and find a take off stock and make the gun into a shooter. I have seen a few on Ebay and they sell for $100.00 or so as a rule. There is no collectors value left for the gun you describe so only the value as a shooter or for a parts gun remains. If you could pick it up for $600-700.00 you should be all right. Offer $500.00 and see what happens.

If the value of a repaired low condition gun is maybe $1100 and the cost of repairs is in the neighborhood of $1100, what is the fair purchase price of that gun? What if the cost of repair is $100 more than the purchase price of the unrepaired gun? These are the tough questions we face in our projects.

Think about it this way..... If you can buy the gun for the $500 and under range; spend another $1000 to $1500 on it, you will have one heck of a nice field gun for far less than the cost of a comparable new gun. Will you ever realize your investment when you sell it? Maybe, if you keep it for a very long time, but most likely not.

I am about to do the same thing with an Ithaca Flues to include having the barrels blued and the receiver re cased. Some say I am nuts (well maybe I am) but I will have a very nice, light weight 16ga field gun that I will use vs one that sits in the safe collecting age. But, I am not doing it as an investment I am doing it for the want of using it!

I think I'm in Steve's camp. My guns are entertainment expenditures, not investments. But, unlike cigarettes, booze, movie tickets, sports tickets, a round of golf or clays...you name it...I get the bonus of milking them for all the enjoyment I want,then selling them and recovering at least some of my money. I rarely sell for more than I paid, but I never "lose" more than a nominal rental fee. And if, someday, you realize you paid more than it was worth....just don't tell anybody

Well said, mike campbell.

I would not even offer $300 for it. This is US and there are too many guns w/o issues you mentioned out there. I guess one could argue you could have it stocked to your dimensions, but with gun of this grade you can find items for stock fitting in foot care at your local drug store. I think it's called mole leather or something like that.