doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Outfoxed at area gun show

Today son-in-law and I went to the gun show in Grand Rapids== found a few fairly good prices on the 12 ga. target loads I use for barn pigeons, crows, etc. One older Parker 10 bore with the first series locking design- fair condition, heavier than a loaded M-1 Garand. Saw a few arsenal rebuilt Garands, nothing I needed. But I looked at a 12 double described on the tag as an "A. H. Fox 12- A grade- Had 30" barrels, unmarked (No Krupp Flustahl or Chromox stampings, replacement beavertail forearm with a copy of the Parker latch release inset, 2 triggers, auto safety- but when i removed the forearm, after asking permission, and removed the barrels- (1) No stamping or markings anywhere on the barrel flats- No grade marking in an Alpha mark on the water table at all, just a serial number- 5 digits 1 9 xxx. Asking $1150. I think it is NOT an original A grade non-ejector two triggered gun, receiver seems to be sculpted like the few Fox guns I have seen and handled- any input from the cognoscenti??RWTF

RWTF,

Did you get any pictures you could show us?

Below are some pictures of my unmarked 12 gauge Fox that might look similar to the one you saw.

No markings at all on the sides of the receiver/frame, top of the barrels, barrel flats, water table or fore end iron and no serial number on the trigger guard.

It does have the typical markings of Krupp barrels on the bottom of the barrels just forward of the flats. It has 28 inch Mod and Full barrels.

Trigger guard is engraved with initials: "F?C" who I think might be Fred ? Coleman. He was a fairly well know live pigeon and trap shooter back in the 1910's.

A Fred Coleman is listed in the 1908 Philadelphia Directory as a gun maker and lived just a few blocks from the Fox factory. Fred Coleman is mentioned in Mike McIntosh's book on Fox shotguns.

It looks like a Fox early B12 but it has a couple added features: the rib that goes from the bottom of the barrels up to the top like a BH Parker, the unique checkered side panels that look somewhat like a trap or live bird field and the fancier checkered stock and fore end.

No SN or markings under the trigger guard, fore end iron or on the inside. I had a top notch side by side gun mechanic fix the SAFEty slide and look for markings. None.

The non auto SAFEty slide that when I got the gun, was very difficult to slide back to the SAFE position. Much better now.

Any thoughts from anyone?

Boy howdy-- I had my new picture taking jitterbuggy phone thingy in my pocket, never thought to get fotos of this Fox gun, or the hefty 10 bore Parker Lifter action either. This particular dealer seems to always have a few "beat up" marque named side by sides, at waaaay high pricing for their grade and condition. Just wondered how an older Fox gun would NOT have any markings on the water table. Thanks RWTF

Lots of information about your man Fred in our discussion here
http://forum.foxcollectors.com/viewtopic.php?t=10621
and
https://www.trapshooters.com/threads/fred-coleman.829581/

He changed from a Parker to a Fox in 1907, but no details regarding the gun
https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll17/id/33950/rec/32

It was reported that his guns were lost to a fire??