AH Fox “Finest Gun in the World” - AH Fox Collectors Association Inc.

Transcription

A.H. Fox “Finest Gun in the World”
A.H. Fox Collectors Association, Inc.
Volume Three, Issue 2
Messa ge from the Executive Director
Fall 2010
By Craig Lar ter, Executive Dir ector
Life is good for
the Fox gun enthusiast!
This spring, the famous
and mysterious Bo
Whoop appears and is
sold at public auction.
The gun generated much
discussion on our internet forum (http://
www.foxcollectors.com/
My%20Forum/phpBB3/)
and was the subject of
two great AHFCA
Newsletter articles. Now
James Julia Auction announces the most famous
and valuable of all Fox
guns, Teddy Roosevelt’s
FE, it will be sold at the
October 2010 sale. In
addition, Julia will be
selling the F.J. Barthmaier Fox Special SN
121. Wow!
Frank’s creativity and
fine efforts. We had a
fine display at the Hausman’s shoot inside the
main tent. Many members stopped by to chat
and bring in many very
nice guns from private
collections rarely seen in
public. Don Kaas brought
in a wonderful high condition Becker Fox. I
would like to thank Paul
Plunkett and Bill Jolliff
for manning the booth
during the HH shoot.
This event is a must for
any Fox nut.
I hope everyone
has made plans to attend
the Vintagers September
23rd-26th and participate
in our third Ansley H.
Fox Championship shoot
The highlight of September 24th-25th. Our
the last six months was
Annual Meeting is schedthe Bo Whoop Trophy
uled for 5:00pm Friday
shoot at the Great North- September 24th at the Pineast Side x Side Classic tail Point Club House, all
at Hausman’s Hidden
member are invited.
Hollow. Frank Srebro
Frank Srebro has
(Silvers) has included a negotiated a special room
full report on the event
rate at the Days Inn in
in this Newsletter. The
Easton MD; the phone
Bo Whoop event just
number is 410-822-4600.
keeps building thanks to
We will have a
booth at the Vintagers and
encourage members to bring
Fox guns from their collection for display. Please Contact Steve Cambria (Tool
man) at SCambria@stanleyworks.com or
860-490-2992 if you plan to
bring a gun for display.
Steve is coordinating the
didates, Dave Noreen and
Vintager’s display booth.
Craig Larter have been
declared winners by deWe have added a
new feature to the Fox Fo- fault.
rum Members Only Section;
Good shooting,
Card of the Month. Dave
good collecting and enjoy
Noreen our Club Historian, the upcoming hunting seaNewsletter Editor, and
son.
Board Member will be posting a factory record from an
Inside This Issue
interesting, unusual or historically important Fox gun
Philadelphia Arms
2
each month. If you are a
Co.
member and have not regis7
tered as a forum member I Early Engravers —
would encourage you to do Mr. X, Y and Z
so. This new feature is just
another reason to participate President Roosevelt’s 10
on the Fox Forum.
We had two openings for the Board of Directors and only two candidates; as a result the Board
decided mailing ballots to
members was an unnecessary expense. The two can-
Bo-Whoop
13
Long Range Shoot
Just an Old Fox
14
Advertisers
15
Page 2
Fox Family History
—Par t Five—
Philadelphia Arms Co.
By the year 1902 Ansley had a new double gun
in mind and filed a patent application on January 17,
1902, for a Breech Loading Firearm. In that Ansley
was still a professional shooter for Winchester there
may have been a conflict brewing here. What the application covered was a barrel extension bolting
mechanism and a bolt release trip. The system looks
for all the world to me like the bolting used on Tobin
guns, but I’ve certainly never found a connection.
let last month by the Philadelphia Arms Company for
a new factory building to be erected at the corner of
Windrim avenue and Eighteenth street, Wayne Junction, Pa. The plant is to be of brick, two stories high,
178 feet long and with a width of 84 feet.”
Probably in some attempt to secure more capital, Philadelphia Arms Company was reincorporated in
Pennsylvania on October 27, 1903. Directors and subscribers to shares were as follows: Ansley H. Fox,
With his patent application, Ansley began the 201 shares; Philip F. duPont, 100 shares; C. William
quest to assemble capital. On November 5, 1902, An- Haywood, 99 shares; Douglas S. Daudt and Harry H.
sley H. Fox, Alfred P. Shannon, C. William Haywood, Fox, one share each.
Henry F. Kingsbury, and one other whose signature
Philadelphia Arms Co., Inc. is listed at 18th c
was illegible incorporated Philadelphia Arms ComWindrim in the Philadelphia City directory for 1904.
pany under the laws of the state of New Jersey. When Ansley H. Fox was president, P.F. duPont was viceAnsley’s patent No. 714,688 was granted on Decem- president and secretary, and C. William Haywood was
ber 2, 1902, it was assigned to Philadelphia Arms
treasurer.
Company, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a corporaThe new factory was completed and sample
tion of New Jersey. This patent did not turn out to be
guns
were
ready to be shown to the trade by February
used in the gun Philadelphia Arms Company finally
1904. The report in Shooting & Fishing stated “Grade
produced.
A has genuine Krupp fluid steel barrels, full choke
A patent application that covers the lock
bored, concave matted rib, double bolt extension, spimechanism of the Philadelphia Arms Company gun
ral top lever spring and spiral main springs, imported
was filed on May 1, 1903. Perhaps to avoid any con- English walnut stock, pistol grip. It is nicely checkflict with Winchester, this patent application was filed ered and finished throughout, has an automatic safety,
under the name of Ansley’s younger brother Harry
and is neatly engraved.” “This gun is the invention of
Hunter Fox. Harry, born September 28, 1880, was
A.H. Fox, of Philadelphia, who is well known to the
listed as a student, living at home with their father Ad- public, having previously been connected with the
dison in the 1903 Baltimore City directory. Harry
Winchester Repeating Arms Co. and the DuPont Powlater followed Addison into the medical profession.
der Co.” The gun shown in the article has the profile
Max Wirsing, also of Baltimore, filed a patent of a VH-Grade Parker Bros. with the rotary bolt of a
application for an Ejector Mechanism for Firearms on L.C. Smith. The name A.H. Fox is engraved on the
June 18, 1903. The patent attorney for all three of
side. The article went on to state “Deliveries of these
these patent applications was Jas. L. Skidmore, and
guns will not begin until July next, when they will be
Ansley H. Fox and Harry H. Fox were the witnesses
ready for shipment at the rate of fifteen guns per day.”
listed at the end of Max Wirsing’s specifications about
Beginning in March 1904 I find various sniphis ejector mechanism.
pets in the sporting press of Mr. Douglas S. Daudt
A brief note in the magazine The Sporting
making the rounds of shoots and dealers as a missionGoods Dealer, for September 1903, stated “Bids were ary for Philadelphia Arms Co. and their Fox gun.
Page 3
as president and general manager of that company, and have equipped a factory of my own,
where I will manufacture a new double barrel,
hammerless shotgun. This new gun embodies
many valuable improvements and samples will
be ready for the trade in January next.
Yours respectfully,
Ansley H. Fox
The next day, December 29, 1904, Ansley filed
a patent application for a barrel locking device for
breakdown guns, which covered the bolting of the
Philadelphia Arms Company gun. When it was
granted as Patent No. 796,119 on August 1, 1905, it
was assigned to the A.H. Fox Gun Company.
The patents applied for by Harry H. Fox and
Max Wirsing were both granted on August 16, 1904,
No. 767,557 to Harry and No. 767,621 to Max. Both
patents were assigned to Philadelphia Arms Company
of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In the court documents covering the receivership of Baltimore Arms Company, I found that on
November 22, and December 6, 1904, Ansley H. Fox
bought a great deal of the machinery and fixtures of
the Baltimore Arms Company for cash at their receivers sale. Barely three weeks later, on December 28,
1904, Ansley sent the following letter to the trade –
GENTLEMEN: -- Please announce through
your columns that I am no longer connected
in any way with the Philadelphia Arms Company, of this city. I have resigned my position
Page 4
Getting back to Philadelphia Arms Company,
for the next seven months, through July 1905, ads for
“The A.H. Fox Gun” Philadelphia Arms Co., Makers,
Philadelphia, Pa., U. S. A. appeared in many of the
hunting and shooting periodicals. All the ads I’ve
found show either the list price $50 Grade “A” or the
$100 Grade “C”. The ads state “We manufacture
seven different grades, ranging in price from $50 to
$500 list.”
pocket-size that pictures the Grade A on the cover, and
a 6- by 9-inch art catalogue dated 1905 that pictures a
straight-gripped Grade E on the cover. I have never
had an opportunity to examine the 1904 catalogue, but
the 1905 catalogue is a beauty. The Grades A through
E are pictured and described while the Grade F and H
are only described. All grades were available in 12gauge only and weights 7 ¼ to 8 pounds. Genuine
Krupp Steel barrels 28-, 30-, or 32-inches in length
were available in all grades, the option of Damascus
barrels was offered on Grade C and higher, and Genuine Whitworth barrels were also an option for the
Grade H. Nowhere do I see chamber lengths mentioned but page 14 gives a number of specified loads
for 12-gauge shells and all state for 2 ¾ inch shell.
The few Philadelphia Arms Guns I’ve run a chamber
gauge in have been either 2 5/8 inch or 2 7/8 inch,
which I believe means they were intended for 2 ¾ inch
and 3-inch shells, respectively. The list prices for the
various grade guns were – Grade A $50, Grade B $75,
Grade C $100, Grade D $150, Grade E $200, Grade F
$300 and Grade H $500. According to the catalogue,
Grade A came with a pistol grip while for Grade B
and above the choice of straight or pistol grip was offered. On all grades an automatic safety was standard.
In both the catalogue and the magazine ads, the
Philadelphia Arms Co. seemed to make a big deal out
of the fact that they made the “A.H. Fox Guns.” Only
three of their guns that I’ve examined with two- and
very low three- digit serial numbers are engraved
“A.H. FOX” on the sides of the receiver. All the later
guns with three- and four-digit serial numbers I’ve
seen are engraved “FOX” on the sides of the receiver.
By mid-December 1905, when Ansley’s new A.H.
Fox Gun Company began advertising, they made a
strong point that they made the “Ansley H. Fox gun”
and that only the genuine article had the full name Ansley H. Fox engraved on the sides of the receiver.
The magazine ads both state “Write for illustrated and descriptive catalogue.” I know of two
Philadelphia Arms Company catalogues, a 1904
At the shoot at Carlisle, PA. on 28 March
1905, former Democratic County Chairman from
York County, Mr. Allen M. Seitz, wowed the crowd
by killing all five birds in each of the three races and
going 19 straight with his new gun just put out by the
Philadelphia Arms Co.
In the April 15, 1905, issue of Sporting Life, it
was announced that Mr. D.S. Daubt of Philadelphia
Page 5
Arms Co. had been elected president and manager of
the company at the annual meeting. “His rise from
traveling representative to president and manager has
been a rapid advancement, due to his ability and thorough knowledge of the business as well as his personal efforts with the trade. His friends may congratulate him on his success.”
In the May 13, 1905, issue of Sporting Life, in
the notes following the report of the 1905 Pennsylvania State Shoot was the following “C.W. Haywood
of the Philadelphia Arms Co. showed a line of Fox
guns which attracted much notice.“ Back in the winter of 1990, The Double Gun Journal, Volume Two,
Issue 1, presented a photo essay by J. Douglas Tinsley
of C. William Haywood’s Grade E Philadelphia Arms
Company Fox double.
After July 1905, the Philadelphia Arms Company ads cease. The October 28, 1905, issue of Sporting Life carried the following note “D.S. Daudt, formerly of South Bethlehem, Pa., but recently connected
with Philadelphia Arms Co., is now residing at Plainfield, N.J., and has taken up his old trade of contracting stone mason.” Philadelphia Arms Company is still
listed in the 1906 Philadelphia City directory with P.F.
duPont vice-president and secretary, and C. William
Haywood treasurer. The December 1, 1906, issue of
The Sportsmen’s Review carried a brief article stating
that on the 29th of last month the A.H. Fox Gun Company had purchased the complete plant of Philadelphia
Arms Company.
Grade B
Grade C
Grade D
Grade A, Photo by Ed Muderlak
We need your articles and input for future issues of the newsletter. Send your submissions to
david.noreen@comcast.net or call me at (509) 5706042.
Page 6
E-Grade Philadelphia Arms Co. Fox made for the company’s Vice-President and Secretary
P. F. duPont
Page 7
Early Engravers — Mr. X, Y, and Z
By Craig Larter
As I have written before my favorite Fox guns are the middle grades, especially the pre 1913 guns. Engraving
variations during the early period makes for interesting collecting and insight into gun production at the AH Fox Gun
Company.
This story ends with the arrival of William H. Gough at the AH Fox Gun Company to take over responsibility
for the engraving department in late 1910 or early 1911. The transition to the second generation’s floral engraving patterns began about 1911 or 1912, but my focus is on the engravers pre-Gough, the so called early style.
Based on my review of the factory records and observations recorded by Dave Noreen AHFCA Historian, we
know the highest recorded serial number early style guns are 20xxx A Grade, 19xxx B Grade, and 20xxx C Grade. We
also know from counting the existing records for the early style guns and extrapolating for the missing records (the first
10,000 records are missing) there were approximately 17,100 A Grades, 2160 B Grades, 1540 C Grades, 170 D Grades,
and 15 F Grades manufactured.
From my observations there is much more engraving variation from gun to gun in the early style engraving period. These distinct styles are most evident in the higher grade guns. It seems as if the engraving standards were not as
well defined pre-Gough. Could it be that the early engravers worked as outside contractors or was the early management
more open to individual artistic expression? We will probably never know, but my guess is that some engravers worked
as contractors to the newly formed AH Fox Gun Company as a way to keep down costs during the early years. Because
these engravers worked outside the factory they may have had more liberty to personalize the engraving patterns. Since I
do not know the real names of the early engravers I will name them Mr. X, Mr. Y, and Mr. Z.
Mr. X
The first engraver I will cover is Mr. X. From my observations Mr. X engraved most of the graded guns during
the early period. His engraving style is easy to identify. The easiest way to identify Mr. X’s work is to focus on his dogs
and birds. Here is a typical sample of Mr. X’s dogs.
As you can see the setters have an easily identifiable style. Look at the way the head and muzzles is cut with the
long muzzle, the feathers on the legs, the lifted left paw, and the background and fore ground style. Mr. X also cut his
lines relatively deep, and the style of the circle surrounding the dog is the same from gun to gun. Below is an example
from an early D cut by Mr. X, notice the style of the dogs are the same even though the D was cut with two dogs.
Page 8
Mr. X’s birds are also very easy to identify and have some very distinguishable characteristics. Mr. X’s Woodcock have “beetle heads” as shown on C grade at left and D grade at right.
Mr. X’s quail are always cut with one quail in the feeding
position, one in the upright position and they are very fat as
shown below on this early D grade.
Mr. Y
The second engraver I will cover is Mr. Y. From my observations Mr. Y work seems to be most prevalent in the
18,000 to 20000 serial number range. This was a period of high output at the AH Fox Gun Company. Mr. Y engraved
the pointer on the bottom of the C Grade on the left and setter on the C Grade on the right.
Page 9
Mr. Y always cut the plants the same under the belly and legs of the dogs. The lines surrounding the dogs are
also cut relatively shallow. Also, Mr. Y cut the outer circle in a zigzag pattern similar to that found on a Sterlingworth
frame. Mr. Y’s dogs seem more anatomically correct compared to Mr. X.
Mr. Y’s birds are also more anatomically
correct and look more like the Gough era guns. Here
is an example of Mr. Y’s woodcock. The difference
between the engravers is very evident and their style
is consistent from gun to gun.
Here is an example of Mr. Y’s quail.
Mr. Z
Mr. Z’s work is the best in my opinion and rarest from my observations. Here are two examples of Mr. Z’s dogs.
Mr. Z’s pointer (right) and setter (left) are very well done but the eye is misplaced in both examples.
Mr. Z used game birds in flight in the background and the plant material surrounding the dogs is unmistakable.
Page 10
Mr. Z’s game birds are very well done but I have only observed woodcock, an example is shown below.
To date I have observed three engravers, I would bet more will come to light. If you have a pre Gough Fox engraved by another engraver please take pictures and e-mail them to me at clarter@rochester.rr.com or better
yet bring it to our booth at the Vintagers in September. Good shooting and collecting.
President Theodore Roosevelt’s Fox Double
As many of you likely already know, the Teddy Roosevelt F-Grade Ansley H. Fox double is coming up
for Auction at Julia’s this fall. So, for those of you who haven’t seen it on the AHFCA Web Site, we are including the production card for the gun in this issue. The gun was begun as one of two exhibition guns, but
when the order came in from Mrs. Roosevelt, Ansley diverted 13292. The mate, FE-Grade 13291, has been
pictured many times over the last 25 years, including the dust jackets of two of Michael McIntosh’s books.
Page 11
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Page 13
Bo-Whoop Long Range Shoot
by “Fox Events”
The A H Fox Collectors Association’s third annual BoWhoop Long Range Competition was held on June 4
thru 6 at the Great Northeast SxS event held at the
Hidden Hollow Sporting Clays club in PA. Set up for
long range birds, and needing plenty of choke, the
program called for a simo pair of "teals" - one outgoing bird quartering from the left - and a crossing/
dropping teal from the right. A quick shooter could
engage both targets within 45 yards or so before the
second bird dropped under a covering tree branch.
All told we had 96 shooters participate in the
competition. Most of our shooters participated on Friday and Saturday and they were favoured with ideal
weather, clear skies and little wind. The weather on
Sunday morning was a mix or rain and fluky wind
gusts, which limited participation to a few avid diehards who had their eyes on the trophies and purses.
Don Nickerson of NY prevailed as our 2010
Long Range Competition champion. Don bested all
challengers, taking 8 of 10 really tough targets while
fielding a 12 gauge 32-inch LC Smith Specialty Grade
Double Trap gun. Don received the First Place score
purse.
Fox Director Frank Srebro presenting HOA Purse to
Don Nickerson
Our 2010 Bo-Whoop Trophy winner and second place score winner was George Griscom of NJ
who took 6 of 10 targets using a 12 gauge 28-inch
Fox Sterlingworth field gun. George was awarded the
Bo-Whoop trophy in addition to the Runner-Up score
purse.
Fox Exec Director Craig Larter congratulating
George Griscom, 2010 Bo-Whoop Champion, while
Frank Srebro assists
Some very creditable third through eight
place scores were achieved by Mike Campbell (5
targets), and by Roger Bain, Jim Kline, Craig Larter,
Paul Plunkett and J D Shank (4 targets each). Our
Loonie Lewis purse winners were decided by public
draw and Messrs. Bain, Larter and Plunkett were
picked. Craig and Paul donated their winnings to the
AHFCA.
We had quite a mix of long range guns participating to include 10 thru 20 gauge, with A H Fox
guns predominating but a very good showing of
Parkers, L C Smiths, Lefevers and Winchesters
amongst others.
All told the third annual Bo-Whoop Long
Range Shoot was our biggest and best yet, and the
event is fast becoming the premiere stand-alone SxS
competition anywhere! The AHFCA offers sincere
congratulations to our winners, and we extend thank
you’s to all who competed in the event and who
helped out at the shooting butt. Our next competition
will be the Ansley H Fox Championship held on September 24 and 25 in conjunction with the Vintage
Cup at Pintail Point in Maryland. We hope to see
you all there!
Page 14
Just an Old Fox
by Frank Srebro
The sporting magazines constantly remind us that target
shotguns are an absolute must-have for sporting clays competitions.
I, like many, began sporting clays with a hunting shotgun and
quickly moved into tricked out guns with every conceivable feature
and gizmo to get that extra target. Would I ever show up at a sporting shoot with a classic side by side? Not on your life! Why give
away targets by using the wrong gun? I thought side by sides with
double triggers, game ribs and low stocks were passé for clays.
Just an honest old hunting Fox with 30” tubes and moderate
drop and pull to a hard rubber buttplate. Her chokes both
measure X-full at 37 and 38 points of constriction. The gun is
fairly light at 7-5 and she has original short chambers. Overall,
hardly a target gun. Well the old Fox felt so good I decide to
try her at the Championship. Small problem, I didn’t have any
short shells with me so I bought some RST Lites at the tent,
their blue colored hulls had 1 ounce of #7-1/2’s. Blue hulls
But that was then and this is now. Over the past few years always remind me of the Peters shells I really liked when I was
I’ve seen time and again that tricked out guns don’t do the shooting a kid. Ten shots at the 5-stand to be sure the new gun worked
by themselves. I’ve also learned that the old timers knew a thing or and out to the course to shoot with my friends and fellow Fox
Collector members, Toolman Steve and Foxfarm Don.
two about making shotguns to connect with birds or targets. Yes,
the vintage side by sides can be reasonably competitive against
At the first station I committed the cardinal sin of
modern competition shotguns. Use them for the world Fitasc cham- shooting at the long birds same as someone on the previous
pionship or the NSCA Nationals with money, sponsorships and
squad, not the way I knew I could break them. I missed two
plaudits on the line? Nope. But for anything less imposing, why
targets. After that the CE broke all but three clays on the renot? I’ve always hunted with Foxes, and lately have been using
maining 9 stations, and she came in with a 45 of 50. The old
them more and more both for casual practice and sporting competi- hunting Fox dunn real good. She won our Ansley H Fox trotions. And I’m having more fun shooting than ever before. My
phy, and took 3rd place in the overall American Classic while
modern guns are getting dusty in the safe. And seeing eyebrows
stacked against some competition side by sides with high sightraised when I’m out on the course or range with a classic Fox is
ing ribs and single triggers for those quick simos. This CE
priceless! Often when folks ask me what I have in hand that day
grade Fox is definitely a keeper but so far I haven’t come up
I’ll answer “just an old Fox”.
with a name for her. That’s the next challenge!
Enter the Vintage Cup
and the A H Fox Championship
competitions. For our 2009 event
I brought a nice restocked AE
grade Fox, 12 gauge, 30-inch with
a half pistol grip. Most all my
keeper guns have names and she’s
my “Blondi” that won the AH
Fox Championship last year. For
those interested there’s a story on
her in the Spring 2009 Newsletter
archive. She’s a looker with that
blondish stock and barrel wedges.
But over the years I’ve
come to prefer the straight grip
style Fox; not that they shoot better but because they look cool.
While at the Vintage Cup I found
and bought a nice 12 gauge CE
straight grip from a table vendor.
She’s serial numbered in the
21700’s – shipped from the Fox
Philadelphia works in July 1914.
An old CE Fox
Page 15
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Page 16

AH Fox “Finest Gun in the World” - AH Fox Collectors Association Inc.

Transcription

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