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Old January 9, 2013, 11:13 PM   #1
Jkady
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Fox Model B-SE Series H

Picked this up tonight, she's in very original condition aside from the recoil pad, stock is a little dinged and scratched on one side (lighting isn't great for the pic, got home after dark). Lever is well to the right of center and she locks up tight which is what I've always been told to look for in a break action gun.

Has a serial number so I'm going to guess it's in the later end of the production run for these. I haven't found a good way to put a production date on it, would like to if someone could point me in the right direction. Paid $250 but it's hard to put a price on something I've wanted since I was a kid and I don't collect guns to make a buck anyway.
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Old January 10, 2013, 10:08 AM   #2
BigD_in_FL
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12 or 20?

I have a 20 gauge BSE, IIRC, same series. Can't tell what the bluing looks like on yours from the pic. Mine has the vent rib. If the lever is well to the right, it either wasn't shot much, or it was rebuilt. Mine didn't take but maybe 3,000 shots before needing a few new springs inside - which needed to be done by a smith as some of the springs are somewhat funky.

I have had mine over 30 years, use it rarely nowadays as i have others. At one point was thinking of selling as most i have seen are running around $600, so $250 is a great price if everything is working properly. Mine is 26" barrels choked IC/M and I used for goose hunting when lead was legal (that's how long I have had it!) using 3" #2s. Thank God I never shot more than a few of those!

Otherwise, I found it a tad heavy for upland when I lived out West, I had/have a few others that were about a pound lighter - makes a big difference when schlepping up and down mountains after chukar!

Have fun with it, it should last a reasonable amount of time with a little care.
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Old January 11, 2013, 02:15 AM   #3
Jkady
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12 gauge, don't know on the chokes, it's not marked and I don't have a gauge handy.

I'm not too worried about wearing it out, I've got 5 other shotguns that it'll be going into rotation with, and it'll probably see fairly light loads like the reduced recoil Winchester stuff since as soon as you bring a SxS out everyone wants to take it for a spin and not everyone I shoot with finds big recoil amusing (My 870 super mag is the only gun I own that none of my friends want to touch after they see my skinny ass put 3 1/2" buck down range).
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Old January 11, 2013, 07:23 AM   #4
BigD_in_FL
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If it isn't marked on the barrel flats when you take the forearm off, then, again IIRC, 26" was IC/M and 28 was M/F in 20 gauge. In 12 I believe it was 28" was IC/M and 30" was M/F, but you are correct, taking a bore gauge to get barrel diameter and choke diameter will get you closer. Of course actual pattern will be determined with your load at the pattern plate
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Old January 11, 2013, 02:03 PM   #5
BigJimP
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When you ordered a Fox SXS back in the day....you could order it with whatever chokes you wanted....pair of Skeet, pair of Mod, IC - Mod....whatever..../ and sometimes guys, over the years have "honed" them out if they were too tight for what they wanted...so chokes are hard to tell in my experience.

Just as a note - make darn sure the chambers are 2 3/4" ...remember a shotshell is measured - at firend length .../ don't just drop a 2 3/4" shell in there and since it fits you think you're ok. I don't remember for sure ...but I think there were some 2 1/2" chambers out there too in the older Fox's.../ if its not marked, be careful.

But find someone at your local club that knows the Fox guns better than I do ....and he can help you look at the gun to see where it should be marked.

The only way to tell how much restriction you have vs the bore diameter...is to use a real bore gague ...not those things you drop into the barrel from the muzzle end..( they can be off a lot )...or just go shoot it at a pattern board...and measure the pattern at 20 yds and see what you have...
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Old January 11, 2013, 02:22 PM   #6
BigD_in_FL
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Jim, my friend, I think you are thinking he has an AH Fox. The BS-E is the Savage version (believe me, I WISH mine was an AH!)
A lot were sold as hardware store guns, so typically, the chokes came as they did. I bought mine in the early 80's because I wanted a SxS and had never heard of brands like AyA, Purdey and the like, and I could afford that one.

Again, it is a reasonably decent gun, and should be OK for casual use. The barrels on mine are thick enough to install choke tubes, but the IC/M is a great combo for most hunting scenarios
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Old January 11, 2013, 02:28 PM   #7
BigJimP
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You're right I was......oh well....sorry guys !

The photo is so dark ....and I can't see anyway .../ but it was what I was reading...

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...guns&FORM=IGRE
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Old January 11, 2013, 04:23 PM   #8
jmr40
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If that is the Savage Fox I'd say you overpaid if the gun is as bad as it looks in the photo. I paid $125 for a new one back in the early 70's. Worst shotgun I ever owned. I will say that I shot it as well or better than anything I've owned before or since. But it was always breaking. In the 10-12 years I owned the gun it was literally in a gunsmiths shop almost as much as in my home. Finally got it working and sold it before something else broke.
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Old January 11, 2013, 08:26 PM   #9
PetahW
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AFAIK, the Savage/Stevens/etc SxS's were never marked with choke designations.

The factory standards for all gauges except .410 were:

26" bbl - IC/M
28" bbl - M/F
30" bbl - M/F or F/F

(Longer & shorter bbls are known to have been made, but I've never seen a choke designation standard for either)


.

Last edited by PetahW; January 12, 2013 at 08:27 PM.
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Old January 11, 2013, 10:31 PM   #10
Jkady
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Well, like I said, don't buy guns to make a buck, and the next cheapest US made SxS I came across, even a Savage was 500 bucks. A double gun is something I've wanted for years and I can't and probably won't ever be able to justify spending 1500+ on a "Nice" one so this'll do even if it becomes a shelf queen. Thanks for the info guys.
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