Double trouble
New member
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2026
- Messages
- 2
Many years ago I won a Fox Model B 20 gauge on a punch board. I kept it for many years and sold it (dumb, dumb) to a coworker in 2005. He later passed but I was unable to buy it back from his estate. I know they aren't the most expensive or "elite" shotguns but I always liked it and wanted another one. Fast forward, I now have a Fox B in 12, 16 and 20 gauge. The few .410's I've seen cost as much as all three I have put together, so I have yet to break down and get one. I don't shoot the 20 much, it's the oldest of the three, has a 1950 date code and the right barrel tends to FTF now and then, I think due to a worn firing pin. The design on the receiver underside is different from the 16 and 12, a nice waterfowl scene. This gun has 26" barrels. I had to repair the stock where it connects to the receiver, it had a small split.
The 16 gauge has the nicest stock of the three, a nice tiger walnut. The metalwork has gone brown on the barrels and the case color has a bit of pitting on the receiver I refinished the stock and fore end to bring out the grain. Where the 20 gauge has a solid barrel rib, the 16 and 12 both have vented ribs. The 16 gauge has 28" barrels. This gun has a 1964 date code.
My 12 gauge is the newest, from 1972, but it had a non-correct stock on it. I found a correct blank from Boyds and had to inlet it to the receiver and do final shaping and checkering of the pistol grip. It's my first checkering job. I found a recoil pad that fit the stock and also found a Savage medallion to put on the bottom of the pistol grip, which I don't think was on the original. This gun has a beavertail fore end and 30" barrels. All three of these shotguns have modified choke right barrels and full choke left barrels. All three are also 2-3/4" chambers. The metalwork on the 12 gauge is in really good shape. I've used this gun for skeet and clays for over 15 years.
Top stock is what came on the gun when I bought it. Nice looking but not the right shape; bottom is the Boyds blank that I finished. It was a rough cut with square edges and I used a farrier's file to rough shape it, then metal files and spokeshaves and then coarse and finally fine sandpaper. The wood is walnut and the finish is tung oil with a paste wax polish.
Here it is next to my 12 gauge CZ Hammer Classic:
The 16 gauge has the nicest stock of the three, a nice tiger walnut. The metalwork has gone brown on the barrels and the case color has a bit of pitting on the receiver I refinished the stock and fore end to bring out the grain. Where the 20 gauge has a solid barrel rib, the 16 and 12 both have vented ribs. The 16 gauge has 28" barrels. This gun has a 1964 date code.
My 12 gauge is the newest, from 1972, but it had a non-correct stock on it. I found a correct blank from Boyds and had to inlet it to the receiver and do final shaping and checkering of the pistol grip. It's my first checkering job. I found a recoil pad that fit the stock and also found a Savage medallion to put on the bottom of the pistol grip, which I don't think was on the original. This gun has a beavertail fore end and 30" barrels. All three of these shotguns have modified choke right barrels and full choke left barrels. All three are also 2-3/4" chambers. The metalwork on the 12 gauge is in really good shape. I've used this gun for skeet and clays for over 15 years.
Top stock is what came on the gun when I bought it. Nice looking but not the right shape; bottom is the Boyds blank that I finished. It was a rough cut with square edges and I used a farrier's file to rough shape it, then metal files and spokeshaves and then coarse and finally fine sandpaper. The wood is walnut and the finish is tung oil with a paste wax polish.
Here it is next to my 12 gauge CZ Hammer Classic:
