ITHACA 12 bore shotgun

[danish21]

A friend of mine has purchased this shotgun but i have never heared about this gun maker. So expert comments required regarding this gun.

This is only written on the barrel of this gun
"CUSTOM CRAFTED FOR ITHACA BY SKB"
"MODEL 100 - 12GA - 2 1/4 CHAMBER - PROOF TESTED"
"ITHACA GUN CO. INC. ITHACA, N.Y. MADE IN JAPAN - ROTO - FORGED"

The gun is in single trigger with barrel selection button on the top of the trigger.









Danish

[sa_ali]

hi danish bhai

i did some googling arnd as i heard this name for the first time, i came across one site,
may be u can read to get to know more
http://www.chuckhawks.com/affordable_doubles.htm , scroll down on the page and u will see mention of ithaca and SKB. I guss when the gurus wake up more info shall come pouring out , till then happy reading

[badshah0522]

It is a very good & famous company Ithaka guns are made in USA.A close friend of mine has a pump action made by Ithaka gun company ,i think he is also a member on this forum-(rpitaunja)
the gun looks in Bad condition though the stock & action are still better,I Guess the gun is not used from long period ,,or it was stored behind the flush tank
Is the left barrell been changed?

[danish21]

Badshah
This gun is in excellent condition. The spot which you see on the barrel is due to humidity and that has been removed with WD40. None of the barrels have been changed, it has not been used for more than 15 to 20 years.

Danish

[Grumpy]

Since being founded in 1880 Ithaca have been accused of making everything from junk to jewels and have had more owners than any other gunmakers. They last went into liquidation in 2005 and are currently owned by a small limited company producing variations of the Model 37 pump gun only.

http://www.ithacagunsusa.com/index.html

SKB are a Japanese gunmakers who have been in existence since the 1850s producing guns under their own name and, post WWII, for many other makers. The Chuck Hawks link provided by sa_ali above includes details of the guns they built for Ithaca.

I`m afraid that there is no way that the gun can be described as bring "in excellent condition". Mechanically sound perhaps but cosmetically horrible. By the usual grading standards it would score no more than 15%......and that`s being generous. Cosmetics account for a very large amount of a guns value.

Sa_ali, when transcribing a URL leave at least one space after it before using any punctuation because otherwise it will be incorporated into the link causing it to fail. I had to move the comma you used to allow the link to work.

[badshah0522]

Danish I doubt regarding the barrel change because of the joint which can be seen on left barrell(marked in the pic below).Is it some thing else?
the Gun could be Rarely used since bought by the first owner as the mechanism and all the screws look intact,but was not stored in proper way ,due to which it is rust effected.
Steel wool & WD40 will be better Idea for removing it.

[Grumpy]

The joint visible in the left hand barrel indicates that is is of monoblock construction. The other barrel just doesn`t show the line so obviously. Monoblock construction is effectively the same as sleeving.

[badshah0522]

Grumpy thanks for clearification,,Can u put some more light over monoblock construction,,as this term is new for me.
thanks a lot,
badshah.

[Grumpy]

In monoblock construction stubs are screwed or welded into the lumps and the barrel tubes are inserted ( `sleeved` ) into these stubs and welded creating the ring visible in the picture above. The actual attachment of the barrels is precisely the same as sleeving on new tubes.
Most Italian guns have monoblock barrel construction. That includes all Berettas ( except for the SO models ) and the rest of the well known names. Top quality Italian guns - e.g. Famars ( who build the SOs for Beretta as well as their own Abbiatico & Salvinelli guns ) Luciano Bosis, Fra illi Rizzini and others use so-called `demi-block` construction which is the same as the chopper lump system used by British gunmakers.

[badshah0522]

Is this joint visible when looking through chamber(From inside) I rejected a very fine gun earlier due to this reason thinking the barrel is changed (As i was not aware about monoblock construction).In that gun the joint was also visible from inside. 1/2" after chamber.

[Grumpy]

No, the joint is NOT visible from the inside because the barrel is sleeved ( inside ) the stubs.
The rings you see inside the barrels ( and the should be two of them ) are the angles of the forcing cones - the taper between the chamber diameter and the smaller barrel diameter.

[badshah0522]

But in that gun it was visible in one barrell,,i think it was a changed barrell.
Thanks a lot for the info

[mehulkamdar]

Danish,

I have little to add to what Grumpy has pointed out. SKB still make shotguns that are sold under other companies' names in the US though they don't seem to sell SxSs here anymore.

Grumpy,

While Ithaca make their Model 37 (I saw and handled one recently and couldn;t believe how light they could make an all steel repeater) they sold their Mag 10 design to Remington. I'm not sure whether Remington still make it these days, though they were recently acquired by a group that has a reputation for bringing back old designs and we may see the guns made again.

Cheers!

[Grumpy]

If I remember correctly the Model 37 is a John Moses Browning design first made by Remington that Ithaca copied when the design copyright ran out.......and yes, Remington bought the design for their SP10, 10-Bore magnum semi-auto shotgun from Ithaca as you say Mehul.
One way and another Ithaca have done very well out of Remington !
Badshah, if a barrel has been replaced by sleeving you cannot see that from inside the barrel.

[Serious Redneck]

first shotgun I ever owned, bought at age 14 was an Ithaca 37 in 16 gauge. Nice light gun, shot lots of rabbits, dove and quail with it. since then I have always had a fondness for Ithaca guns.