A Trio of Hand Me Down Ithaca Firearms

[Natty Bumppo]

Rainy day here in NW Mass. In my gun room, doing some cleaning. Thought I'd post a thread about one of my favorite gun companies and see if anybody else likes an Ithaca.

The Ithaca 37 was my grandfather's. He was a lefty and preferred this shotgun because of its downward ejection. I have the bird barrel and the deerslayer barrel. I take it hunting every now and then...killed a few turkeys with it and a single doe. I think every gun collection needs an Ithaca 37. A classic.

The Ithaca 1911A1 was also my grandfather's. He carried it in WWII in the CBI theater as an engineer in the 1007th building and driving on the Burma and Ledo Roads.

The Ithaca X5 Lightning .22 was my father's. I shot plenty of squirrels with it when I was a kid.



In the early 2000's Ithaca came out with a Deerslayer II in 16 gauge. They teamed up with Lightfield ammo who made the sabot shells. Unbelievably accurate and a great gauge IMO for deer. I bought one the first year of production and killed a doe with it. But they only used a single forearm rail and the thing rattled like an old Mossberg. Way too noisy in the deer woods. Sold it that same year. Too bad because that was the most accurate slug gun I've ever owned.

But I can't resist an Ithaca....thinking about trying the Deerslayer III in 20 gauge. Gorgeous slug gun. Anybody have one?

 

[Feelslikefar.]

I have my dad's 37 Deerslayer, which was the first long gun I ever carried afield for deer. I think that was the only time I ever used it. The pre hunt range trip was the last time it was fired and that's too bad. That was probably 1985?

I also have my maternal grandfather's Ithaca 66. That's one gun I own that I've never fired. Whenever I see it I think "I need to get that in the woods and hunt with it." That's the problem with being a "gun guy" or a "rifle looney", there's always something new I want to use and stuff like that gets left behind.

 

[goatman]

Shot my first deer with a borrowed Ithaca 37 in 20ga. Bought one of the first deerslayers in 12ga. They were proned to splitting the brass. So I moved on. But yes I liked the downward ejection.

 

[Catscratch]

Oh my goodness! If you ever want to get rid of the 1911 let me know!
All are BEAUTIFUL!!!

 

[Wind Gypsy]

That 1911 is a pretty special hand me down in particular!

 

[cbw]

First pheasant I shot as a kid was with my grandfather’s a single shot Ithica with a lever action break. Loved that gun.


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[hunts_with_stick]

Nice! So many guns I haven’t shot or haven’t in a very long time. That’s because I lost them all in the lake when my boat capsized! What a shame

 

[Turkey Creek]

I have my Great Grandpa's Ithaca 37. Shot trap a lot of trap in high school with it and still take it on a pheasant/quail hunt every now and then to keep it dust free.

 

[bigboreblr]

Very nice. Most 22lr's and shotguns that old are beat up.

For a long time I wanted a model 49. Now I just want time to shoot what I got...... Place to shoot is becoming a problem too.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

I also have my maternal grandfather's Ithaca 66. That's one gun I own that I've never fired. Whenever I see it I think "I need to get that in the woods and hunt with it." That's the problem with being a "gun guy" or a "rifle looney", there's always something new I want to use and stuff like that gets left behind.

I hear ya about the new stuff. I make sure I grab the 37 every now and then for pure sentimentality. Actually when I'm tracking deer in inclement weather in Mass it's my "go to" gun. If it's snowing and blowing wind I'll take that over my scoped slug guns. I've shot two toms with it over the years...and weirdly or maybe just coincidentally I had to switch to lefty to make the shot.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Nice! So many guns I haven’t shot or haven’t in a very long time. That’s because I lost them all in the lake when my boat capsized! What a shame

Oh man. Were you moving them to a lake house or something?

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Forgot about one. When I was 18 years old and just getting into turkey hunting I thought I wanted the biggest shotgun I could get so I bought an Ithaca Mag-10. It had three shot capacity and a 30" barrel...it was a goose gun basically. Very effective for spring turkeys. But the thing outweighed me and carrying it for miles every morning through the Berkshire hills chasing toms got old quick. Sold that one.

 

[Catscratch]

I like to take the old ones out for a limit or two every year, just for sentimental reasons.

 

[OakSeeds]

betcha didn' choot 97 tims to kill them mini-pigens

 

[Catscratch]

betcha didn' choot 97 tims to kill them mini-pigens

Lol, nice!

 

[Foggy47]

Never owned an Ithaca gun....but know several others that did. In my time.....I never thought much of brands like Ithaca, H&R, or Marlin or some other brands that seemed of less quality than Remington, Winchester, Colt, S&W, Browning, or even Weatherby. I suppose I was a firearms snob in my youth about brands that were uncommon to me.

I know allot of guys liked their Ithaca shotguns....but Winchesters and Remingtons were the normal field guns for my circle of guys. And pump guns were the order of the day for most of us....but some good Brownings or Remington auto loaders were not sneered at by most.

Today....I love me some Marlin lever guns....that would not be given a second glance a few decades back. Now I like me some Henry guns too....and most things with a western flair. Ruger was once a price leader for many....but today are more mainstream than a few decades back.

I just never found a sweet spot for an Ithaca gun in my time. All of 'em work....but some carry stronger roots with many of us....depending on regional popularity, etc. I think I considered them like a Ward's Western Field gun....or some such thing, I suppose, I just never owned one. Strange how that works and the bias's we all carry.

Today....yesterday's top brands are not nearly regarded as they once were. In my youth....ANTYTHING other than a Winchester or Remington was a turd.

 

[Foggy47]

Gotta add.....We never heard of brands like Beretta, Stolle, Dakota, Tika, Christianson, Sako, or so many others in my youth. So many new and improved products now available. It really requires careful shopping to find the very best. But is the "very best" needed by many? I doubt it. Most brands function quite well and will get the job done. Perfection always costs a bit more.

 

[OakSeeds]

Remington 870's were a real workhorse for a relatively inexpensive shotgun you could use as a push pole to get to your blind and turn around and shoot a limit of ducks with it. The old Model 11 Sportsman was a heavy gun but performed and held up well. Perhaps the best field grade gun Remington - for the average shooter/hunter - ever produced was the 1100 (20 ga LT WT was a sweet little dove/quail gun). Browning Belgium A-5 auto-loaders were great firearms you could purchase with various levels of "bling" upgrades. Browning "supers" were fine weapons with great balance. They lost some reputation-capital when they moved production to Japan. Browning also made some great small 22 autos. Some of Foggy's "turd" guns were important contributors to the sport/hunting of firearms. The first shotgun for a lot of young persons was a H&R Topper ... probably a 20 ga. The Marlin Golden Mountie Model 39 was an incredibly accurate 22 cal rifle you could buy - including with a cheap Marlin scope - for less than $70. A Remington dud was its Model 58 auto with a "gas" recoil system.
In terms of pistols, Colt Pythons and Diamondbacks were great revolvers popular in the late 60s to mid 80s era.

 

[Foggy47]

Remington 870's were a real workhorse for a relatively inexpensive shotgun you could use as a push pole to get to your blind and turn around and shoot a limit of ducks with it. The old Model 11 Sportsman was a heavy gun but performed and held up well. Perhaps the best field grade gun Remington - for the average shooter/hunter - ever produced was the 1100 (20 ga LT WT was a sweet little dove/quail gun). Browning Belgium A-5 auto-loaders were great firearms you could purchase with various levels of "bling" upgrades. Browning "supers" were fine weapons with great balance. They lost some reputation-capital when they moved production to Japan. Browning also made some great small 22 autos. Some of Foggy's "turd" guns were important contributors to the sport/hunting of firearms. The first shotgun for a lot of young persons was a H&R Topper ... probably a 20 ga. The Marlin Golden Mountie Model 39 was an incredibly accurate 22 cal rifle you could buy - including with a cheap Marlin scope - for less than $70. A Remington dud was its Model 58 auto with a "gas" recoil system.
In terms of pistols, Colt Pythons and Diamondbacks were great revolvers popular in the late 60s to mid 80s era.

Ain't it amazing how far Remington and Winchester have fallen in the ranks of desired gunts? They once OWNED 80% or more of the firearms trade....IMO. Today those brands are a mire pittance of the marketplace. The Winchester brand especially was of highest regrard among those I knew. Still a few Savage, Remington, Marlin and other brands had some neat models to offer.

A name brand like Winchester tho.....especially their model 12 shotguns.....was like golden to me. The others could talk....but the Winchester brand could walk. Do they even make a model 12 anymore? I bet I killed a few thousand ducks and geese with those Model 12 shotguns I owned. Now I own a Beretta, a Remington , a couple of Henry's, and a Ruger O/U clays shotgun. But if I had my way....I'd still pick those model 12's off the rack first. Shooters.

At one time I owned four model 12 Winchesters. And I sold them all to one guy from California on a pheasant trip in S.D. On average I got $1200 per gun, plus a S&W 9mm pistol to boot. That was enough money to buy a new 870 and a Remington Mountain Rifle and still have about $3500 to add to the pot to start my biz.

Most difficult thing I ever did...and so much worth the deal I made. Lot's of apprehension at the time .