Having thought about your question, Lloyd, “If you had to do all your shotgunning with just one gun“ and reviewed what’s in the safe and what I’d still like to have in the safe, my answer has surprised me. It would be my 1899 16g, 32” barreled NIG with Ithaca’s briefly offered “double thick breech.” It’s all original inside and out and has a “bank vault” smoothness to the action that no other of my Ithaca’s have including earlier and later NIG’s. I don’t have an explanation for that but there is a sweetness to it that brings a satisfying nostalgia and I think that has a lot to do with my choice. And with loads that I’ve developed to both open and tighten the original choking it will do anything I can still do.
In my mid 70’s now I find myself thinking more often about Faulkner’s insight, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” This gun with its “real” hammers, serious heft and 16 bores, brings that truth alive for me like no other. Plus, as I slow down those long barrels simply refuse to let me miss behind. 😉
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