My F-I-L has just acquired one of these.
26" bbls IC/MOD and pretty decent wood.
Should make a handy little grouse gun.

This one does have the "nice" day-glo pink raybar bead.
Does anyone know if any of the aftermarket brass beads
will fit this model? I'm assuming the ray-bar is threaded,
and not soldered/epoxied in, am I correct?
Thanks in advance,
-jim

I believe the thread on your Raybar is 6-48. At least it is on all Ithaca made guns of the era. That said, any sight with that tread will work. Please send my you Raybar when you replace it.

Walter,
Thank you for offering your Ithaca expertise on this.
IF we do end up replacing the raybar with
a conventional brass bead, my intention was to keep it with
the gun since it appears to be the original. If time comes to
move the gun along (doubtful as it is a sweet little piece),
I'll replace it back with the raybar.
Good to know that you are looking for these though,
I will keep you in mind if my plans change.

BTW, Do you know what the factory finish on the wood was?
Serial # is 5120XXX. This gun is so clean, I'm assuming it has been refinished.
And what is the finish on the BBls? Looks like it should stand up quite well to the elements.
Only ding against this gun is the hairline cracks forming at the head of the stock
between the semi-circles above and below.
I reckon my best course of action is to glass bed and make sure the thru-bolt
stays tight?

Thanks again Walter.
-jim

Best used gun, dollar for dollar, on the market. I remember when they were selling for about $180 new and wish I had bought a dozen to give away now. .

I have one for you. PM me. My 200E's are sporting ivory now so I have two that came off mine. The threads are the same as yours.

DT,
PM sent.
-jim

Twister's Pa, that must be a 12ga if it has 26" barrels. All the short barreled 20's were 25". The short barreled 20ga 100's are pretty popular with grouse hunters because they are extremely light.

Loved the two I had!

Larry Brown,
Sorry should have stated that yes, it is a 12.
Don't have a postal scale at the house, but it seems
awful light and handy to me. Should be pretty good for
stomping through the thick stuff.
And an awful lot of shotgun for what my F-I-L paid.
Was the original wood finish on these a hard, high-gloss
like on the Brownings/Winchesters of the same era?
This gun must've been refinished.
If so they sure did a nice job on it.
-jim

Mine is fine! (20 ga. M100, 25" barrels, 5 lb. 12 oz.). Great Grouse gun for an old guy to carry all day in the woods. The metal on the SKB M100, etc. was finished with black chrome, a very sturdy finish. Bores are chrome plated. I have seen stocks both high gloss and a softer finish. Factory apparently used both at different times. Some of these SKB's had painted on grain. Check before you strip! You might wind up with a very plain piece of wood if you don't.

I second King Brown on the relative value of this gun. Both the SKB and Miroku sxs guns can be great values.

A 12ga Model 100, 26" barrels, should run somewhere in the 6 3/4# range. Nice weight for an inexpensive production gun.

Re the faux finish, as I recall, the only ones that had that were the 280's, although I might be misremembering. But I'm not sure I've ever seen a 100 with anything but very plain-looking wood. OK stuff but plain. I don't think the grain-painters did any work on those.

Larry,
I was guessing between 6 1/2 and 6 3/4 using the bobbing right arm method.
This gun is stocked with black walnut. Not exhibition, but it does have
a good range of dark and light streaks that run horizontally the full length of
forend and buttstock, giving that smokey feel. I'd rank it a few notches above
plain but it's a subjective thing.
Regarding the "best deal going" comments, I'd have to agree.
It stacks up really well with an F. Sarriugarte that I picked up a few months back
for the same price my F-I-L spent ($300). Both guns are approx. the same vintage,
and show very little use. Both are scalloped BL extractor actions.
Spanish gun has DT, bushed pins, and a very trim beavertail.
Barrels are 27 7/8 on the spanish and is choked M/F.
Both seem like a lot of gun for the money IMO. The Sarriugarte
has the more traditional bluing, CCH and dovetail bbls, but I think the SKB gets the edge in
fit and finish and it's not even close. Just better QC on the SKB.
Can't wait to pattern it and see where the barrels shoot.
-jim

$300 for the Ithaca SKB? Another darned thief! Very good deal.

My Father in law deserves the credit. He found it.
I was only the advisor. When he asked me if I thought a 12 gauge Ithaca sxs with single trigger for 300 was a good deal,
visions of Flues, Nitro Specials and possibly an NID flashed through my head. I never thought he'd be this fortunate.
Yes, a very good deal. I guess that's what keeps us looking. Should make a great shooter.

I have a 20 gauge 280 I bought new for $360 out the door in 1976. Figured I could pay for it if I only ate two meals a day that summer in college. It has the ray bar sight and the painted on finish. It has 25" barrels and has been loaned to a good friend for several years now. Hate the ray bar sight but have never looked into replacing it. When I get it back, I will check back. It was hell on quail back when we had them.

If the barrels are indeed finished with black chrome ( I doubt it) it is NOT a hard and durable finish. It is much softer than regular chrome plating. Black chrome's primary use was as a coating for optics, back in the day, but, some firearms ended up in it, usually in a custom aftermarket shop. Nothing announces one's presence in the great outdoors like a gun sporting black chrome!

Best,
Ted

I have a 100 in 12 gauge with 26" barrels and it sports choke tubes as well. I love it for jump shooting (crawling, sneaking, wading) after wood ducks and early grouse season. The single trigger has worked flawlessly for it's whole life. Did they come with 2 triggers and were choke tubes ever a factory option on these?

I have to agree... an SKB for $300, call 911 - someone got robbed. I see them routinely selling for $800+. Just as nice as a BSS and half the price.

Precisely what I paid (3C$) for a 20ga. off the consignment rack last summer. Restocked with crotch black walnetto (strait hand and a long t-guard maybe off a 280) and the longest forend you've ever seen with a brazed-on pushrod extension. Strange little gun and no wear whatsoever to whatever blacking agent on frame and barrels.

jack

Ted, black chrome is indeed the finish on the barrels of most SKB's imported by Ithaca. Later on, they switched to conventional blue because they ran afoul of the Japanese equivalent of the EPA, as I understand it. Toxic waste from the black chrome process. You will see some Ithaca SKB barrels that have faded. But for the most part, considering the age of the guns in question (many over 40 years), the finish seems to hold up pretty well.

Ironman, they never came with double triggers, except for the "Royal" model, which is seldom seen in this country. None of the Ithaca imports had double triggers. The choke tubes must've been added. I don't believe any sxs had choke tubes at the time Ithaca was importing the SKB's. The late 80's guns and the more recent imports (385/485) which came in under the SKB name did have choke tubes, but they're the only ones with SKB factory screw-ins.

Could be, Larry. But, I'll hold off judgement until I see it-have only handled the later, blued guns. The Uggies of the era were advertised as having "Black Chrome" barrels, when, in fact, they were fully brazed and hot blued. Nothing wrong with that, but, it is inaccurate.
I actually own a gun with true black chrome applied, and know of another-a Remington 241 my Father had done in the early 1960s. It is off-the-hook shiney. Ditto a Remington 700 with one of the early stainless barrels.
Too shiney, both examples.

Best,
Ted

The "black chrome" finish on the SKB's is not shiny,but a soft velvet type finish which is incredibly durable.I bought two of them NIB in the mid seventies and am still shooting them.They both have had chamber, forcing cone, and choke alterations and have digested a huge number of all manner of loads both lead and steel, over the years. The barrels of both guns on the exterior are unmarked and look as new, in spite of heavy use in salt marshes, punts, etc.
An absolutely marvelous finish. One of them accounted for several
Canada geese a week ago, two black brant yesterday, and a snow goose this morning. Wonderful guns.

Ted,

I have two SKB's A 20ga ithaca model 100 with black chrome. It has held up well except where my sweaty and oil Italy hands carried it all those years. I bought it it new over 35 years ago. The black chrome was a part of the advertisement Ithaca used back them. Also chromed inside too.

I also have a 385 28 ga. A very unique gun. It is built on the 20 ga frame. It has a nice beavertail, and vent rib. Because of the frame size it weights over 7 1/2 lbs. Might sound wierd, but is is one hell of a target side by side. If has only 26' barrels, but it still swings nice and shots like a dream.

Jerry

Ted, if you've handled many of the Ithaca imports--and there's no shortage of them out there, especially when you include the OU's--then you've certainly handled guns with a black chrome finish without realizing it. Not shiny at all, as Terry indicated. If you look at one of the Ithaca imports and compare it to either an Uggie or one of the later SKB 385/485 guns, or a current SKB OU, you'll see the difference immediately.

Terry, I bought my two NIB in the mid-70s. Sounds like they appeared same time coast to coast!

A lightly used 200E resides here.

I have a difficult time believing the barrel finish is plated, electro or otherwise.

I've always thought this was a heat cured coating.

If it's a plating process, it's difficult to imagine why it hasn't had wider use.

As reported, it's an excellent finish. The only thing I can compare it to is something called "Brunition" by Beretta. They used that on target 682's in the 80's and it's just as durable and easy to maintain as can be.

Any idea why Beretta stopped using that, or why others haven't used the Ithaca/SKB process? It beats the hell out of traditional blue in many ways.

Like Larry says, true electro plating leaves a mess. There are a bunch of heavy metals that need to be dealt with in the strike tanks. Yes, it may say in the SKB sales material the finish is "Black Chrome" but, I'm always suspicious of sales material, less so of an engineering report or tests.
The SKBs I've handled were blued. I will say I'm not terribly interested in far eastern manufactured guns, and haven't spent much time seeking them out.

Best,
Ted