doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Lightest pumpgun ever made?

My education here about pre-WWII pumpguns prompted me to Google the above question. The answer ( discovered in the usual round-a-bout internet fashion), was Ithaca(!) and their English Ultra Feather-lite guns. Evidently 16-bores were 6lbs even and the English-stocked 20-bores were something like 5lbs3 with 25-inch vent-rib barrels(!). From my reading, these were made in the 1980s, just before Ithaca ceased production in New York State. Is that correct? Evidently, the receivers were aluminum to help keep the weight down.

That sounds about right. I've had Ithaca 37s that were steel and were 6bls even so the Aluminum guns are probably around 5 and a few ounces. The Remington 31Ls might give them a run for their money. A good friend just picked up a very nice 16 gauge 31L that with a 28" barrel is 5lbs 4oz. A 20 with a 26" barrel (Shooters Exchange has one for sale now) might be 5lbs even.

Model 31s were that light? I'd never heard that before.

I just weighed my M37 English Ultralight. According to a Tryner postal beam scale it weighs in at 4 lbs. 15 oz

My Remington Model 31LA "Standard" Grade 20-gauge is nowhere near that light. More like 5 pounds 12 ounces. In that Remington Model 31 16- and 20-gauges were built on the same frame, like Winchester Model 12 16- and 20-gauges, 16-gauges could be lighter. I know my 1953 vintage 16-gauge 26-inch improved cylinder Model 12 is the lightest Model 12 I own.

Use of mahogany for the stocks accounted for much of the weight savings of the Ithaca Ultra Featherweight.

I had a King's Ferry Ithaca Ultra in 16 gauge. It wasn't lighter than 6lbs, more like 6 1/2, and it definitely did not have a mahogany stock. Stunning walnut, with a pewter (metal) grip cap with a feather on it. Mine had a choke tube, vented rib barrel that didn't save any weight, either. The only guns I know for sure that came with mahogany stocks were the lightweight Remington 1100s from the late 1970s.
Super lightweight pumps aren't all they are cracked up to be. I got a wild hair one day and brought that aluminum framed Ultra to my local club with 75 rounds of some promo 16 gauge low brass ammunition, and wondered what the hell I was thinking when it was all over. The thing beat me senseless. I did sell it for more than double what I paid for it after the King's Ferry operation went under. Garden variety Mossberg 500s or the old Colt/Manufrance "Lasalle" pumps both have aluminum receivers, and stout loads in 12 gauge in either will get your attention after not too many rounds. I have looked for a twenty gauge version of either gun without success, but, I haven't looked real hard-I thought it would be neat to have a French made and proofed pump, especially in 16 gauge.
I have a plain Jane 16 gauge Ithaca model 37, built in 1957, with a 28" plain, modified choke barrel that weighs 6lbs, 4ozs. Very nice handling gun, but, I never go to the club with more than two boxes of ammunition.
Lesson learned.

Best,
Ted

Technically, some .22 rimfire is likely the lightest prewar pump. Among shotguns (gallery .22s, aside) there's the M-42. Prewar fields usually top out at 5# 14oz. They can be as light as 5# 12oz or so.

Of course, not everyone thinks of a .410 as a shotgun....

Sam

I don't think there are any pumps lighter than those Ultras in 20ga. Ithaca may have been thinking grouse and woodcock hunters when they brought them out, and that was a good idea. However, going by statistics from LODGH (the Loyal Order of Dedicated Grouse Hunters), pumps have seen a significant drop in popularity in the last 30 years among grouse hunters. Bad timing.

My 16 ga. 31L with 28" barrel is 5 lbs. 5 oz. My buddy has a 20 ga. Ithaca Ultralight that feels noticeably lighter.

Researcher, how does your 31LA "Standard Grade" differ from the plain 31L?

Jay