Pete, the above information on dates of importation for SKB shotguns is in error. Or at least it does not agree with information from Ithaca catalogs. Walt Snyder--who may be able to comment further--sent me some catalog copy when I was doing a 2-part article on SKB's for Shooting Sportsman several years ago. The 1967 Ithaca catalog shows both the Models 100 and 200E side by sides, and the 500 and 600 OU's. I wrote in my article that 1967 was the year of their debut. The same article contains a quote, directly from an Ithaca news release, January 1977, announcing the end of their partnership with SKB. The announcement added that Mitsui would continue to import the SKB guns. My article also notes--don't have the source of this piece of information--that SKB was bankrupt by 1980. Later, of course, the company emerged from bankruptcy, and in fact side by sides were very briefly imported in the late 1980's. So I think the Mitsui dates are off too, although I am not as positive about those as I am the Ithaca information.
