doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Need info. on 28 Flues

I have chance to buy 28 gauge Flues #326830 and man said it has woodcock on frame and fluid steel barrels. I guess it is #2 grade. How many 28 gauges were made and what chamber length would this gun be? Are 2 1/2" 28 gauge shells available and where if this gun has short chambers? Is it safe to lengthen chambers? All info i can get on this gun will be appreciated! Bobby

Sounds like a No. 2. The standard length 28-gauge shell was 2 1/2 inches with a load of 1 3/4 dram equiv. and 5/8 ounce of shot. The extra length hull for the 28-gauge was 2 7/8 inch and even in his 1910 book Capt. Askins was writing of using the 2 7/8 inch shell in his 30-inch Parker Bros. 28-gauge, but it weighed 6 3/4 pounds!! While the ammo manufacturers didn't offer more then 5/8 of an ounce, the good Capt. was loading 3/4 of an ounce of shot in his 2 7/8 inch 28-gauge hulls. The early Parker Bros. 28-gauges were built on the 0-frame, the lightened 00-frame didn't come along until later. I have a 1915-vintage Flues No. 1S 28-gauge with 30-inch barrels and it weighs 5 pounds 1.8 ounces. Ithaca advertised Flues 28-gauges as light as 4 3/4 pounds. It is these light Flues smallbores where I have seen the most instances of cracked frames. Ithaca lengthened their standard 28-gauge chambers to 2 7/8 inches in the NID in 1932 when the Super-X 28-gauge shell came out in that length with 3/4 ounce of shot. According to the table in Walter's book 326,830 would be a 1920 gun.

Bobby,

What are you doing messing with 28 gauges. You are supposed to be the Fox Man. I have owned and shot more than 10 28 gauge Flues with no problems. The guns can vary very much. I had one that I (who loves lightweight guns) couldn't even shoot well because it was so light, 4 1/2 pounds. I have seen late Flues 28 gauges weigh more than six pounds. I e-mailed you with my phone number in case you misplaced it. Give me a call I would enjoy talking to you about the gun that you are looking at I have owned 3 2E's myself in 28 gauge and currently have one that we can compare.

Take Care,
James

Thanks, Dave and James. Walt emailed me that it is a 2E,28 ga. with 24" barrels. It should be very light! It belonged to the man's mother and he said he shot it back in 30s and when he went to college his father loaned it to a one armed dog trainer who abused it some! It has a colorful past and i will try to buy it.I am a sucker for light smallbores! Bobby

I have a 28 gauge Flues. Judging by serial number it dates to 1911, the first year Ithica chambered for the 28 gauge. It has fluid barrels. I'm not sure what the grade would be except that I think it's the Plain Jane version as the "engraved" scenes appear to be rolled on. There has been a bit of controversy about the chambering. A guy at a gun show dropped in a chamber gauge and said 2-1/2 inch. Local gunsmith made a cast and said 2-3/4 inch. My own ball point pen test says 2-9/16 inch. It has been used with 2-3/4 in 3/4 oz loads. A guy who was supposed to be knowledgable said they were OK, but avoid 1 oz loads as it would be recoil that might damage it rather than pressure. So I am still figuring. mean while, the action is nice and tight. It's very light and short as if it were intended for a small woman or child.

Two other questions to figure, what is it worth, and should I attempt to refinish or restore it? I've been pondering the latter question for the last 10 years. I did get a small dent in the barrel pushed out.

I have some modern 2-1/2 inch 9/16 oz loads. So 2-1/2 inch cartridges can be had if you dig deep enough.