doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Ithaca hammerless identification

Hello Folks. I came home with a 12ga damascus barreled Ithaca today. Perhaps not a wise move, since I don't know anything about it, but I couldn't leave it sitting where it was. If I don't keep it, or if it's not one that can be shot, I can bless someone else with it. The bores look good to my eye, but there is a dent on the right barrel, 5 1/2" back from the muzzle that you can see some in the bore as well. I think it could be pressed out.

26" 12ga hammerless, damascus, engravings, beautiful dark walnut, original buttplate and cap, slightly loose top latch but pretty tight of face, unknown chokes because someone borrowed my gauge, serial number 20281, and the water table has a 2 over 12.

Drop at heel: 3"
Drop at toe: 8 1/2"
LOP: 14"

Can you folks shed light on what this is? I'd think it's a Crass, but I've never had an Ithaca before and know very little. More pictures are available from the thumbnails below. Thanks!

crass 1892

gr.2

check to see if it has any choke....might have cut barrels as 26in was not popular back then.....

I will check original barrel length when I get home. These are nice guns and Loy was the engraver.

very nice.

great gun

Loaned out my choke gauge, I do have a caliper though. What measurement should I be looking for?

The muzzles are not super clean, and I thought it might have been cut, but I don't know what to expect with a gun this age.

I did remove a couple of screws last night to see if the trigger plate would come off easy, thinking I'd take a look at why the top latch is loose. The cover didn't want to budge, and I don't want to mess it up since I might not keep it. The grime that came with the screws seemed like some pretty ancient grime, as if it's never been opened up before.

Is grade 2 a good thing on the scale?

Do you experienced folks think it safe to shoot with low brass, or go even lower pressure?

I am not that great of a shot on the sporting clays course, but I wish to change that, and have really taken to attending the Southern Side by Side events, and they won't let me shoot my A5 for those.

I would go even lower...RST 2 1/2in low pressure loadings ...but first have the barrels looked over by a competent gunsmith familiar with Damascus guns....

They cataloged up to grade 7. These early guns were nicely engraved. Joy Loy was the man. I still have some records on this gun--at least the original barrel length. Is the a number under the top lever like a 2 or 3?? If so, it's the frame size if there.
Any chance you can access a copy of the "Ithaca Gun Co. from the Beginning"? All this is covered there. I suggest not taking it apart just yet. You need to know what is in there. The book can help with that.
Please PM me your address, I can send you something that will help.

The folks where I shoot sporting clays, and who host the Southern SxS seem experienced enough to take a look. I believe that have the tool to measure the barrel wall thickness.

Get the dent ironed out. I can meet you at DR sometime and talk Ithacas. I can then tell you how to take it apart. There is more to it then removing the trigger plate screws.

Thank you Sir. Meeting up at DR sounds great. I have more experience with some Spanish guild guns, and an AyA or two, but not these, so I'll leave it alone.

Did you own this gun at one time? Since we're both in NC, and you have information about it's original barrel length, I thought that might be possible.

Assuming I keep it, where should I go to have the barrel ironed out?

Very anxious to learn what the barrel length was. I bought it with assurances (grain of salt taken) that the barrel had not been cut down.

From what's read about what a Crass muzzle is supposed to look like, with the muzzle's almost touching, this one isn't that.



Since this was marginally "affordable", and I don't need a cyl/cyl gun, I'll likely try to work out a return, or offer it up to someone else. Wonderful things to learn along the way though, so thank you.

Does not look quite right to me but we will know the truth on Monday. Most but not all were 30 inches from this era.--Later-

If you keep it, look up John Hosford at Deep River. He will have a space in one of the tents and he can lift the dent for you at a nominal fee.

Thanks DAM16SXS. We'll see. I need an extra part-time job.

Sure is a nice gun and even with the shorter barrels, it will make
a fine shooting gun. Skeet, Woodcock, quail, grouse, what fun, what fun.

And I might say you will surprise yourself on how well you do at sporting clays using 7 1/2 shot

Mike

Thanks Mike. I'm thinking on it. Would be fun to find some low pressure shells and go shoot it at least once.

Seems I get to keep the Crass. Sure nice to shoot. Had the pleasure of shooting a couple boxes of Polywad 2 1/2" low-pressure rounds through it the last couple of days.

I would like to clean the wood, removing wax build up and dirt. What is the method you folks use to do so, without harming the underlying finish?

Also, I would like to remove the trigger plate, without harming or losing anything, because I believe that this gun might have cleaned rarely, if that, and I'll like to take care of that. What instructions are available?

Thanks,

I would not do anything with it until you can meet with Walt. No one on the planet knows more about Ithaca guns.