There must be exceptions or oddities for Ithaca. I have a 20 Flues, grade 1, made 1919-1920 by serial number which was made with 30" barrels which was not in the catalog at that time. Short chambered at 2 1/2" and choked full and full I have used it to good effect on late season doves. It crushes Skeet targets. I think the previous owner used too many very heavy 2 3/4" filed loads because it has developed a crack behind the tang. He also trimmed the barrels back 1/4", to clean up some muzzle damage I suspect, because it now measures 29 3/4". Ithaca might have had a 30" barrel set on hand and just filled an order using up old stock. When I retire this gun will get a new stock and a good barrel refinish. The case color is still very strong so I will leave it alone. It handles like a dream.
There are certainly oddities on those guns. Mine has 24" barrels with a swamped rib. I got the factory letter from the Cody Museum. Mine is from the same era as yours. Sold in 1920. The letter lists the name of the buyer, so I'm sure it was a special order gun. It was ordered with 24" barrels. 2 1/2" chambers on a 20ga would have been standard back then. Mine has 2 3/4" chambers, and I was hoping to learn whether those were also a special order from the factory. But the letter doesn't tell me anything about chamber length, and they certainly could have been lengthened at a later date.
Good luck with yours. Given your barrel length vs mine, our two guns are clearly the long and the short of it.
