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A Grouse Hunter’s Dream: Finding My Perfect Ithaca Double Gun

Andrew M. Wayment



My brother Shawn has recently been bitten by the double-gun bug and purchased a Parker 16 gauge at a very affordable price. Tales of the sweetness of this gun caused me to lust even more for a classic side by side of my own. And then on Friday, March 20, 2015, Shawn sent me an email with a web-site link to a 20-gauge Ithaca NID for sale, stating “This would be nice.”

I instantly clicked on it and was thrilled to the core by the gun’s description:

THIS IS A CLASSIC ITHACA LIGHT BIRD GUN. 28″ BARRELS ARE CHOKED CYLINDER AND CYLINDER. 2 3/4″ CHAMBERS WITH FINE BORES. STAR ENGRAVED RECEIVER. 14″ LENGTH OF PULL WITH A 3″ DROP. WEIGHS JUST OVER 6 POUNDS. ABOUT 90% WOOD AND BARREL FINISHES. CASE COLORS FADED AWAY. STOCK HEAD REINFORCED WITH A SMALL BRASS PIN. SERIAL #44XXXX. A DELIGHTFULLY SHOOTING GUN WITH RST LIGHT LOADS. A GROUSE HUNTERS DREAM COME TRUE…

What grouse hunter would not be intrigued by such a description? To me, it sounded like the absolute perfect grouse gun for hunting out west. And the price was right. I then had to convince the War Department (my better half) that the acquisition of this gun was a good investment. With her reluctant approval, I made the commitment to buy the Ithaca NID.

For those who do not know, Ithaca replaced their Flues model with the NID (New Ithaca Double) in 1925 and continued to make them until 1948 when they shifted their focus to their better selling pump gun. Of the Ithaca’s side by sides, Jack O’Connor wrote in The Shotgun Book: “The Ithaca doubles were a lot of gun for the money, but in the higher grades they were neither as elegant nor as expensive as the Parkers, the Foxes, and the L.C. Smiths.” However, he also pointed out that “the Ithaca sold for about half what the other companies got for a corresponding grade.” So these guns were made for the working-man hunter who couldn’t afford the bigger names, which is right up my alley. The seller later informed me on the phone that the gun once belonged to an elderly grouse hunter in Maine who would be glad to know that his gun would once again be carried into the grouse woods − albeit in the Rocky Mountains.


Shortly after purchasing the gun, I learned that many of the great hunting writers also owned and hunted with Ithacas including Elmer Keith, Gordon Macquarrie, George King (who owned a 1914 Ithaca side by side he couldn’t shoot worth a darn because of how light it was) and Michael McIntosh. In fact, McIntosh’s NID recently sold for around a whopping $19,000. My forthcoming grouse gun’s worth quickly escalated in my mind.

Adding to this, Spencer Jones recently wrote in his Field & Stream article “The Fifty Best Shotguns Ever Made” − in which he dubbed the Ithaca NID as the “The Underrated Double” − that “Parkers and Foxes get all the love from the gun writers, but the New Ithaca Double was every bit as good. Boasting a lightning-fast (for its day) lock time of 1/625 second, the NID was simple and famously strong.”

After reading all of this praise of the NID, I can honestly report that I was not disappointed one bit when the gun finally arrived. In fact, it surpassed my expectations for weight, beauty and elegance. As I snapped the gun up to my cheek with my eyes closed, I was so pleased to be looking down the barrel when I opened them. The gun just fits. The engraving of an English Setter on the faded metal receiver was a pleasant surprise and further attested that this is indeed a grouse hunter’s gun.

A few days after the gun arrived, I received a case of RST 2½-inch, low-pressure shells compliments of Brother Shawn. While trying the gun out that same day, I was tickled by how well it handled and shot where I was looking − although the double triggers will take some getting used to. Things are definitely looking up for this upcoming grouse season.

gotta agree...

my 20 gauge NID has 26" barrels and weighs just six pounds...

but then, there is this 20 gauge Fox Sterlingworth...
with 26" barrels...it too weighs just six pounds...

nice to have choices like this...

Just because something rolled off of Cactus Jack's typewriter doesn't mean it was true.

From the introduction of the NID in the 1926 Ithaca Gun Co. catalogs the double trigger, plain extractor, Field Grade sold for $37.50, which remained the price into the early 1930s.



For 1926, the Godshalks moved A.H. Fox shotgun production into a new more efficient factory and dropped the price of the double trigger, plain extractor, Sterlingworth to $36.50.



Where it remained until Savage's June 21, 1932 revised price list, when it went up to $39.50. Between Ithaca's first and second 1932 catalogs the price of the Field Grade went up from $37.50 to $40.55.

While the 1926 Ithaca Gun Co. catalogs oddly stated the 20-gauge was chambered for 2 1/2-inch shells, from the 1927 catalog onward the 20-gauge was listed with 2 3/4-inch chambers. I said oddly because the 1924 and 1925 Flues era Ithaca Gun Co. catalogs stated the 20-gauges had 2 3/4-inch chambers!?!

I have one I'll likely be selling soon. Guaranteed that no other kid on the block will have. It's a Crudgington 20ga, custom ordered by someone in California back in 1966. 25" barrels, both bored cylinder. Straight grip, Single nonselective trigger. Includes excellent provenance. 2 3/4" chambers. LOP 14" x1 7/16" x2 3/4". It will handle standard 2 3/4" US shells. The documentation includes the names of all the craftsmen who worked on the gun from Mark Crudgington the son of the owner of the company. SN 59. They apparently also own George Gibbs and most of the guns they make carry the Gibbs name. Weight is 5/11.

I have another American candidate for the title of perfect grouse gun that fits me better: Ithaca Flues 4E, 24" barrels, swamped rib, DT. A Flues Field Grade 16 was my first American classic. It has 2 3/4" chambers, but I don't think they are original. I have the factory letter and it doesn't indicate that the chambers were lengthened at thefactory. The gun is pre-WWI
when standard 20 ga chambers were still 2 1/2". This one has odd chokes: IC/tight IM. I'll simply select the rear trigger for most first shots. I really don't want to tamper with anything. I've stocked up on spreader loads from RST to open that left bore. I'll shoot a standard 2 1/2" load in the R barrel.

I think a fellow once told me that “Grouse hunters, hunt the past.”

I’d like to run a skeletonized 59 for a couple days when the woodcock are flitting about.
A Flues 20 held my interest for a time.
When I became a life sponsor with RGS they offered me a Benelli SL. I donated it back to them to auction off.
I just don’t enjoy skirmish line hunting, and certainly not plastic refuse where I wander.

But that is our legacy.

American stuff only here it seems...

The evolution of American grouse culture has been an interest to me for decades.
Most were taken with an 8lb 12ga.
When literature began to develop the more gentlemanly pursuit of grouse for sport, enter the marketers.

You cannot go wrong with a gun you like, and friendly companions to match.

Following in the foot steps of a forebear is a solid choice.

It’s a shame however that our firearm choice has small influence on how many rise ahead of it.

When I was growing up here in the Pacific Northwest, the Game Department said that most grouse were taken with a pistol, incidental to deer and elk hunting.

researcher, thanks for posting ithaca and fox ads...pictures are truly worth as much as words...