The Flues Model Ithaca was far from a "sound design" with all its frame cracking issues.
This notion concerning Ithaca Flues frame cracking, especially in 20 gauge guns, was discussed here once again several weeks ago. In spite of considerable hand-wringing about the alleged design flaw, nobody was able to demonstrate that any significant number of Flues frames have cracked. In addition, it appeared that the majority of those few that did crack were abused in some manner, such as firing excessively heavy loads, or doubling. If there is any proof showing that a significant number of Flues frames have cracked during normal use with reasonable loads, we have not seen it.
Of course, we keep hearing that E.M.Reilly had 300 gun-making employees.... But we still don't have any evidence of that either. I remain willing to be convinced, but simply saying things isn't going to do it. No arguments from me concerning the opinion that the Flues was not as good looking as some of the competition. However, there are worse looking guns, and a lot of crappy guns that really have worn out and self destructed due to poor design and poor materials. Flues shotguns simply aren't bad for a mass produced machine made gun. People who own and use them shouldn't be worried that their frames will crack under normal and proper use.
