I took delivery of a 12 Gauge 30" Ithaca Crass Grade III today. Serial number 29XXX indicates DOM of 1897. The checkering is unmarred as are the bores. The furniture is lovely with only a couple of minor scratches and has the original butt plate. The "Chain Damascus" barrels still have most of their original pattern with some discoloration due to long time storage neglect resulting in some surface oxidation. I'm unsure at this point if a wet "Frontier" metal cleaning pad would benefit or not, I would prefer smooth to the touch barrels but I'm unwilling to risk any deterioration of the Damascus pattern. I am currently having Breck Gorman refinish a set of 1887 Damascus Parker Bros. barrels and his work is truly amazing. This Ithaca however, may not require a total Damascus refresh. The barrels are now soaking up a heavy coat of Rem Oil for now. The lavish "Ithaca Style" engraving is striking, some deep case color remains in the protected area in front of the trigger guard. You could call it "as found" condition, the widow who walked it into the gun shop said, "I just want it out if the house".
The extractors are articulated like an ejector gun but the underside of the forearm doesn't have the familiar ejector "hammers". The action functions as an extractor gun. There is a flat, hollow rod in the center channel on the underside of the barrels that push the extractors out. Why they are articulated (independent) I have no idea.
Thank you for reading and any comments are welcome.

Wow. What a 1st post. Please post pics as soon as you can.

And welcome.

Being new here I haven't mastered adding photos yet. Is there a "How to" tutorial?

sounds like a wonderful gon...

Welcome to the forum. In the interest of seeing that new Ithaca here's my method of posting pics, copied and pasted from a previous post.


Not knowing exactly how you're going about it, I'll relate my method on my Apple desktop.

1) Open the reply box for the forum
2) At the top of your screen click on "File", scroll down and click on "New Tab"
3) Type "jpg box.com in your address bar, and then, hit "enter"
4) When the jpg.box site comes up click on "Choose File". This will allow you to choose a photo from your photos, or choose a file from downloads
5) Click on whichever you want and it will highlight it in blue (yours may be another color). This will also highlight the "Choose" box at the bottom right of the page. Click on it at this time.
6) You will be taken back to the jpgbox main page. Click on "Upload image as guest"
7) After it loads you will see the image there, for preview. If you want to change the size of it, do so at this time.
8) When satisfied with the image click on the top large box entitled "For forums". It should then be highlighted.
9) Copy it (on my Mac I hold down "command" while I hit "C"), then go back to your tab that opens the reply box on the forum, and paste it there ( on a Mac, you will hold down "command" and hit "V").

That's it. Looks complicated but, I could have posted several pictures individually in the time it took to type that. Once you memorize the process it will seem very easy.

If you click on one of these little photos you will see a larger version. I doubt using a "Frontier" pad on the barrels will satisfy me so a total barrel restoration is in the future. I just have to be patient, the barrel job requires a minimum of two months plus shipping time. However the results are worth the wait and the gun deserves it. We are merely caretakers of these vintage shotguns and I try my best to give them the proper care they require.
My affliction has caused me to accumulate some nice examples of Parker Brothers, Syracuse LC's, Clabrough, Lefever and others. My focus is largely pre-1900 shotguns. I handload the all brass hulls with black powder and shooting these old masterpieces is a very exciting past time.

Very nice.

This is an 1897 ad in "Recreation" stating that the guns could be used with Smokeless Powder



And a neat ad from 1900 "Recreation"

Pinball, welcome to the Ithaca club.

Yours is a 2nd type Crass frame and with the sixth screw in the frame and split extractors should be an ejector model. The ejector mechanism is not in the forend. It is mounted in the barrel lug.

Thank you John E for your expertise. Yes, there are two small flat parallel springs within the barrel lug and opposing mechanisms within the sides of the frame. The ejector mechanism looks intact though obviously has been disabled due to a worn or broken part or intentional. There is a horizontal bar in the frame that engages the rear of barrel lug when attaching the barrels. It doesn't look terribly complicated. It would be nice if the ejectors worked properly but it's not a big issue for me when using the shotgun. I have functional ejector guns and though they increase the value of vintage side by sides they really aren't necessary at all. The right person could diagnose the problem and simply remedy it. I however, am not that person, I refuse to impersonate "Bubba".

I successfully scrubbed all of the oxidation off the barrels for a smooth surface with no affect on the Damascus pattern. The "Frontier" pad works wonders.
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wow! im in love...

doc drew libel to have an orgazum when he sees dis...

Still some spotting but way better.
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to fix the ejectors, contact gunther pfrommer in va...to my mind, he is the most ithaca knowledge gunsmith workin these days...

Pinball, there is a member here that recently duplicated parts for these style ejectors. If you are interested in pursuing the repair I can put you in contact with him.

John

Aren't those the squiggley things we put on glass slides in bug-ology" and looked at through microscopes- Only a medico like ol' Doc Drewbie could come up with organisms. RWTF

Update: I sent the Ithaca to Gunter Pfrommer today to repair the ejectors that were functioning as extractors. I always stress when shipping a vintage shotgun. I insured it but the counter person said "You'll have to prove it's insured value". I replied, "I have the sales receipt". That's probably not good enough but the insurance charge was supposed to make me feel confident, though I don't think it helped.

buying the insurance is an appeasement to murphy...hopefully it will keep him at bay...