doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Ithaca Victory Model info wanted

There is a trap gun for sale at my club. Ithaca Victory model supposed to be in original cobndition and stored many years. I don't have the book on Ithacas yet and ask if anyone can give me info if this model is desirable and holds up well, also any watchouts on modern trap ammo or any thing esle. I was told model came out right after WW 1, is that why its called Victroy model or is it reference to victory on the trap field? Thanks for all help. Joseph S

The Victory was the lowest price of the Ithaca single barrel trap guns. Same mechanism but plain wood and no engraving to speak of. It was made in both the Flues and Knick designs. If its serial number is over 400000, its a Knick, under that and its a Flues. Repair parts for the Flues are hard to come by, especially the cocking hook that is the most likely to break. I seldom shoot my Flues but use my Knicks on a regular basis. Good luck!

Thank you Walter. I looked at gun today. It is a Fleus. When you say the cocking hook do you mean the metal part that sticks up above the frame knuckle, or the part that is on the barrel lump? Joseph

Its a part in the barrel hook that hooks around the hammer toe and cocks the hammer as you open the gun.

If Walt is afraid of a Flues Single, I'm afraid of a Flues Single. You can buy a good Knick 4E these days for a very reasonable price. I shoot all my Knicks and they do not break. What is the asking price of the Flues?

This is broken record with Ithaca guns, every few years another model, Lewis, Minier, Flues, NID, Flues single trap gun and Knick single trap. Did I miss any? Yah Crass fits in somewhere there. Every one new and better if you believe the advertising but then after few years, another new, improved model comes out. How come Ithaca never got it right like Parker Bros, Smith, Fox, Le Fever? Question, if Fluesey single trap was so bad on brakage why did it last so long before Knicker model came out?

All the Victory models I have seen have 2 1/2 to 2 9/16 inch chambers. They are a very thick barreled heavy gun. There was plenty of metal to open the chamber and forcing cone to modern dimensions on the guns we had. A well taken care of or little used Flues should last several life times. The're trap guns, designed to shoot tens of thousands of times. They were called Victory models to try to sell them to returning GI's. We had victory gardens, victory cabbage, etc.
Tom Dulin

The Flues single-barrel trap went thru three different boltings in its brief barely eight years of production, while the Knick was produced for at least 60 years.

Parker Bros. went through all kinds of changes -- T-Latches, lifters actions with back-action locks, lifter-ations with front-action locks, top-action hammer guns, hammerless guns without rebounding locks, hammerless guns with rebounding locks, then the 1905-style bolt-plate to take up wear, then the 1910-style bolt plate to take up wear, then they simplified the action a bit and went to a coil top-lever spring in place of the older V-spring, etc., etc.

Lefevers were in a constant state of change -- side-cockers, cocking rods, thumb-roller top latch, side-swing top-lever, conventional top-lever, two-hooks, small hooks, large hooks, sears on the sideplates, sears hung in the frame, on and on.

Researcherman , question here is on Fleusey trap gun cocking brakeage problem not 3 different bolting set ups. Also I refer to proven hammerless guns made by other companies. If you want to reply with changes to hammer guns you can add more names to Ithacas listt of new, improved model of the year.

It was not my intent to imply that Flues cocking hooks were inherently a weakness in the Flues design and broke often. Only that if it breaks(I have never heard of anything else breaking but then the day of the Flues active usage ended 75 years ago) it is now days an expensive repair. There have been tons and tons of trap targets broken from the Flues gun as there were with the Knick model.
Nitro Express, I really don't care if you hold Ithaca guns in great contempt. That's your issue. I was just trying to answer a guy's questions.