question on old Ithaca Flues

[Don90]

I was looking at a couple old Ithaca’s lately and wondered if the barrels would handle today’s off the shelf loads? These are Ithaca Flues made around 1915-1920. Were these Damascus barrels? I wasn’t looking to put magnum loads through them, but more like Win AA trap loads.

The other thing is I noticed a few of the Flues where for shorter than regular shells. The 16 gauge I looked at (I think) used 2 ½” shells. The 10 gauge I saw at Cabelas also used 2 ¾ (?) shells. Anyone carry shorter shells? I looked online and couldn’t find much. And Old Western scrounger’s site I can’t get into.

 

[TrapperReady]

Westley Richards has a good selection of the shorter shells... but not the 10ga. I bought a couple cases of the 16ga shells for use in 2 9/16" chambered guns I have. They work great!

Personally, in the 16ga loads, I am very happy with the 7/8 oz of #7 shot and 1 ounce of #6. The lighter load is great for everthing up to grouse size, while the #6 works pretty well on pheasants.

Unfortunately, I'm not up to speed on Ithacas. You might want to check with the folks that put out The Double Gun Journal .

 

[Dave McCracken]

Years ago, I was thinking about buying a nice looking Flues model 16 gauge. I called Ithaca and asked a few questions. They stated emphatically that they did not recommend shooting ANY Ithaca made before the NID with ANY ammo.

That 10 was probably for the old 2 7/8" shells. Not common now.

 

[Don90]

Reload then?

Thanks for the info and links. That double gun journal has a TON of info!

Interesting Ithaca would say not to shoot the Flues. A lot of guys on that board use them with low pressure ammo. Apparently the flues were made to handle only 9000 PSI.

Which brings me to my next question: If I were to get a shotshell reloader, could I just cut down the hulls to 2 7/8 for the 10 ga and load my own? I'm a bit confused as the MEC reloader I am looking at says 3 1/2" 10 ga. I'm not very familiar with shotshell reloading, but have done quite a bit of rifle and especially pistol.

I'm not looking for a heavy workhorse of a gun. More like a couple boxes a year max.