doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Ithaca Grade VI (Lots of Photos!)

Every time a poster or poster/gunsmith offers information on making these holes disappear, the cost is hundreds of dollars, not for the whole job, but per hole. My 20 gauge Parker skeet configured gun has four holes in the rib. I'm waiting for someone to offer to plug them, at a reasonable price.

The gun is a No. 5E Flues Model from about 1915, probably one of the first with the bolder Bill McGraw style engraving. Also, it is fitted with the Infallible single trigger --

Huge thanks to all of you for the information. I'm not sure when it will list... but I bet you'll see it out there in the next couple weeks.

Very nice gun and fantastic photos. Everything wrong with that gun is pretty easily fixed including the screw holes. I have to admit the screw holes don't bother me much. It's still a very nice gun.

My price for that type of work, when I accept it which I am not currently, is going up not down.
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People seem to think that gunsmiths are not affected by inflation, we are, I raised my rates for the first time in 15 years this year.

The engraver I partner with on these types of jobs certainly has not mentioned lowering his prices to me, I don't expect that he will.

I agree that it's a shame that at some point, this very nice gun has had value reduced by the addition of the White Line pad, the oversized ivory grip cap, and especially the screw holes in the top rib. Once, I had a chance to buy a couple new old stock Nydar shotgun sights, and passed. Never once regretted it. I also don't recall any higher grade Ithaca Flues with engine turning of the lump and barrel flats, and wonder if that might have been done during a past barrel rebluing job. There are also a couple weep holes in the lower ribs. Nice photography though Shane.

I have an E Grade Lefever that has a single small screw in the top rib, and have thought long and hard how to fill and fix it myself. I'm not sure if the method of filling the hole with a threaded blank, and then peening it over, then dressing and re-cutting the rib matting would work as well as it does on a rifle barrel. It might help to very lightly countersink the hole, and then use a small flat head screw ran down as tight as possible without breaking, to better fill the top of the threads. Then a quick shot of heat from a jewelers acetylene torch to soften the steel a bit just before peening.

I'm a little concerned that the peening process could loosen the rib solder joint in that area. I've also thought about having the threaded plug welded by someone who does laser welding. Maybe they could go at it in several short welds, and also fill the barrels with water to help keep the rib solder joint below the melting point. It would be interesting to hear how others have done this, and how invisible the repair was after dressing, and rebluing.

It's also interesting to me that many Ithaca Doubles including the Minier, Crass, Lewis, and Flues models used the same rib matting pattern as the Syracuse Lefevers. I've read that Dan Lefever built his own rib matting machine, and wondered whether Ithaca copied it, or may have licensed or bought it from him. Ithaca's use of that pattern predates the 1916 sale of the Lefever Arms Co. name, machinery, and unfinished inventory to Ithaca.

I take it that the lock-screw on the top tang screw is part of the Infallible installation --



None of the other high-grade Flues I have pictures of have the lock-screw.

I’ve owned two LC Smith guns with infallible triggers and neither has had a lock screw on the top tang.

The only purpose of a lock screw is to keep another screw from backing out, and the fact that this lock screw intersects the radius of the top tang screw I see no reason to assume any other purpose for this one? Likely the fruits of the same mind who chose to drill holes in the rib.

https://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=5758&Number=59145

The Lancaster Arms Co. catalog is here, with an Ithaca No. 4 on p. 4
https://www.germanhuntingguns.com/lancaster-arms-co-infallible-single-trigger/

You are over thinking the process for that type of repair Karen. It takes very little pressure to peen the head of a soft screw, if you loosen the rib doing that the solder joint was in poor condition and ready to fail anyway. You are correct in that the holes need to be countersunk to hide the repair.

I have showed the results of my process, any pictures of your work would be a welcome addition to the board. Still waiting for pictures of your barrel browning as well Princess.