Book wasn't called "American Guns Held in Good Opinion by British Gunmaker". But I'm glad to see that Ithaca SBT also met Mr. Wilkes' standards. Apparently hammer toes do break (see recent thread offering weldup) and cocking rods wear producing primer-bound strikers, and to paraphrase another Shakespearean besides Mac and Falstaff: "Do I not become loose like any gun? Have I not rivets thru my cheeks and lever left like any gun? However, most of the really decrepit ones do close and get off a shot, a record of basic performance which I'm told Parkers fail to match.

jack