BTW: I've never seen a Smith (which had a different design defect), Lefever, NID or Ithaca Lefever, or even a Crescent (!) with a cracked frame. I checked with the AI bot and it/them? hasn't either
Preacher, you yourself have posted photos of several other brands of vintage American SxS doubles that suffered cracked frames. These include Baltimore Arms, Syracuse Arms, and the famous Fox Sterlingworth. You also posted pics of a Belgian Thos. Parker with a cracked frame. I can repost them if you'd like everyone to know the whole truth...
So it seems intentionally deceptive for you to even suggest that the Ithaca Flues alone had some inherent frame design defect. I haven't heard of any Flues guns blowing open upon firing, as sometimes happens to Fox and L.C. Smith rotary bolted guns. I also have never seen a Crescent with a cracked frame. However, I've seen a number of them that were shot loose, and countless others have been scrapped and parted out. There's a very good reason that Ithaca Flues guns are worth more than a Crescent in equal condition.
Collecting and doing repetitive Copy and Pasting of old data and advertisements is one thing. It might actually be impressive if you really were able to understand it. A self-styled shotgun "expert" ought to be able to grasp and understand simple concepts like this.
You have posted the Proof Pressures used by various countries countless times. You of all people should know that many of the vaunted British shotguns were proofed for lower pressures than the "double powder charge with 1 1/2 times norma shot load" you cited above for the lowly Ithaca Flues. Same for the 15,000 psi Proof figure you cited for many other common American machine made doubles. One can only wonder how many of those British guns that are worshipped by many would have failed in some catastrophic manner if subjected to those Ithaca or other American factory Proof loads. Wasn't the term "off the face" coined by British gunmakers? Whose loose guns were they describing?
Everything mechanical has a failure point. Every chain has a weakest link. Even the 16" guns of an Iowa class battleship would fail if subjected to extremes beyond their design limits. The Ithaca Flues will never be mistaken for a "Best Gun", but it doesn't deserve the reputation a few hysterical people have unfairly given it.
