doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Ithaca Flues

Those cracks do show up on Flues models, especially the very light 20's. Used to be a contributor here, Greg Tag, who was keeping track of Flues failures. You do want to shoot light loads (low pressure, light shot charge, moderate velocity) in the light 20's. As I recall, on at least a couple of those "failures", the owner had been shooting promotional loads from one of the big box stores. Those shells aren't heavy in terms of shot charge, but they make them to generate enough recoil to operate autoloaders that may get cleaned once a decade or so. Better to go with light reloads or something like RST's. And if the gun has 2 1/2" chambers and you're reloading 2 3/4" hulls, remember to back off even more on pressure. Per Sherman Bell in Double Gun Journal, although the pressure increase as a result of the longer hull is usually only a few hundred psi, it can be more than 1,000 psi. So add in more of a safety cushion.

It wasn't just the light weight smallbores that cracked as I previously thought --

http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=428464

Did any of the American guns ever use a swamped rib? This one has a raised rib, much like what I would expect to see on a Smith. Not a complaint, mind you, but it definitely adds weight and mass out front. I almost never see one on an English gun.

Lloyd, here's one on a fairly early pivot lever Lefever. Later, Dan Lefever built a rib matting machine and guns thereafter had a flat top rib.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=538482461

The existing, but incomplete, Hunter Arms records document only 5 swamp rib guns: an Eagle and a set of Crown grades in 12, 16, 20, and 410 that remain as a set.

Crown



Eagle

I guess that answers my question about ribs. Thank you Dr. Drew. Another question...if a Flues is going to crack, where might that be on the action? I'd guess it would be on the radius from the standing breach to the water table. Am I close?

Lloyd,
If you remove the barrels and look in the slot where the lug goes, there is a thin section (maybe .060-.080 thick) under the water table on each side. That is where my 12ga cracked. I have also heard of cracks at the watertable/breach face intersection. When I buy Flues guns, those are the places I look at closest.
Of all the Flues guns that I have had and looked at over the years, the 12ga was the only one I have personally seen with a crack. That 12 was rode hard and sustained trauma.

I passed on a nice 30" 20ga the other day. Still kicking myself. Guess ya can't do all the deals.

Hope that helps,
Bill

The "swamped ribs" on the Smiths pictured by Drew are not what I understand true swamped ribs to be like. Well, the breech end of the rib isn't, anyway. That raised portion at the rear makes it somewhat of a hybrid, IMO.

The term "swamped rib" is interesting to me, in and of itself. The earliest use of "swamped", that I know of, is concerning muzzleloading rifle barrels. A swamped rifle barrel is an octagonal barrel that decreases in diameter from the breech to a point somewhere around two-thirds to three-fourths of the way to the muzzle, then increases in diameter as it continues, all the way to the muzzle. It was said to have enhanced carrying, and offhand shooting, characteristics. What is called "swamped" shotgun ribs don't necessarily do that. Strange.

SRH

Mr. Johnson: thank you for that.