doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com I guess Flues are tougher than thought!

This is an engineering drawing from 1907, but from the beginning Hunter Arms chambered 12g guns 2 3/4", and 10g 2 7/8", and indicated on the flats if otherwise



The forcing cones were cut 1/2" - 5/8". The 3 1/2" shell length is after firing, so with a push could fit in a 2 3/4" chamber.

Could someone please measure an unfired and fired 3 1/2" shell?

There was a "spirited discussion" back in February that debated this issue of alleged frame cracking in small bore Ithaca Flues guns. No evidence was presented to support the silly idea that they are prone to cracking when they are used with proper normal loads, and not severely abused in some manner. In fact, the best evidence came from a guy who owned a 12 ga. Flues that had a frame that had cracked after it had been fired with heavy factory loads, and it doubled. The next best evidence was a letter from Ithaca Gun Co. where they had examined a 10 ga. Flues that they determined must have been fired with overloaded ammunition. Of course, neither of those Flues guns was a 20 ga.

https://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=610266&page=1

The only Flues with cracked frames that I have seen in my entire life were the very few that have been repeatedly posted here, and on other forums, by the same guy with a "Chicken Little" mentality. What we have not seen is any evidence of Flues gun frames that cracked when used with the loads they were designed to digest. I am still waiting for evidence to convince me otherwise.

The Internet and Internet Gun Forums can be a great resource, but you have to be intelligent enough to understand that there is a lot of utter nonsense and incorrect information posted. When bullshit gets repeated often enough, gullible folk start to believe it, and then it gets accepted as fact by people who should know better.

10 ga 3 1/2" slide so nicely into my chamberless, brass frame Navy Yard flare pistol, but I am not tempted to shoot it in the slightest. OK to pop off primed empties though. Been looking for some original flares.