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The 8th gun made by the Ithaca Gun Company

Lex
I own a 10 gauge double barrel side by side with hammers. On the side of the receiver (?) is stamped "Ithaca, NY." Inside the receiver is stamped "Pat" and two dates "May 25, 1880" and "June 1, 1880." There is also "8/1" stamped on the receiver, the barrel and the forearm.

It is my understanding that the Ithaca Gun Company was the only manufacturer of firearms in Ithaca, NY circa 1880. It is also my understanding that Serial Numbers 1 - 2447 were manufactured between 1880 to 1885 and known as "Baker Doubles" in the community today. Back then they were called just about anything. I also know there were 5 or 6 grades for these guns.

I am assuming that since I see the Patent Dates, and the name Ithaca, and the "8/1" that I have a Grade 1, "Baker Double" and it is the 8th gun made by the Ithaca Gun Company.

I'd like to hear from some other passionate gun enthusiasts about what you think.

Thanks for chiming in.
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Comments

10 comments

Date Votes
  • Bert H.
    I for one, would really like to see a few pictures of the gun, to include the markings you mentioned.
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  • Lex
    Originally posted by Bert H.
    I for one, would really like to see a few pictures of the gun, to include the markings you mentioned.

    I'm happy tohelp, but I need a short tutorial (for a guy who rode the short bus) on how to upload pictures. I tried and can't figure it out.
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  • nononsense
    Lex,

    Welcome to the Gunbroker forums!

    The tutorial is located in a 'Sticky' at the top of this forum and titled 'Posting Photographs':

    http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=259294

    If you have more questions, ask here or e-mail me.

    Best.
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  • 11b6r
    This may give you a smidge more info on Ithaca and Baker- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ithaca_Gun_Company
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  • Lex
    Thanks for the help nononsense. Let's try this...

    5215576939

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/24551378@N04/5215576939/


    Maybe this way...

    5215576939_6a6a726dc2_b.jpg
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  • Lex
    I'm fairly certain of the background. I've researched this for a few hours and found two pretty good sources. I'll let some of the more knowledgeable tell me whether they are good. But I've read parts of "The Ithaca Gun Company From the Beginning" by Walter Claude Snyder that references serial numbers and that seems to be accurate. And "Best Guns" By Michael McIntosh gives a good history of Baker, his associates, and the Ithaca Company.

    I've Googled for images of the stamped patent dates and serial numbers but not found anything good. I've seen the patent stamps referenced a few times and they have been mentioned almost the same way as you see them, but there is no mention of the serial number.
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  • Bert H.
    Hello Lex,

    Are you absolutely sure that it is a 10-gauge and not an 8-gauge?

    The marking on the watertable is similar to the later Ithaca doubleguns, and on those, the first number is the gauge and the second number is the grade.
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  • Lex
    Those markings I talked about are the only ones on the gun, I think. Where would serial number be? I'll check the gauge out tomorrow. The gun is heavy and has Damascus barrels.
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  • Bert H.
    Lex,

    The real early guns may not have been serialized. There certainly was no requirement to do so back in those days.
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  • Lex
    I'm taking it in tomorrow to get the chambers measured. In the mean time here are a couple more photos...

    5216458619_3801bfd6f4.jpg

    And...

    5216458975_a2b36d34cb.jpg
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