In the 1935 edition of the booklet, Capt. Askins tells the story of the development of the 3 1/2" Magnum 10g and modestly (not always an Askins family trait..) gives all the credit to Lou Smith and Spencer Olin (John's brother) for the development. He notes that Spencer designed the shell and load himself. The patterning tables in the piece show some very,very tight patterns. Askins, Sr, is one of my heros as he often states that 1 duck taken cleanly at 60 yards on the pass is worth 15 (the then Federal limit) taken over the decoys. I couldn't agree more (Destry disputes this philosophy vehemently preferring his ducks with wet toenails...). The Ithaca 10g Magnum is a worthy gun but even modern 1 7/8 oz non-tox loads are not the equal of the old 2 oz of hard lead in the Super X.
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