My first Ithaca

[Jay Oliver]

Thanks everyone for the comments on this Ithaca. When I saw this I was just drawn to it and had to have it! The serial# 29725 and they all match. I guess that would be mid production for the Crass?

If the stock and forend can be repaired it would be great to keep the existing wood. Then I would just have a mechanical service and re-install the left firing pin. I might leave everything else alone.

It will be great to get this out shooting again.

[Jay Oliver]

Here is one close in serial# with similar engraving: https://www.rockislandauction.com/de...two-barrel-set

[Stan Hoover]

Those 2 guns sure look like the same engraver to my eyes.

I'll have to do some reading to see if Walt noted when the forend latch may have been changed, I was going off of my memory and that's not usually a wise thing to do

The Crass model ended at serial # 50,000 approximately, so yes, this would be somewhere in the middle of Crass production.
These models definitely have some great engraving, I should hunt more birds with them.

[ArtS]

Nice gun. I always liked the Chain and the American Flag damascus. For some reason, the chain damascus on Ithacas seemed to be one of the most consistently perfect as to pattern regularity that I have seen on damascus guns. The obvious pattern and the regularity I think yields a stunning effect.

[Researcher]

During the 13-year run of the Crass Model there was a lot of variation in the engraving patterns as the Ithaca Hammerless grade structure evolved. Some of the earliest No. 4 were not very fancy, then they got very elaborate and into the upper 2xxxx range they settled into this style. The No. 4E with the engraving attributed to Robert Runge is 29880, two digits after the RIA gun linked above.

I don't know the serial number of this No. 4 Crass picture I saved --

CRASS No. 4 12-GAUGE, 30-inch great dog.jpg

[BRDHNTR]

Very nice gun there Jay