Ithaca Trap

[Bill Murphy]

The last small group of Knicks was built for and sold by Bill Jaqua if I remember correctly. Catalog listing and actual production is sometimes miles apart. Recently, a $5000 grade was sold at one of the bigger auctions for a very low price. I never did look at the listing or the pictures to see if I missed "something".

[Big D]

Bill Jaqua was a very creative marketer.

What ever became of the "Little Persuader" which he bought at auction and was featured on the front page of the WSJ? That article legitimized gun purchases as an acceptable investment alternative. My understanding is that he sold that gun shortly after buying it for about a 25% premium. And what about the matched sets of English Best Guns he commissioned with the elaborate display cases?

[Harry Gietler]

Originally Posted by Dave Noreen

The engraving log of Bill Mains and Jacqueline Favre who did the engraving from 1971 to the end (240405496 to 240405739) is reproduced in Frank Conley's book The American Single Barrel Trap Gun. There were 228 guns done by them. About fifteen serial numbers were skipped. Either those guns were not built or shipped to other engravers. No guns were built from December 11, 1973 to May 21, 1975. The last gun on their list is 240405739, shipped back to Ithaca 6-9-82, a No. 5E.

To my eye the Knick is pretty simple and I'd think the parts could be belched out by a CNC machine, and with a little hand work on the sear notch, they could be made pretty cheap. But then Ljutics don't come cheap and they look like they were made in someone's basement to me.

I new Bill back in the 60s and 70s up to the time He moved to Las Vegas. He worked at a gun shop called G&R Tackle. He was a very nice guy. I watched him many times as He engraved many fine guns. He also had a line of custom high quality knives. Harry

[George "Scott" Davis]

Just received email the first batch of Ithaca Letters are going out by the end of the year from the Cody Museum. I've requested letter on a very early SBT.

[Bill Murphy]

A sign of the times is comparing Bill Jaqua's little collection of small bore Purdeys with the dozens of small bore Purdeys that Robert Petersen threw on the market when he passed away. "What's up with that?"

[jeffery c]

Originally Posted by Harry Gietler

I new Bill back in the 60s and 70s up to the time He moved to Las Vegas. He worked at a gun shop called G&R Tackle. He was a very nice guy. I watched him many times as He engraved many fine guns. He also had a line of custom high quality knives. Harry

I wonder how Ithaca found him, Harry? I suppose at some point, only making twenty guns a year, having an in-house engraver didn't make sense. Did he ever discuss how he came to work for Ithaca with you?

[Harry Gietler]

Originally Posted by jefferyconnor

I wonder how Ithaca found him, Harry? I suppose at some point, only making twenty guns a year, having an in-house engraver didn't make sense. Did he ever discuss how he came to work for Ithaca with you?

Yes. He worked for G&R at that time .Ithaca put out their engraving by bid. The owner of the gun shop was lowest bidder and got the contract.The knive part of G&R was called Heritage Knives and Bill did the engraveing on them. Harry

[Bill Murphy]

I was manning my tables at the Easton, Maryland gun show many years ago, a bunch of nice side by sides on the tables. An older gentleman and a companion hung out in front of the tables showing much interest. One man asked about one of my guns and I handed it to him to examine. His comments lead me to say, "You seem to know a bit about these guns. My name is Bill Murphy." He replied, "I know a little, and like them a lot. My name is Bill Jaqua, glad to meet you, Bill."

[George "Scott" Davis]

Received my Ithaca Letter from the Cody Museum:

Ithaca SBT was shipped on June 10, 1910 to C. T. Summerson at Nixon Hotel, Butler Pennsylvania.

I'll do research on C. T. Summerson tomorrow.

[Researcher]

That date doesn't sound right. I was under the impression the Ithaca SBT came out in 1915.