Ithaca Super Ten

[Foxnut]

Stan,
Great looking gun and very nice case from what I could see. Should be a great waterfowl gun and as Frank stated would be great on a hung up Tom in the Spring!

[Stan Hillis]

My 10 ga. reloading project in the next year will be to find a good patterning 1 5/8 load of bismuth 4s. I really want to shoot as near the intended load in it as I can. I remember your excellent explanation of that in your articles, Frank. I'm sure I'll be referring to them many times in the future.

The wood is cut straight for the original buttplate. I'd considered grinding a recoil pad for it to increase the LOP. But, it's almost a certainty the distance between the screw holes wouldn't be the same, and dowels would have to be glued in. I really don't want to detract from the originality of this gun, even where it wouldn't be seen, so I'll likely just use my KickKiller lace-on leather pads to get another 1/2" LOP. They come right off after hunting and the gun will still be original.

I've had some questions on how to find my Super Ten article. For those interested, see Parts 1 and 2 of One Special Duck Gun in the DGJ, Volume Twenty-Five, Spring and Summer 2014.

Stan, if using SP-10 wads in 2-7/8” hulls the capacity is limited and max weight of larger size lead shot is about 1-7/16 ounce. That's with a pie crimp. Hence the max weight of bismuth in SP-10's is a little less than 1-1/4 ounce - depending on density and the pellet size. To get heavier (mass) Bismuth loads you'll have to use bare shot as when your gun was made. Preferred single-base powders for max loads/moderate pressure are IMR SR7625 or SR4756. I'm sure you know both were discontinued some years ago but maybe you can implore a member or get some otherwise from a personal stash

Regarding doing up a pad but not plugging the existing holes in the wood = keeping things original and being able to revert to the factory buttplate, an expedient I've used is to newly cut one or both screw holes in a vintage recoil pad to match the hole centers in the wood. I do it on the mill with the pad held in the machine vise, using a 3/16" dia end mill at high speed, though I suppose a careful gent could do it on a drill press with the pad positively clamped to the table. Either way with a piece of 1/4" thick wood or similar underneath the pad base so the end mill doesn't contact the vise/table. Most recoil pad screws have a 3/16" diameter shank, and somewhat longer screws can be used if the original buttplate screws have a larger diameter shank.

My favorite vintage buttplate is the Jostam Hy-Gun which I've read was also Becker's preferred pad though I can't confirm that. They can be found quite often on E Bay and are usually still supple. Here for info is a pic of one I modified to match the wood holes on my pet Winchester Model 12 Sporting Clays gun.

frank


Hy Gun.jpg

So helpful, Frank. I do have a stash of SR7625, and use it sparingly for duck loads for my Super Fox. Some will likely be appropriated for use with Valerie, too.

That's a good idea about cutting new mounting holes for a vintage pad.

That is all very useful info, my friend.

.

[Silvers]

Both the large and medium size repro Ithaca bridge trestle pads I got from the company when they were at Kings Ferry have a 3 1/8-inch screw hole spacing,

I think Dave is referring to the Ithaca pad commonly called the "Sunburst pad" and if so that pad wasn't intro'd until about 1932 which post-dates Stan's gun by 5 years. If it were me I'd go with a vintage Hy-Gun or a Hawkins, both the real deal and not the Galazan repros, and cut new screw hole(s) in the pad to match the centers in the wood as described previously. Again, a judicious search can turn up one or both NOS pads. Just an aside, the Galazan repro Hawkins and Jostam pads are both made in the XL size and the outboard vents usually end up too close to the heel and toe lines to look right. IMO. frank

[Stan Hillis]

I'm holding out for a maroon one.

[ylwdog]

What a beautiful gun Stan !

[Fin2Feather]

I usually see NID's in field grade; that Grade 3 is a BEAUT!

[Jeff S]

Save your hulls. RST has discontinued the 10 ga.

[67galaxie]

Yep until they find wads again for the 10's

[Researcher]

I usually see NID's in field grade; that Grade 3 is a BEAUT!

I hadn't thought about it previously but of all the NIDs I've saved pictures of, the Super-10s are all Field Grade, No. 1 or No. 2. In the Magnum-10s I've recorded one No. 3E and some No. 4Es. The few higher-grade magnum-frame guns I've recorded are 12-gauges.

[Stan Hillis]

Save your hulls. RST has discontinued the 10 ga.

I was blessed recently with a box of about 200+ once fired RST 10 ga. hulls. Friend thought that I needed them worse than he. I'm in good shape for reloading "the shorties", for awhile.

[Silvers]

So last evening I came across notes I made from September 1926 testing by a noted gun writer, a contemporary of Captain Askins. He was testing his Super 10 with different shot and stated that the "new High Velocity shells" (1-5/8 ounce progressives) with No 3 shot produced the very best long range patterns, ducks or geese. He attributed that to the Ithaca barrel boring setup. Now of course we can't legally shoot lead shot of any size at waterfowl but for Stan and others considering loading heavy charges of bare bismuth for a Super 10, you might try bismuth which by measurement will range about .014" diameter or about equal to No 3 lead sizing. frank

[44whiskey]

Stan, i have been following this thread and wanted to say what a beauty ,love the Ithica and also love the beautiful LOM,all the best,Fred

[Stan Hillis]

So last evening I came across notes I made from September 1926 testing by a noted gun writer, a contemporary of Captain Askins. He was testing his Super 10 with different shot and stated that the "new High Velocity shells" (1-5/8 ounce progressives) with No 3 shot produced the very best long range patterns, ducks or geese. He attributed that to the Ithaca barrel boring setup. Now of course we can't legally shoot lead shot of any size at waterfowl but for Stan and others considering loading heavy charges of bare bismuth for a Super 10, you might try bismuth which by measurement will range about .014" diameter or about equal to No 3 lead sizing. frank

Thanks for that additional info, Frank. It's all appreciated.

[Researcher]

Right from the get-go in 1926 the NID was built and chambered for the 2 7/8-inch 1 5/8 ounce loaded Western Super-10- gauge shell. It was Ithaca's answer to the HE-grade Super-Fox and the L.C. Smith Long-Range Wildfowl gun 12-gauge 3-inch magnums. These NID Super-10s usually had 32-inch barrels and weighed in at about nine pounds. Field & Stream's Arms & Ammunition editor, Capt. Paul A. Curtis had a straight-gripped No. 4E Super-10 made up by Ithaca with a single-selective trigger and 28-inch barrels to weigh in at 8 1/4 pounds. He wrote quite effusively about this gun and the Remington UMC Arrow Express Super-10-gauge shells in the February 1931 issue of Field & Stream.

Interestingly he was offering the gun for sale for $75 in the Arms Chest of The American Rifleman for October 1934.

Probably the only real problem to watch for on an NID Super-10 is that some nimrod didn't try boring it out to 3 1/2-inch. Ithaca dropped the 2 7/8-inch Super-10 from their 1937 catalogue, the same catalogue in which they added the 3-inch magnum 12-gauge to their line.

[Stan Hoover]

That is a great article,

Thanks for posting Dave,

Stan