old gun restoration?

I have my grandfathers side by side ithaca 12 ga sitting in the closet. I havent tried to date it, but i think its 1930 s era. Its in rough shape, needs a new stock and barrel finish redone. Was wondering if its worth it..and i have no idea of the worth of either the gun or the cost of the restoration. any opinions would be helpful.

Have the gun appraised as is. Most of the time an old gun is worth more as is than "restored". If the gun has little value but is important to you because it was your grand dads by all means have it reblued and a new stock and fore arm put on.

I wouldn't count on it being worth a great deal, Ithica sold a lot of double guns back then.

Rick

that thing is a health hazard to have around........ Safest thing to do is disassemble it.... I'll give you my address and pay the postage so you can send it to me a couple pieces at a time...... That counts toward the public service credits in my people skill rehabilitation program.......

Go to www.gunbroker.com and look up the Ithaca model that you have. Or do a search on yahoo or google for the serial # and dates. This will give you an idea what it is worth.
I have heard of gun stock refinishing kits if you want to do that. Also you can use steel wool to get the rust off and then oil it well. It kills me to see the model 94 Winchesters on gunbroker that have surface rust on them cause the guy was too lazy/ignorant to put a light coat of oil on the steel once per year.

Dear John,Google gun stocks and you would be suprised how cheap you can find gun stocks

jimmy

Dave..from what ive been reading of your people skills..i might need to take lessons from you..lol

I would look at restoring it, but careful shooting it. The older guns are not designed for todays loads.

If your Ithaca double was truly made in the 30's it is a NID model which stands for New Ithaca Double. A very strong shotgun that is plenty capable of modern loads IF it is still in good repair. I have one from 1929 and it is my favorite dove and quail shotgun. There are some places out there that sell replacement stocks for your gun but be aware they aren't finished as in the inletting is not complete, no checkering etc. If your shotgun is a field grade model in pretty good shape it would probably be worth somewhere between $700-$1000 depending on condition, guage etc. Right now yours sounds like a $300 shotgun. If your shotgun has a 6 digit serial # that begins with the number 4 it is an NID which was made from 1925-1948. Restoration kills collector value and it will most likely cost more to fix it up than what it will ever be worth but that doesn't mean you shouldn't. If it's your Dad's and you'd like to put it back to work for sentimental reasons by all means fix it up but please have it professionally done. If you have no experience with stockmaking this isn't the place to learn. Same thing with bluing. I know a little about Ithaca's and would be happy to answer any questions you have.

There's a big difference in value depending if it's a pre-1925 or newer. Newer is often worth 2-3 times more. 1925 and newer will be serial # 425,000 or higher. The newer ones are worth more because the frames were improved and made stronger.

All the Ithacas are popular in my area since they were made locally.

If you want to sell it, I may do better if you do not touch it and try to sell as-is. Many collectors would rather have a gun in original condition even if poor, then one that has been reworked.

If I'd known what was going to happen to today's market 30 years ago, I'd bought a mess of new 12 gauge Ithaca Deer-Slayers before the company went under.

This is an excellent double shotgun forum to ask questions. The members are very knowledgeable and can answer all your questions.

http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=1&page=1

I cant seem to find the correct model. serial number is 35878, which from what i can tell makes it a western arms 12 ga? an ithaca gun non the less. At least as far as i can tell its a 1936 model?

I have no experience with Ithaca guns but I have seen quite a few and they have a loyal following. Heard they are rugged and shoot well.

If you decide to redo it here is where I get parts for my "obsolete" guns. Been buying from these guys since the '80s. Sometimes you need to be patient as they may not have the parts but they do show up.

Best of luck.

http://www.gunpartscorp.com/Default.aspx
Hurleys

If you're going to replace the stock, I would save the old one. The gun would probably be worth more with the original stock on it even if it looks bad.

A lot of guns like that are worth far more if you leave it as is and just clean it but nothing more. If you start doing things like replacing the stock and re-bluing it then you could take a $1000 gun and turn it into a $250 gun very fast. I would find a person who knows guns and all and see if what I say is right or wrong but sad to say on a lot of stuff what I have said is how it is

Western Arms was made by Ithaca but they don't hold the same values. It was a cheaper more utilitarian shotgun. I don't have a lot of info here on them but I saw one in my local gunshop that looked pretty clean and tight priced at $450 and I think that's about as much as you could honestly expect to get out of one. I don't know how bad the stock is or what kind of damage you have but often times it is possible to repair them. I would investigate that route before making a new one. I think you're right that it's a 1936 model. Fixing it up is up to you but be aware that it will turn your shotgun into a money pit. Nothing wrong with that if that's what you want to do but it won't increase the value of it much.

I would have someone look at it that really knows antique gun values. If nothing else, find a current book on them to give you some idea. This can be dangerous because small differences in the gun can greatly affect value. Any restoration you do will lessen the value, almost guaranteed. If it is not in safe condition to shoot, have someone who is familiar with vintage doubles repair it, but don't "restore" it. If made in the 1930's it should be safe to shoot with modern ammo. Shotguns made with "twist" or "damascus" steel barrels are definitely not safe to use, but those were discontinued before the 1930's.

Would 1930 be considered as antique?, but it may be better value as is instead of being refurbished. I would get it valued in its present form before considering other options..

Don't get in a hurry. It has been sitting in the closet for 80 years, a few more won't hurt it. Ithaca guns, unless real high grade with lots of engraving, are not worth a lot. Definately, leave it as it is, do not repair.

You got good advice from some posters. Do your homework and learn which model you have. The NID's are worth more but to my eye the older model ithacas are prettier. They will shoot modern loads....very light loads...just fine, but are better with low pressure hand loads.

These old Ithacas are nice old guns, lots of drop and ususally long barrels.

my opinion, VERY VERY FEW guns are worth restoring. Notice i said restoring,not repairing. Almost allways its worth more if its simply maintained in its current condition.( if that condition is workable) Proper repairs seldom hurt value. Case in point,i looked just last saturday at a SW no 3 in 44 russian. A gun originally nickled,with factory engraving. While being advertised as a original working gun, It has seen extensive modification. Its nickle plating has been removed,its polished until original engraving was mostly lost,and then it was went over and engraving deepened. Then it was blued.In a modern blue that looks nothing like the originals. grips had a chip and instead of being repaired were replaced with some modern trash. In other words,ALL collector value it had,which was considerable,is gone. Some one spend a lot of time and money into making a piece of firearm hist in to a door stop of not much more value than one of the modern replicas. Its value was in the fact it was a working original,not in its looks. The same is true of yours. IF you do this its value is only to you. To restore your grandfathers gun for sentmental reasons is priceless,simply because you cannot put a price on sentiment. To restore a common firearm, or most anything for that matter, expecting to make money is a excersise in futility. It will make money for the person doing the work however! an extremly rare firearm should not even be repaired,without knowing exactly what you are doing, and often even on these it destroys value. I knew once a fellow(my uncle in fact),who bought an old shotgun,that came with the authenticated true story of it being shot out of a locally well known lawmans hands. He took the original stock off that was broken and Put on a PROPER period stock,an original in every way. And then threw the old cracked one away. That gun lost every bit of its collector value immediatly,and became just another plain old common shotgun. The value was not in the gun per say, the value was in the broken part,and its old rawhide wrapped repair. In other words he restored it into nothing!