The Ithaca Gun Company is a manufacturer of

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small p ...

s and

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

s originally established in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named a ...

, in 1880.

History

Over the years, Ithaca made numerous firearms, most notably the Ithaca Flues double-barreled shotgun and the

Ithaca 37 The Ithaca 37 (or Model 37) is a pump-action shotgun made in large numbers for the civilian, law enforcement and military markets. Based on a 1915 patent by firearms designer John Browning for a shotgun initially marketed as the Remington Model ...

shotgun.

Production

Ithaca became famous for building firearms based on expired patents owned by

Remington Arms Remington Arms Company, LLC was an American manufacturer of firearms and ammunition, now broken into two companies, each bearing the Remington name. The firearms manufacturer is ''Remington Arms''. The ammunition business is called ''Remingto ...

. They also purchased patents from other firearm designers. In 1895 Emil Flues was granted Patent # 546,516, for a double-barreled shotgun with only three moving parts per barrel. Ithaca bought the patent in 1907 and upgraded the design to allow for mass production. With the Flues-designed Ithaca double, which became the best selling American double of all time with more than 223,000 produced between 1908 and 1926, Ithaca effectively drove Remington out of the double gun market. Ithaca also produced the

M1911 The M1911 (Colt 1911 or Colt Government) is a single-action, recoil-operated, semi-automatic pistol chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. The pistol's formal U.S. military designation as of 1940 was ''Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911'' for th ...

pistol during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the

M3 Grease Gun The M3 is an American .45-caliber submachine gun adopted by the U.S. Army on 12 December 1942, as the United States Submachine Gun, Cal. .45, M3.Iannamico, Frank, ''The U.S. M3-3A1 Submachine Gun'', Moose Lake Publishing, , (1999), pp. 14, 22� ...

during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, both for the United States military. Its 12-gauge shotguns were the standard used by the

Los Angeles Police Department The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

and

New York Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

, and sold to the

Royal Thai Army The Royal Thai Army or RTA ( th, กองทัพบกไทย; ) is the army of Thailand and the oldest and largest branch of the Royal Thai Armed Forces. History Origin The Royal Thai Army is responsible for protecting the kingdom's so ...

in the early 1980s to arm farmers against communist insurgents. Its hunting shotguns were known for their fine decorative work, typically waterfowl or hunting dogs. In 1989, Remington purchased a design from Ithaca, the Mag-10 shotgun, which they produced as the SP-10. Ithaca-guns 1916 a-oakley

Around 1877, brothers Lyman Cornelius and Leroy Smith went into business with William Henry Baker. They moved the ''W.H. Baker Company'', which manufactured double- and triple-barreled shotguns, from Center Lisle, New York to Syracuse. In 1883, Baker and Leroy Smith left the company, moved to Ithaca, and established the original Ithaca Gun Company with several partners. The company was responsible for much of the early industry of Tompkins County, especially during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and World War II, and counted among its patrons

John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to dist ...

Annie Oakley Annie Oakley (born Phoebe Ann Mosey; August 13, 1860 – November 3, 1926) was an American sharpshooter who starred in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. Oakley developed hunting skills as a child to provide for her impoverished family in western ...

, and

Alfred Lee Loomis Alfred Lee Loomis (November 4, 1887 – August 11, 1975) was an American attorney, investment banker, philanthropist, scientist, physicist, inventor of the LORAN Long Range Navigation System and a lifelong patron of scientific research. He estab ...

At the time Sousa was president of the American Trap Shooters Association and The Ithaca gun company named a shotgun in his honor, the Sousa Grade. Annie Oakley used an Ithaca Flues model in her competition and exhibition shooting. In 1917, Alfred Loomis and his brother-in-law, purchased 17,000 acres (69 km2) of

Hilton Head Island Hilton Head Island, sometimes referred to as simply Hilton Head, is a South Carolina Lowcountry, Lowcountry resort town and barrier island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. It is northeast of Savannah, Georgia, and southwest of C ...

, which they established as a private hunting preserve and purchased Ithaca shotguns for use by guests.

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

and

George C. Marshall George Catlett Marshall Jr. (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the US Army under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry ...

also owned Ithaca double barrel shotguns.

Lefever guns

The ''

Lefever Arms Company The Lefever Arms Company (1883–1916) was a manufacturer of guns in Syracuse, New York founded by Daniel Lefever. The company was in the business of gun manufacture until 1916, when it merged with Ithaca Gun Company in Ithaca, New York ...

'' (1883–1916) was a manufacturer of guns in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

, founded by

Daniel Myron LeFever Daniel Myron Lefever (August 27, 1835 – October 29, 1906) was an American gun maker, popularly known as "Uncle Dan Lefever". He is best known as the inventor of the hammerless shotgun, first introduced in 1878. He was buried at Woodlawn Cem ...

(1835–1906), an American gun maker popularly known as "Uncle Dan LeFever". He is best known as the inventor of the

hammerless A hammerless firearm is a firearm that lacks an exposed hammer or hammer spur. Although it may not literally lack a hammer, it lacks a hammer that the user can pull directly. One of the disadvantages of an exposed hammer spur is the tendency to ...

shotgun, first introduced in 1878. The company was in the business of gun manufacture until 1916, when it was incorporated into Ithaca Gun Company in

which continued with the LeFever gun production until 1921. Although production of the LeFever Sidelock Model designed by Dan LeFever ended, the Ithaca gun company continued to use the LeFever name on

Boxlock action The boxlock action is a firing mechanism with the lockwork mounted internally, as opposed to being mounted on the side of the weapon. Boxlock actions were common in the 18th and 19th centuries. The action gets its name from the lockwork typically ...

double and single-barrel guns until 1941.

Fall creek

The original factory was located in the Fall Creek neighborhood of the city, on a slope later known as ''Gun Hill'', where the nearby waterfall supplied the main source of energy for the plant. In later years, the company came under criticism regarding environmental pollution of Fall Creek, especially by

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

, which led to a

Superfund Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the United States Environmental Pro ...

remediation effort. Various plans to demolish the derelict plant and to redevelop the land failed over the years due to the cost of remediation and community objection to construction proposals. The factory was condemned in March, 2006 and only the smokestack remains. An apartment project has been proposed for the site. Despite having moved 6000 tons of lead-contaminated material between 2002 and 2004, at a cost of $4.8 million, it was still necessary to perform even more clean up at the superfund site in 2015.

Reorganization

The company was controlled by the Smith family until 1967, when it was sold to a

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

company, Jerry Baldritch & Asso., which later, after buying 10X Clothing, Atlantic Dinghy, and American Fiberglass, became General Recreation, Inc., and in 1971(approx.) made a public stock offering on the NYSE. General Recreation encountered financial problems in the late 1970s, selling off all its subsidiaries except Ithaca Gun. After a failed attempt to move manufacturing to Colorado, it filed for

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...

reorganization in December, 1978, shuttering the plant on December 20 for several months. General Recreation filed for bankruptcy a second time in September, 1985. In 1987, new owners Ithaca Acquisition, Inc., moved manufacturing to King Ferry, New York. In 2005, it received a $150,000 development loan from

Cayuga County Cayuga County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 76,248. Its county seat and largest city is Auburn. The county was named for the Cayuga people, one of the Indian tribes in the Iroquois Confed ...

, and in May of that year moved to larger facilities in

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

. After being unable to facilitate an operational manufacturing facility in Auburn, the owners sold all of Ithaca's assets, trademarks, and manufacturing rights to the Marshalls from Upper Sandusky, Ohio. The physical goods were relocated to Floyd Marshall's 30+ year-old tool and die shop where all prints, programs, and processing were converted to CNC machine tools. Unable to secure state or local financing assistance with the startup conversion, the Marshalls were forced to sell the company.Ithaca Gun Company, 2013 Catalog, Page 4 (The Ithaca Gun Company: A Brief History) Retrieved 2013-09-01 Dave Dlubak purchased the company in June, 2007, and it continues to operate in

Upper Sandusky, Ohio Upper Sandusky is a city and the county seat of Wyandot County, Ohio, Wyandot County, Ohio, United States, along the upper Sandusky River, which flows north to Sandusky Bay and Lake Erie. The city is approximately 59 mi (96 km) south of ...

References

External links

Ithaca Gun Company

EPA to Begin Site Work Preparation at Ithaca Gun Company Site

Gun site cleanup raises concerns.
{{Commons category, Ithaca Gun Company Firearm manufacturers of the United States Manufacturing companies based in New York (state) Gun Company Companies established in 1880 Privately held companies based in New York (state) 1880 establishments in New York (state) Manufacturing companies based in Ohio