cherok9878 Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 I know this is not prudent info for this site but can anyone furnish any information. Is this rumor true? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudhen Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 To the contrary, I think any major gun news should be relevant to firearm enthusiasts, good work. I have hear they closed, but I have also heard they are moving to a new location. I'm guessing they are gone or being sold again. Tucker, please contact Ithaca and set the record straight, you have until 8:00 a.m. tomorrow should you choose to accept this assignment.... mudhen - CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdkidaho Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 Reading about it in another forum it would seem that they are closed up tight. Whether they reopen or not will remain to be seen, but I'd be skeptical of that if the place has the doors closed. Maybe someone will buy them out and manufacture there stuff elsewhere, but who knows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tucker301 Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 I'm busy cutting Buick holes in my varminter stock. Besides, never gave a rat's backside about Ithaca one way or the other... the town or the company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdkidaho Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 Copied from another forum, but it answers the question nonetheless: Full story here: http://www.theithacajournal.com/news/stories/20050623/localnews/2167506.html Ithaca Gun closes after 124-year run The Associated Press AUBURN -- Mired in debt and struggling to compete, the Ithaca Gun Co. has ended production after more than a century in business. "We're just tapped out, we can't do it any longer," Andrew Sciarabba, one of seven investors who own Ithaca Gun Co., told The Post-Standard of Syracuse. Closure of the company, which had 26 employees, comes less than a year after it received $150,000 from Cayuga County for operating expenses. Ithaca Gun had missed its May and June payments on the loan, for which it had put up its equipment as collateral. The company reportedly had recently completed a move from King Ferry to Auburn. Sciarabba, whose group acquired the company out of bankruptcy in the mid-1990s, said Ithaca Gun was several hundred thousand dollars in debt. Sciarabba said the company also owed several years worth of back excise taxes to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The gun company, which had operated on a 2-acre site on Ithaca's Lake Street continuously since 1880 manufacturing shotguns, went bankrupt in the 1980s and was bought by new owners in 1989 and relocated to King Ferry. Even though the company moved away from Ithaca more than 15 years ago, the news of its closure came as a disappointment to local hunting aficionados who admired its products. "I think it's a terrible thing," said Joe Ripchick, who answered the phone Wednesday at Jay Street Rod & Gun Inc., a local gun store that is owned by a friend. "They are an awful good gun. They have a lot of product out there," Ripchick added. "At one time it was one of the bigger things down here (in Ithaca). "It gave Ithaca a good name," he added. Ithaca Gun began production in 1880, and soon became known for making affordable and durable shotguns such as the Deerslayer and Deerslayer II. "The closing of Ithaca Gun is another sad, but not unexpected, chapter in the life of one of America's oldest gun companies," said Dave Henderson, a lifelong sportsman who writes a twice weekly outdoors column for The Journal and other area newspapers. "This marks the third financial failure under the 124-year-old Ithaca Gun name in the last 20 years and, frankly, wasn't unexpected given the shaky status of both the company and the firearms business in recent years." Sciarabba said investors hope someone will buy the company's well-known name and resume production in Central New York. But, he said, "I don't know if that is going to happen." Meanwhile, that could shake the confidence of consumers who own or would like to buy an Ithaca-made gun -- and those who sell the firearms. "More than a few people have guns at the Ithaca Gun service department awaiting repair and have no recourse to recover them," Henderson said. "Certainly consumers will be reluctant to purchase an Ithaca from a dealer with no guarantee of customer service after the sale, which leaves dealers with guns in inventory that they cannot move." In addition to more than a century of gun production, the company's legacy in Ithaca also includes decades worth of lead pollution. Spent lead shot was disposed on land near Ithaca Falls as part of operations. A federally led clean-up program, begun in 2002, removed thousands of tons of lead-contaminated soil from the area at a cost of around $4 million. Some buildings remain standing on the factory site, where a North Carolina man has for several years been considering redevelopment plans that would include lead clean-up in that area. [ 06-23-2005, 05:23 PM: Message edited by: sdkidaho ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cherok9878 Posted June 24, 2005 Author Share Posted June 24, 2005 sdkidaho Thanks for the information, puts an end to the rumor dosen't it. what do you think, will the prices of Ithaca guns go up or down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdkidaho Posted June 24, 2005 Share Posted June 24, 2005 No clue. I haven't really ever heard anything good about them except in the article. I was under the impression that they were fairly cheaply made guns. Of course, I'm no expert. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Choclabman Posted June 26, 2005 Share Posted June 26, 2005 I'm sad to hear this. Ithaca is as American as Apple Pie. I own several M-37's The shotguns they have been turning out in the last few years have been on the other side of the world from cheap. Steel part's, handfitted. Thrown together, plastic parts having, cookie cutter shotguns they were not. Finding dealers was a pain however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southerntier_JIM Posted June 29, 2005 Share Posted June 29, 2005 It would appear Ithaca Gun is no more! see the local newspaper at http://www.auburnpub.com/articles/2005/06/23/news/news02.txt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threeshot Posted June 30, 2005 Share Posted June 30, 2005 Older Ithaca guns are the good shotguns. I would say guns built pre 1980's or 1970's. Ithaca did not do themselves any favors with loyal gun owners that were trying to buy their products or services. http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=19916 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbeIIfan Posted June 30, 2005 Share Posted June 30, 2005 i hate itcha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
braunster Posted July 2, 2005 Share Posted July 2, 2005 Originally posted by cherok9878: I know this is not prudent info for this site but can anyone furnish any information. Is this rumor true? I am simply amazed by the lack of knowledge of many persons who respond to this site. The Ithaca Model 37 Police Shotgun was simply the finest of its kind, used by more police departments around the world than any other. All steel parts, put together by hand; it was a testament to American craftsmanship and served both our GI's (in numerous wars and as late as Vietnam where they were used by Navy Seals as their preferred gun) and our boys in blue for over 75 years. The shotgun had unique features such as ambi ejection and the fewest moving parts of any tactical shotgun. Simply stated, any person who has never owned one or never shot one has no business dissing this great name in American gunmaking. Besides, this is just one more victory for the antis. Don't you think Chuck Shumer isn't giving Sarah Brady a high five right now? For you folks out there, Mossbergs 500s are crap, Winchester 1300s are garbage, and Remingtons are simply OK in comparison to this police shotgun. The company's homeland defense 20" self-defense version (issued in 2000) was simply a masterpiece and I own two of them and would stake my life on them. Uninformed people simply have no business commenting on this site. This is a huge loss for us all and should be mourned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threeshot Posted July 2, 2005 Share Posted July 2, 2005 Here is an interesting post regarding why Ithaca went out of business. http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?p=384631#384631 I agree that if you have never shot the older models, you don't know how smooth the action can be when you rack the pump. I've heard that only the Winchester 12 might have been smoother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Choclabman Posted July 3, 2005 Share Posted July 3, 2005 threeshot, It's not just the older ones. I have 2 M-37 Classic's( both made three years ago) that rival, if not surpass my M12. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdkidaho Posted July 26, 2005 Share Posted July 26, 2005 Ithaca gun owners that sent their weapons in for repair prior to the doors closing are now slowly getting their guns back. Glad to hear this. Would suck to lose a gun to a coroporation going out of business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brice hensley Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 braunster Amen to that ! I have 9 ITHACA,S My deer slay 87 fixed rifled barrel is the most accurate slug gun around. I shot last years buck in the neck @ 139 yards using lightfields. I also have a waterfowler with the very rare quad bore forcning cones. almost made production for a year before they decided it was to costly to make. Those will be worth a bundle. if i won the lottery i would buy Ithaca and move it to central indiana. Very good quality guns. better quality than my SBE whose choke tubes are installed wrong and i am getting the runaround from benelli cusstomer sevice. None of my Ithaca,s have ever failed me. Never! how many benelli,s have hung up and didnt get a 2nd shot because of reliability problems in the field? My sbe didnt have may problems but i have seen others whose guns are kept cleaner not shoot well. Besides, Ithaca was made here in the usa and if you dont own one you are missing an awsome gun. I am looking for a deluxe 16 gauge classic. one that is only aprox 2 years old. i think the newer ones look better and are made better that the older ones. just my .02$ BRICE Originally posted by braunster: quote: Originally posted by cherok9878: I know this is not prudent info for this site but can anyone furnish any information. Is this rumor true? I am simply amazed by the lack of knowledge of many persons who respond to this site. The Ithaca Model 37 Police Shotgun was simply the finest of its kind, used by more police departments around the world than any other. All steel parts, put together by hand; it was a testament to American craftsmanship and served both our GI's (in numerous wars and as late as Vietnam where they were used by Navy Seals as their preferred gun) and our boys in blue for over 75 years. The shotgun had unique features such as ambi ejection and the fewest moving parts of any tactical shotgun. Simply stated, any person who has never owned one or never shot one has no business dissing this great name in American gunmaking. Besides, this is just one more victory for the antis. Don't you think Chuck Shumer isn't giving Sarah Brady a high five right now? For you folks out there, Mossbergs 500s are crap, Winchester 1300s are garbage, and Remingtons are simply OK in comparison to this police shotgun. The company's homeland defense 20" self-defense version (issued in 2000) was simply a masterpiece and I own two of them and would stake my life on them. Uninformed people simply have no business commenting on this site. This is a huge loss for us all and should be mourned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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