These double and single barrel models were produced until 1941.Īround 1937 Ithaca began production on the now famous shotgun, the Ithaca Model 37. Ithaca produced the Lefever sidelock design until around 1921 when they continued to stamp the Lefever name on a boxlock action. With this deal, Ithaca began producing Lefever’s hammerless shotgun. Ready to expand on their company again, the Ithaca Gun Company incorporated with the Lefever Arms Company (another Syracuse firearms manufacturer). They purchased numerous Ithaca firearms for their guests to use. In 1917, Alfred Loomis and his brother-in-law purchased 17,000 acres of land in Hilton Head, South Carolina and established a private hunting preserve. Annie Oakley, famous for her shooting skills, as well as her participation in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, used an Ithaca Flues model for her competition and exhibition shooting. John Sousa, president of the American Trap Shooters Association at the time, had an Ithaca line of shotguns named after him: The Ithaca Souse Grade. Ithaca’s shotgun began to take fame with well known firearm enthusiasts such as John Philip Sousa, Annie Oakley and Alfred Lee Loomis. This shotgun became the all-time best-selling American made double barrel shotgun of all time. Baker upgraded the design for mass production and with this design, the Ithaca Flues double barrel shotgun surpassed Remington’s model. The Ithaca Gun Company found great success when, in 1907, they purchased Emil Flues’ 1895 patented shotgun with only three moving parts per barrel. By 1886, Leroy Smith and his brother-in-law, George Livermore, bought out the Bakers and the Ithaca Gun Company was finally established. Shortly after establishing their factory, they began producing the Ithaca Baker shotgun. In 1883, William Baker, along with John Van Natta and Dwight McIntyre, bought the water power rights on the creek that leads to Ithaca Falls. The water, once reaching its destination, would power turbines that turned wheels, belts and shafts for mechanical power.
#LC SMITH SHOTGUN HISTORY SERIES#
This system used the rushing water in the creek just before the falls, which was routed through a tunnel and then in turn could be diverted wherever necessary using a series of dams. Smith and Baker’s success in Ithaca was all thanks to Ezra Cornell’s tunnel and dam system, established in 1832, which created an immeasurable amount of power, something any manufacturer of firearms would love to have. Lyman Cornelius Smith went on to create the L.C. Production in the Central New York city didn’t last long, and shortly after shifting their production to Marcellus (a suburb outside of Syracuse) Leroy and Baker set eyes on a new location in Ithaca, NY (Tompkins County). Together the team moved their production from Center Lisle, NY to Syracuse. Not long after, Lewis’s sons, Lyman Cornelius Smith and Leroy Smith began working alongside their father, forming W.H. Together they began making firearms in 1863 based on Baker’s designs. Both had suffered losses in the business world prior to their partnership, but neither man ever stuttered in their entrepreneurship. The story of the Ithaca Gun Company surprisingly starts with a man named Baker. Famous for their expansion and success based on expired patents (mostly Remington’s), as well as several purchased designs and patents, the history of the Ithaca Gun Company is as fascinating as any other firearm manufacturer beginning pre-1900. Ithaca Gun Company (with all their various business names throughout the years) led the production industry in Tompkins County (New York), especially during WWI and WWII. The Ithaca Gun Company, famous for their war-tested Model 37s as well as their artistically crafted hunting shotguns, is a company that many shell shooting enthusiasts hold dear to their hearts.
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