any expirience with Ithaca M-49 single shot 22 ???

M

Magnum Wheel Man

New member
they look like a lever action repeater, they look to have some sort of cast reciever & lever, ( "pot metal", cast aluminum ??? ) that looks somewhat styled after the Martini falling block action ( often the "paint" is flaking ) the wood usually looks pretty nice, some were checkered...

I find them interesting, from a project gun point of view ( I never had one as a kid ) & could see getting one to play with... anyone with expirience... are they junkers, or were they a bit ahead of their time ??? the value is low enough, a guy could play with one to make a good accurate 22 if the cast parts in the actions don't don't go south too quickly... I'm actually thinking a 17 Mach 2 since pressures are supposed to be similar to 22 LR

so... good memories, or bad memories from this one ???
 
Last edited:
DSCN0101.jpg


I have one, My father bought this one when I was around ten years old, It hasn't been shot too much but from what I can remember it was fairly accurate.

They seem to be a good solid little gun from what I can tell from this one.

My dad passed away 12 years ago, Now the gun resides in my collection until my grandson or daughter is old enough.
 
nice guns... ( that's a Favorite in the pic with your Ithica ??? ) I just redid an old Crackshot, ( the Favorite's little brother ) & it's a fun gun to play with...

can you tell on the Ithica, if the barrel is threaded into the reciever like normal ???

I'm wanting to switch one ( in not pristine shape ) to 17 Mach 2 ... maybe with a heavier octogon barrel, refinish the wood, & maybe dura coat the metal... ( the finish on yours seems to be in pretty good shape, most examples are pretty chipped up )
 
Last edited:
Model 49

I bought one of these little 22's years ago, Used for my youngest son ....for $50.00 ,he was 5 or 6 yo at the time ,and he got a blister on his thumb from firing it all day when he was so young ....anyhow the barrel is held in place with pins,as I stripped his down to make it look better ....the down fall of these guns was the chambers would wear out from being shot so much and the brass would expand to the point the extractor could not remove the 22LR spent case .....but when My son started out he shot 22 shorts in the gun and had a ball .....After I realized I could not fix the chamber I sold the gun for $50.00 ,and bought my son a 22 Savage bolt action gun,without a hammer,we both found it safer to operate ,and even more fun to shoot !
Thanks for the trip down memory lane.BB34:)
 
My dad had one when I was young, I don't remember it fondly. My recollection is that the front sight was retained by a set screw that would shoot loose, which made normally poor accuracy even worse. Add in a heavy, creepy trigger and it made for frustrating shooting experiences at best. Besides, my thinking was always "Why design a single shot to look like a repeater?" For my money, the little Stevens Favorites are far superior.

But, I may be biased, because the other .22's I learned to shoot with were a pre-war Winchester 1890 and a 50's vintage Winchester 61, so the Ithaca kind of paled in comparison.
 
that's a Favorite in the pic with your Ithica ???
Click to expand...

That is a "crackshot 26", I bought that one about 14 years ago and have shot it exactly twice, not that I don't like it, It just never seems to find it's way to the truck when I go to the range.
 
Back when I was a young teen-ager, maybe even younger, I remember seening them at the Sears at Eastgate Mall in Highland Springs. Man I wanted one of them. They were $49.95 IIRC and it might as well have been a million dollars. When I got older and had a little money, other, bigger, faster, and "better" things caught my eye.

A year or so ago, I saw this on the rack at my favorite dealer. At first I thought it was a Henry, did a double take and realized what it was. An Ithaca 49. And in all but new condition. A flood of memories came back. I put it on layaway and picked it up a few weeks later. I've never benched it, but just going down the hill out back and shooting at targets of opportunity it seems to shoot just fine. As well as my old eyes can see with open sights anyway. BTW. The stock wood is Elm I've been told.

000_0032.jpg


Ithaca made them from about 1961 to 1972 IIRC. They were also made and sold under the "Ted Williams" name for Sears. The Sears model didn't have the fake magazine tube and of course is marked as "Ted Williams." For a few years they also made a repeater version, but I've never seen one, and have only seen pictures of one or two.

Why make a single shot that looked like a repeater? You have to remember the time period. Every kid in the US if not the world, grew up watching TV Westerns. Roy Rogers, Bonanza, The Rifleman....all of them used lever action Winchesters. Eveny kid my age wanted one.

Ithaca also made a drop lever single shot shotgun about the same time. The M-66 "Supersingle." My first gun was one, in 20 ga. I've still got that gun today, but it resides in my sons gun safe now so I don't have a picture of it.
 
Last edited:
CB... thanks for the info... there are several repeaters ( model 72's ) available on GB right now, including this one ( a deluxe... very, very nice )... If I had the money... I'd buy this one !!! ( where is the drooling smiley ??? )

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=137475880

& heres a more "normal" model 72

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=138291255

I was also looking at the shotguns, as I assume ( as a project gun ) it could hold a bigger cartridge than the m-49's 22 RF... but to start with anyway... I've been wanting a Mach 2 to play around with for farm yard varmints & I like the Martini style singles... the prices on the m-49's are conductive to projects ( I wouldn't want to change up a nice one ), but often they are pretty chipped up, the "paint" didn't stick very good to the cast alloy frame & lever... newer products like Dura Coat would probably make a project gun look like new again, & hold up to use much better than the old paint they used back then... I did not know what the wood was, but it didn't look like walnut...

BTW... I've seen 2 Ted Williams guns listed on GB since I started watching them, & one had the fake mag tube, the one currently listed does not, so they may have made them both ways ??? but the stocks of both were lighter with dark grain & looked pretty nice, both were checkered, & I originally thought it almost looked like oak... but agree that elm could be the wood ???
here's one listed currently...

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=137758667
 
Last edited:
BB34... or anyone that has disassembled one...

anyhow the barrel is held in place with pins
Click to expand...

can you elaborate on this ??? does the barrel slide into the reciever with out threads, & a pair of roll pins hold it in place ???

my only concern about this as a project, was if galvanic corrosion ( corroding between steel & oher light metals like aluminum ) would make it difficult to remove the stock barrel without damaging the cast reciever ???
 
I was also looking at the shotguns, as I assume ( as a project gun ) it could hold a bigger cartridge than the m-49's 22 RF... but to start with anyway...
Click to expand...

Now understand, the shotgun uses a different action. It's a regular break action single shot, it just uses the underloop lever rather than the top or side lever that is more commonly seen. I don't know enough about such things to know which is stronger.

BTW... I've seen 2 Ted Williams guns listed on GB since I started watching them, & one had the fake mag tube, the one currently listed does not, so they may have made them both ways ???
Click to expand...

That's quite possible. I remember seeing the "Ted Williams" models years ago but don't remember enough to know for sure if they had the tube or not. The ones I've seen or seen pictures of recently didn't.

I think they're really neat little guns.
 
Last edited:
Now understand, the shotgun uses a different action. It's a regular break action single shot, it just uses the underloop lever rather than the top or side lever that is more commonly seen
Click to expand...

I'd been gleening though the pics on each gun, until I finally found one that showed it was a break action... & you're right, that doesn't appeal to me the way the Martini style does... so I'm back to watching the Cadets...
 
I just checked the GB auctions you listed, and wanted to add that the model 72 and the repeating model 49 that I mentioned earlier are not the same gun. The Model 72 is more or less the same gun we know as the Henry today. The Model 49r is a model 49 adapted to repeating.

A fellow named PaulyB posted these pictures in a thread I started on RimfireCentral.com.

ithacaP1170426.jpg


P1170384.jpg


A link to the thread. Some good information there.

http://rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=272611&highlight=Ithaca+49
 
M-49 Pins

Your asking me to remember something I did 15 years ago ....The receiver is pot metal,or aluminum,it polishes up nice like chrome,but tarnishes just as fast ????? The whole action IIRC,is held together with solid pins....so the barrel just fits into the receiver and a solid pin goes thru the receiver,and a half moon spot on the barrel ,and keeps the barrel snug in the receiver ....there really is not much to the ole gun .....I redid the stock,and cold blued the barrell,and polished up the action and then clear coated it ....it was a pretty little gun,but frustrating when trying to eject 22LR ammo ....Good Luck,BB34
 
thanks for the info guys... hmmm. polished aluminum :cool:

CB... I had no eye deer... do you think that was something the factory offered, or do you think it was something that someone or some shop did custom ???
 
I'm pretty sure it was a factory offering. There is another fellow in that thread who says he has one also. PaulyB refers to it as a M-49R (for repeater no doubt).

Apparently they had some feed problems with the 49R, both of those posters reported them. I'd guess they dropped it, and replaced it with the Model 72.
 
BB34... I was told the ejector was spring loaded rather than mechanical, so you might have had a bound up or weak spring ??? I'd guess today you could find a spring with enough muscle to eject the cases ??? if you still had the rifle...
 
Gun parts corp. has parts listed for the 49 and the 49r, They also list a parts breakdown schematic for sale ($0.99), looks like a good place to start in order to see if this is a project that may be something you actually want to undertake.

In any case, your idea for a .17 in the m-49 sounds interesting.
 
Ejector

I spent more time than I care to remember trying to get the ejector to work on this M-49....once the barrel was off you could see the chamber was "belled" no spring would extract that brass once fired....I tried all the tricks I could think of.....the chamber was shot out for 22LR :mad:.....BB34
 
My Father worked at a downtown Cleveland department store, Higbees, during the '60's...his co-workers gave him an Ithaca model 49 delux as a gift one year, and he brought it home, minus box or case, on public transit (try that today!). It had a gold trigger and hammer, and very nice wood.
It was the first firearm I ever fired (using CB caps, in the basement).
 
Too Funny...

:D

I went to the local toy store, to pay on my regular lay away ( my new double rifle finally comes home next week... a shiney new Remington Bakail 45-70 :D)

& while I was doing my lap around the store, low & behold... there was an M-49 on the rack... it looks about like yours CAJUN with the darker stock & no checkering... I put it on lay away, & will bring it home in 2 paychecks... this one will get an octogon 17 Mach 2 barrel, & will have the dummy mag tube removed ( oh goodie... more parts to sell & another chamber reamer to buy :rolleyes: )

I paid $150.00 & no shipping or transfer fees ( they seemed to be going for no less than $125.00 on Gun Broker... so thats not too bad a price, with no shipping or FFL transfer fees )

BTW... I ordered the schematics from GPC for both the M-49 & M-49R... they are completely different on the insides, & more likely the repeater is just an early "pre model 72" ???

BTW #2... I was really suprised at the heft & solid feel to the gun even though the reciever & lever are cast...

... & a pic of my crackshot...:) ( oops wrong computer... guess I'll post that pic tomorrow ):o
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top