welcome to today photo of the Day! Here we have a high-end trap gun from a company that has made its name giving the working man a gun worth more than its worth. This is an Ithaca New Ithaca double, NID in grade 5. Ithaca began in 1880 in a water-powered shop on a valley outside Ithaca, New York, and doubled its fortune on an expired patent.
The gun that put them on the map was an earlier Flüz model, designed by Emile Flüz with only three moving parts per barrel. It was so cheap and so good that it became the best-selling American double of all time and largely drove Remington out of the double-gun business. The NID, designed by Frank Knickerbocker, replaced the flues in the mid-1920s and lasted until 1948, when Ithaca abandoned the flues for the Model 37 pump.
Ithakas were known for being strong and having lightning fast lock times. The company liked to brag that their hammers fired in 1/625 of a second, so fast that a bird flying at 60 miles per hour would move barely an inch before leaving the bullet. As Jack O’Connor said, an Ithaca was a lot of gun for the money, selling for about half the price of a comparable Parker or Fox. This is a Grade 5 trap gun, one of approximately 155 made, finished in scroll and game-bird engravings with a long vented-rib barrel installed for the trap line.
Most of our POTDs use images of our friends Rock Island Auction CompanyMajor firearms auction in the United States. Take some time to browse them current auction – Who knows, maybe you’ll find a piece of history to take home!
“Factory Engraved and Silver Inlaid Ithaca New Ithaca Double Grade 5 Double Barrel Trap Shotgun.” Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/detail/5032/628/factory-engraved-ithaca-new-ithaca-double-grade-5-trap-shotgun. Accessed 3 July 2026.
