Dug rifle ID?

etex

Bronze Member
Feb 20, 2013
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Longview, Texas
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Had the day off for the Holiday yesterday (Texas Independence Day) and dug this rifle, don't think it is too old, serial # 801622, can't see any maker ID. Barrel is 16.5 inches gun 001.JPGgun 004.JPGgun 005.JPG
 

Upvote 9
Not all rifles made were high quality. Many manufacturers produced .22 plinker rifles (and other calibers) in the price point the younger generation could afford. This Ithaca Model 49 was one of them. It was a single shot, had a non-functional magazine tube (only on there for looks) and an aluminum receiver, with a profile and lever that looks very similar to the extremely popular Winchester Model 94. This one was a cheap 1970s $20 single shot plinker rifle. As a kid I had a similar .22 that I would take shooting on our property. However, many were well made and not aimed at a lower price point. I have many early Winchester and Marlin .22 rifles that were used as "Gallery Guns" at carnivals in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Those are very well made, have stood the test of time and are quite valuable. It was not only smaller calibers that were made for lower price points, I have whats called a "Hardware Store" SxS 12gauge, that was used at an Alaskan Gold mine in the 1930's. Those were no-name cheaply made shotguns that you could pick up for a couple bucks at any hardware store... its a perfectly fire-able shotgun, however the quality is low and you can see file marks and machine marks on much of the action.

Okay, you win.
 

Its odd because it looks like a 22 but would have been after 1968 which is when i think they put serial numbers on 22 rifles. Sure that made a nice plug in the city park digging that thing up.....cool find
 

Okay, you win.

I don't consider ANYTHING on this site or any site a win or loose situation. We ALL can learn new and interesting things from other members. I sure thought it was a toy until I was convinced by OutdoorAdv it was actually a real rifle and was completely convinced that he had all the information needed to sway my point of view.

Unfortunately pictures do not tell us everything we need to know. I thought it was riveted together also. Another member found it was made in 1962 by the serial number.

We have some fantastic people on here that love to research things. I am one of them sometimes but I didn't try this time. I saw rivets and immediately thought TOY.

I for one am glad we have a lot of different backgrounds and knowledge here. We all can learn from each other and enjoy this fun hobby of finding the unknown.
 

Its odd because it looks like a 22 but would have been after 1968 which is when i think they put serial numbers on 22 rifles. Sure that made a nice plug in the city park digging that thing up.....cool find

I don't see any mention of the OP digging this out of a city park.
 

I don't consider ANYTHING on this site or any site a win or loose situation. We ALL can learn new and interesting things from other members. I sure thought it was a toy until I was convinced by OutdoorAdv it was actually a real rifle and was completely convinced that he had all the information needed to sway my point of view.

Unfortunately pictures do not tell us everything we need to know. I thought it was riveted together also. Another member found it was made in 1962 by the serial number.

We have some fantastic people on here that love to research things. I am one of them sometimes but I didn't try this time. I saw rivets and immediately thought TOY.

I for one am glad we have a lot of different backgrounds and knowledge here. We all can learn from each other and enjoy this fun hobby of finding the unknown.

Thank you Scuba. I learn a ton on this forum every day.

When looking into the Ithaca M49 I found this post in a gun forum.

"M-49: The Ithaca model 49 was made without serial numbers from its introduction in 1961 to January 1, 1969 when the 1968 Gun Control Act required serial numbers on long guns. There are no records or any other method of determining date of manufacture."

All the Ithaca serial ranges are by model and none of the Ithaca pdfs (that I could find) have a Model 49 on them... some models, have 800k serial ranges, but they're for shotguns. The model 37 has a serial number range in the 800k for the 1962, so perhaps that's where that date came from, however its the wrong model and this model 49 would be later. So I think its safe to say this Model 49 was made sometime after 1969 but its not possible to get the exact manufacture date.
 

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I have an Ithica 49 that I bought new maybe in '75 or'76. Im not sure what year it was made but my serial number is much lower 29266X. It was used and in excellant condition, I paid $27- for it. Its a great shooter, and our 'go to' gun around the house and barn for critters. We have spinner targets in the back yard that the boys shoot at from the porch, they can stand there and hit them all day long with that gun. Its as accurate as my Ruger 77/22 skeleton stock that I paid $400- for. We also use bird shot in it to shoot boring bees, that's fun to do, but not cheap.
Im suprised that the lever on the found gun is bent rather than broken, as mine appears to be cast aluminum.
That's a cool find!
 

Thank you Scuba. I learn a ton on this forum every day.

When looking into the Ithaca M49 I found this post in a gun forum.

"M-49: The Ithaca model 49 was made without serial numbers from its introduction in 1961 to January 1, 1969 when the 1968 Gun Control Act required serial numbers on long guns. There are no records or any other method of determining date of manufacture."

All the Ithaca serial ranges are by model and none of the Ithaca pdfs (that I could find) have a Model 49 on them... some models, have 800k serial ranges, but they're for shotguns. The model 37 has a serial number range in the 800k for the 1962, so perhaps that's where that date came from, however its the wrong model and this model 49 would be later. So I think its safe to say this Model 49 was made sometime after 1969 but its not possible to get the exact manufacture date.

The model 49 and manufacture is on the barrel between the rear sight and receiver. Drivers side. Lol
 

So sorry. I never meant to offend or demean anyone. I usually only read instead of comment just for this reason. Comments are misunderstood so I let my emotions get in the way and returned a snarky answer. It sounds like outdooradv knows what he is talking about. I think its best that I stay as a lurker. I'm really a nice guy and I love metal detecting and have some great md'ing friends.. But I feel it's better to make this my last post.
 

So sorry. I never meant to offend or demean anyone. I usually only read instead of comment just for this reason. Comments are misunderstood so I let my emotions get in the way and returned a snarky answer. It sounds like outdooradv knows what he is talking about. I think its best that I stay as a lurker. I'm really a nice guy and I love metal detecting and have some great md'ing friends.. But I feel it's better to make this my last post.

Please don't. WE ALL make posts sometimes that are taken wrong. The problem with type is nobody can hear your tone of voice or see your body language when it is just in black and white. More than once the mods here have told me I was out of line because I was taken wrong. At least they haven't hit the banned button yet!

Come post, and show your finds and enjoy learning. EVERYONE has something to offer. Sometimes we just have to find a way to offer it without offending. I am positive if everyone stopped posting because one of their posts was taken the wrong way, this site would be dead and so would all the other forums out there.
 

I would like to point out that in 1962 $20 was not cheap. For a lot of people $20 was a days pay. When I joined the Navy in 1955 my pay was $85 per MONTH. When I got out of the Navy in 1959 I wasn't making $20 a day. I remember working a ski resort the winter of 63 or 64, and my pay was $22.50 per day. I knew a casino employee that was earning $18.00 per shift. It's all relative folks. When I retired, I was making $100 a day. Bought a semi auto Ruger for around $185. Single shot .22's were probably around 80 to 100 dollars.
 

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Please don't. WE ALL make posts sometimes that are taken wrong. The problem with type is nobody can hear your tone of voice or see your body language when it is just in black and white. More than once the mods here have told me I was out of line because I was taken wrong. At least they haven't hit the banned button yet!

Come post, and show your finds and enjoy learning. EVERYONE has something to offer. Sometimes we just have to find a way to offer it without offending. I am positive if everyone stopped posting because one of their posts was taken the wrong way, this site would be dead and so would all the other forums out there.

Well said, Scuba! I totally agree. Keep the posts coming! Emotion can't be seen through text.
 

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