I was speaking with a salesman from a nationally known dealer in classic firearms. He said they had no interest in taking my pristine Ithaca NID from 1927 in trade towards a certain Smith & Wesson revolver I saw on their website:






According to the salesman, "Doubles are hard to move." I agree, except that a Winchester 21 at a reasonable price will move fast.

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Well, you have to appreciate a man who knows his market. Pretty gun.

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How God has blessed us!

Nice shotgun !

Field grade doubles are not moving, except in the Cowboy action crowd, and even they are moving more and more towards Winchester 97's.

Yours is too early for 3" shells and it won't take steel shot, so to hunt public lands and all waterfowl, your only non-toxic ammo choice is Bismuth and kind of slow at that.

So your new strategy could be to trade into something they want. I have seen 3 way, 4 way and even 5 way deals, to end up with every body happy! Then there is that other form of trade, called CASH! But it is hard to come by, and easily escapes!

My problem is, I found a 410 Superpose I want, but can't come up with 6 grand of trade or cash, and I refuse to go into debt for it! (and my kidneys aren't worth selling!)

Ivan

It's a cool gun for sure but I agree with their choice. Were I in it for profit, I'd probably not take one on right now unless it was an absolute steal.

Maybe in his area they won't move but I find the gun market is subjective.
I don't think doubles are hard to move if they're priced at a reasonable price along with most guns.The few stores that deal in older guns seem to mark stuff up so high that they sit a long periods of time and I get it I know how business works that's why I like online looking especially a good piece on a no reserve auction and let the market do the selling.
That is a really nice double you have you shouldn't have any problem selling it. I have never been able to trade stuff very well myself.

The main issue is that it is a 12. Most people using sxs now are aging out and have found a smallbore more to their liking for a hunting gun. I didn't see what the barrel length was. For sporting clays anything less than 30 is out of fashion at this time. An NID is great for having more shootable dimensions than older sxs. If the store doesn't cater to a clients that appreciate good sxs a good S&W will move faster. It's a buisness decision about turning inventory.

I'd say rather than risk insulting with what he felt he could put into the gun, he took the nicer route and just said he couldn't trade for a double. I can appreciate that approach.

I don’t understand since Uncle Joe says it’s all a person needs.

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“Look life in its iron face”

Nice gun, and I particularly like double triggers.

You don't mention barrel length, and that could be a strike against it. Also, it's a sxs. OUs are perceived to be more "aristocratic" so are more attractive to buyers.

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You're shy a few manners.

Sounds like the dealer specialized in the tactical crowd. There’s still good demand for classic firearms here in Michigan, including nice SxS shotguns.

We have a number of dealers at the Michigan Antique Arms shows that specialize in them. Nice Parkers, Ithaca’s, Lefever’s, A. H. Fox’s and L. C. Smith’s bring good money. Winchester 21’s are English guns are always sought after. I don’t know if you’ve priced a Parker Reproduction lately, but they seem to keep going up. Even Ithaca SKB’s sell well.

It probably helps that we have a number of “Classic SxS Shoots” at various gun clubs. People often come from out of State to compete.

Your NID is a lovely gun. The dealer you talked to might sell a lot of “Tupperware” and AR’s, but he obviously wouldn’t know a quality American classic if it smacked him in the face!

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"I also cook."

I love SXS. And that is a stunner.
Tom

Did they make an offer at all?

If not then I'd say it was just side step talk to get from making a fool of themselves. They didn't want to get backed into a corner and have to make a cruel low ball offer for the shotgun.

They know what they can sell if for and turn it over quickly, so they know right off what they'd have to pay for it.
They don't work on thin profit on used guns either. Most want to make 100% on a used gun. Buy for $500..sell for 1K.
It's not a hobby for them or they wouldn't be in the biz.

It's a vintage classic SxS for sure,,An Ithaca NID.
A 500,000 series ser# NID would have peaked their interest more most likely.
But a standard 12, no not right now.
The classic SxS's have a smaller following than they did just a few yrs ago.

Being 12, and not a Parker or AHFox the 2 probably most highly priced of the common vintage SxS's around are against it.
Probably doesn't have ejectors,,it's a Field Grade, it has DT's and no special order options to claim for it.

It's a great gun, probably one of the strongest of the vintage guns around. But the market wants graded, small bore, specialty stuff with long bbls.
They want guns with Ejectors,with Single Selective Triggers,,and Straight grip stocks,
and more.
30 & 32in bbl'd small bore SxS in higher grades are must haves now for some reason.
That's just the way it is at the moment.

Trading/selling one to a dealer is generally a bad way to unload a gun.
Convenient, yes. But not good financially for the owner in most instances.

It's a great condition Ithaca. Sell it outright and collect the cash. Then go pistol shopping.

Sounds like he used to be a used car dealer. "We don't know if we can sell your trade-in." Then you see it on the lot for about 3k more than he gave you for it. Be patient and try another shop.

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Why duck?? It's a 9mm!

Sounds like he's smart enough to know the market he's dealing with and how to make money at it, and conversely, how not to take on inventory that would be slow to move with his "crowd".

A car guy dealing in Jeeps and off road 4x4's is probably not going to trade for a Porsche 911.

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Live long and prosper

Put it on Gunbroker, start it at $1 or even $100 and you will find out what the market will bear. But I do agree that I would not take it on trade unless it was a steal.

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S&W factory revolver armorer

A lot of us old guys that appreciate that kind of stuff have died off in the last few years. The younger crowd, for the most part, do not know or appreciate something like your gun enough to put serious money in it when handed one.

I was at a feed mill with a gun counter in it yesterday. They had an AR-12 shotgun (clip fed 12 gauge on AR platform) at $800 (some brand I never heard of). Every 30 and under was drooling over it. Nobody over 30 even looked that way! I would say it has absolutely lots of class, but it's LOW CLASS. An Ithaca NID also has a good amount of class and it's HIGH CLASS! Therefore I'm an old fart! an old fart with 4 doubles, 12 O/U's, and no AR-12's!

In general it is the same argument as Black Plastic Bottom Feeders vs. Blue Steel & Black Walnut Revolvers. I have also realized, there are no Zombies, and I'm to old to play at WWIII!

Ivan

The twit that wasnt impressed with your Ithaca has all of his taste in his mouth, that is a beautiful mint shot gun, I'm 81 and for a long time I did know NID stood for (new ithaca double) that gun is very nice!! Jeff

Just before Dad went off to war he bought a 12 ga. Parker double from a guy that was about to ship out. He paid $19 and I have the bill of sale to prove it. Dad took it to a gun shop to get some ammo and the owner offered him $200. That was 1941.

After Dad came back he took every deer with that gun until about 1968. Then a spring broke and the gunsmith balked at fixing it. He offered Dad $2000. Dad said no and had it fixed. It took several more deer until about 1986 when it was too heavy to carry any more so he upgraded to a Model 57.

I am the current caretaker of both guns. Any offers? Never mind, its not for sale. Both are earmarked for Dad's Grandson, and I DO know for a fact that even though he is a Millennial he appreciates that gun and would take it over any other that had plastic on it.

I used to collect sxs shotguns and hunted with a few of them. NID was the last model of the Ithaca sxs and was perfection. I lusted after one for years but never was able to locate one like yours. I ended up with a 95% L C Smith field grade 20 ga. These are nice shotguns for grouse hunting if you ream some of the choke out. There are still a few grouse hunters out there. I sold my L C Smith to a grouse hunter in MI.

Your dealer is correct. They're hard to move.

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That's just somebody talkin.

Forget the story, that gun is wicked pretty.

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"Free dirt, you dig."

I hate to see circumsized 97's......Both mine wear their original long barrels.

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S&W Accumulator

That's a very nice NID.

The double gun cognocenti crowd has gray hair, if we have any hair left at all. We are a small market segment. Among ourselves we can complement one another on our refined taste. Nobody else cares.

The 20 gauge L.C. Smith I recenty bought pleases me, but won't please everyone. The shop owner let it go for about $300 less than I figured it was really worth bcause at the real market price it would take months to sell in his small shop. We both understood that, and being creaky old guys were both satisfied with the sale.

Locally there is a 12-gauge A.H. Fox AE for sale at $2500. Conservatively 90%. I figure the gun is priced reasonably. It sits, and sits, like a good old dog waiting for adoption once it's original owner has passed.

If I had a S&W revolver that I would part with, I'd happily trade for that shotgun. I love SxS doubles. The over/under has pretty much supplanted them in today's shotgun sports, but I grew up with side-by-sides and still prefer them. I'm one of only three or four guys at our wildlife club who shows up with a side by side to shoot clays; not speaking for myself, the other guys who use them seem to do just as well as the over/under crowd. It's all a matter of adapting to a particular sight picture.

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He was honest with you. Beautiful piece. Too bad that the biggest demand is for plastic, compact 9mm pistols. This shotgun will sell to the right person for a fair price. Just find the market.

It will sell here in the South. They are popular at weddings. It makes for a perfect nudge gun for a future father-in-law.

There is probably a market, but not a big one. You would just have to do the work to find it. IF I were to buy a sXs, it would be set up for personal defense, and I already have long guns that fit that role and are more flexible.

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NHI, 10-8.

Not long ago, I posted a pic of an A.H. Fox AE I just bought, private sale for $950. It’s in the 90% area.
I have a neighbor who’s into training gun dogs for upland birds and is also a double collector. He said should I decide to sell, he’s sure members of his hunting circle would gladly pay between $1500-$2000 for the gun, so there’s obviously a market here in the Maine north woods for quality doubles and the OP’s Ithaca falls in that arena.

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I have a fondness for SxS's, and I prefer plain, no frills shooters to boot. I also like blue steel and walnut S&W revolvers...(rubber is okay in some cases)...for gunfighting instead of auto pistols and want nothing to do with AR15s...But if I could have found a USAS-12 for $800 when I still had spending money, I would have been all over it.

Some firearms are great for taking out in the field to shoot varmints, but when the varmints come to my house I get a little more picky about what I choose

I am a huge fan of SxS doubles; double rifles in particular. You may have seen some of my older posts. (And have a look at my avatar!)

Your Ithaca looks really nice, and at the right price it should sell. Perhaps the younger generation has yet to learn the beauty of a classic double, but even in the past, doubles weren't for everybody.

Just as a market indicator, I would be interested to know who this "nationally known dealer in classic firearms" is. I would think a dealer in classic firearms would know how to sell your Ithaca.

Curl

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SWCA #2599; SWHF #626

My SxS collection is one Ithaca and one Winchester

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That is a beautiful gun. It's the kind of gun that deserves grandchildren to pass on to.

Here’s a great article on The Rise and Fall of the American Side-by-Side Shotgun by Terry Wieland. Great read if you have a few minutes..

The Rise and Fall of the American Side-by-Side Shotgun

For those of you who get the American Rifleman, the issue I got yesterday has a writeup on a new Turkish SxS double gun (12 ga, 3", single trigger, no ejectors). They gave it a high rating, priced at close to $1000. So apparently there is still a market for such guns. Personally, I always hoped I would find a high-end bespoke British SxS such as a Boss, H&H, or Purdey at a garage sale for $100. I'd even settle for a Winchester Model 21. But that has never happened.

That article is a good read and describes the market for my Ithaca.

Yes, my Ithaca is a spectacular example of a field grade 12 gauge SxS. But who is going to buy it to go hunting and only a few Ithaca fans (I am one) want it as a collectible safe queen.

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Your Ithaca SxS is a beautiful gun. It's also a testimony to a time when American craftsmanship, nay Artisanship, really meant something.
The consumer product stuff being foisted off on the general public is pretty much all just bolted together assemblies of plastic, cheap alloys, and/or cookie cutter stampings. "Assembled in the USA of foreign sourced materials".
No thanks!
To me, it doesn't matter if it's the latest polymer tacticool blaster or a toaster oven.

I can't stand even walking into what passes today for a gun shop.

I buy every high condition American made side by side i can.

Sadly, requirements for steel shot has sidelined many of the old guns. I have an simple field grade Ithaca. Made in 1911, when 16 gauge was popular for upland game, it has collected it share of scratches and dents. The chokes are a little tight, lockup is a little loose and the right firing pin doesn't always fully rebound. The Flues has earned its retirement.

As I am well past my Biblical allotment of "three score and ten" a double trigger, extractor, English stocked CZ in 28 has replaced it in the field. There is no faster way to select which choke than two triggers. Extractor makes it easy to pocket the empties. That the Turks can build that as nice a gun with screw in chokes for under a thousand bucks pleases me.

I'd buy your SxS gun if it were in 16g, as I have a soft spot for them. I'm nooooo fan of 12g as I prefer 16 or 20. I learned to shoot flybys with an Ithaca Model 500 O/U in 12g and I do love that gun, but I'd love it more if it were a 16g. I also have a model 500 in 20g and it too is on my favrouites list. As I find 16's and 20's i'm replacing my 12's. Will I replace my Belgium made, 12g, A-5, Light Twelve? Sure just as soon as someone offers me more than what I have in it. Or if it were replaced by a Belgium Browning Sweet Sixteen. If I ever find my grail gun, the aforementioned Sweet Sixteen, you can have it once you pried it from my cold dead.....

As I said above, Winchesters move.
Here is my Winchester 21 next to my 1920's Remington 17 (20 gauge pump)







Found the Remington 17 when I had 4 hours to spare before my return flight on a business trip to Indiana and this small gun shop, which may have been in a house trailer, was only one hour out of the way in my rental car. It is an excellent example of what may be the finest pump shotgun ever made.






Funny thing is, I got the Remington for less than $400 and the Winchester would likely bring almost ten times as much.

Supply and demand can be fickle but it dictates the market.

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