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Member Joined: 26 Apr 2005 Posts: 743

Grousen, you're correct. That would be a Flues model, and it would have come from the factory with 2 9/16" chambers. One reason Ithaca changed from the Flues to the NID, in 1925, had to do with the higher pressures generated by the then-new loads, like the Super-X. There have been reports of Flues guns with cracked frames as a result of shooting modern American ammo, although most of those have been 20's--some of which were built very light.

I had a Flues 16 that I used as a pheasant gun, about 20 years ago, when my Sauer 16 was in the shop for repairs. If I recall correctly, the chambers had been lengthened to 2 3/4", and I know that I shot high brass, 1 1/8 oz pheasant loads in it. No damage to either me or the gun. However, I would not recommend shooting American factory ammo in a Flues 16. You can either buy shells made for European guns, or you can reload to reduced pressure levels. It's not likely that anything catastrophic would happen to the shooter; probably not the gun either. But better safe than sorry!

Thought I was posting this in response to a question, but I must've hit the wrong button!

Thank you sir. I found your post, and it was quite interesting. I appreciate all the responses I received on this post. This site is a wonderful resource, as so many of you really know your stuff. Thank you again, all of you who make this website what it is.

Member Joined: 04 May 2005 Posts: 123 Location: Oregon

"....and your opinion on ammo for a savage Fox Sterly under 6 lbs??

thanks....."

Duncan, does this mean that you have one? Smile

Larry

Member Joined: 04 May 2005 Posts: 123 Location: Oregon

Duncan, all depends on barrel wall thickness just in front of the forcing cones. I shoot modern factory loads in two out of the three SW's I have. The third one with only .073 wall thickness gets nothing but low pressure shells. Be sure to check all the way around the barrels for the minimum wall thickness.

Does this gun by any chance have 30" barrels? Wink

Larry

Member Joined: 26 Apr 2005 Posts: 743

Duncan, if it's a factory 2 3/4" gun (which would mean Savage era), you CAN shoot anything that's out there. However, with a gun that light, anything over 1 oz will be a bit painful in the recoil department. Personally, I love to shoot 7/8 oz reloads in light 16's, if I'm shooting many shells (like at targets). RST's and Polywads are about the lightest recoiling factory shells. Kent 1 oz loads are pretty good too. No problem with the 1 oz "promo" loads from Rem/Win/Fed either, but you probably won't want to shoot a lot of clay birds with those due to recoil in a light gun.

Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 124 Location: Kansas City

My Flues has the modified frame and isn't what I would call light weight about the same as my Citori. I bought the gun a couple of years ago and I'm the first person since the 20's to shoot low pressure loads in it. The guy who had it before me shot 1 1/8 "high brass'' for many years. I shoot low pressure not because I'm worried about the frame cracking but because the darn thing's old. I would shoot low pressure in any old gun no matter how strong I felt it was built. I'll keep modern loads in modern guns built with modern steel.

Member Joined: 26 Apr 2005 Posts: 743

There's a definite difference between a Flues and a Savage Sterlingworth. The Flues guns were designed before the transition to "modern" shotshells, the first of which was the Super-X in the 20's. Some of them are very light, some not so light--but they were from an era when shells developed lower pressures. By the time Savage bought out Fox (1930), modern shotshells had been around a few years. Savage made some minor design changes to the Foxes they made, and they have performed well over the years with modern loads--although they're pretty light (16's built on 20ga frames, many of them with very light barrels), and if you're not used to a light gun, typical factory 1 oz loads can be a bit stiff.

Duncan... you're a kid in a candy store. You remind me of someone... oh, me.