Working The Ithaca Model 49

Although the Ithaca Gun Company is best known for its production of the iconic Model 37 shotgun, many other guns were produced over its long history dating back to the 1880s. Established in Ithaca, New York (hence the name) the company first produced shotguns. In 1916 the Le Fever Gun Company was incorporated with Ithaca. Some of the company’s more famous patrons were Annie Oakley and John Phillip Sousa.

During World War Two, Ithaca made guns for the American military, including the M1911 pistol and M3 "Grease Gun." The Model 37 shotgun was the standard for some police departments, including Los Angeles and New York. The Ithaca Gun company has transferred ownership several times and is still in business at its present site in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. One of the most interesting products from Ithaca is the M49 .22 rimfire rifle.

Produced from 1961 to 1976 (some sources list 1979) this little rifle was plainly aimed at the boy’s market. Its lever action was intended to give a Western flavor and indeed its profile is reminiscent of a weapon the Duke might have carried, although, in his big hands it would have looked like a toy since it is much more diminutive than the Model 92 Winchesters he usually favored in the movies. A faux loading tube is attached under the 18-inch barrel in the case of the single-shot version.

A repeater, the Model 49R, was also offered as well as a WMR (Winchester Magnum Rimfire) version, the 49M. Production figures for these guns aren’t readily available—at least I can’t find any. The company changing hands several times does not help and correspondence with the current Ithaca Company reveals that they are not in possession of such information. Be that as it may, the number produced appears to be substantial since an example may easily be found on many of the Internet gun auctions and at gun shows.

Comments over the Internet lump these guns into a category ranging from "junk that should be trashed" to "the best little rifle I’ve ever owned." I think this piece falls somewhere in between. Many of them are still in use and one could cross your bench at any time. The receiver is made of a product called anodized aluminum. This process increases the aluminum oxide layer on the surface of the part which in turn becomes aluminum hydrate. The part is hardened and is less subject to wear and corrosion.

This process also allows the aluminum to be dyed and this rifle is colored black to simulate bluing. Use of this material is not necessarily a bad thing as some would portray it, since it does have the strength needed for the receiver’s function and aluminum reduces weight substantially, anodized or not. What’s wrong with that? The gun in my shop at the moment seems plenty strong enough to fire many thousands of .22 rimfire rounds and I suspect it already has.

This gun weighs four and threequarter pounds—about standard for a boy’s rifle, at least in the sixties—and is only thirty four and three-fourths inches long from muzzle to buttstock end. The trigger pull weighed by my RCBS gauge is a clean 3.75 pounds. Many the so-called youth rifles produced today have horrendous Notice that the length of pull is practically the same. The Western "flavor" important in the 1960s that Ithaca hoped to capitalize on is evident. triggers that even a grown man has trouble with.

The trigger on this rifle testifies to the differences in the era it was manufactured compared to the current timid reluctance to give the public what it wants. It may be possible to smooth this trigger up a little bit but it is not adjustable per se and I don’t think I would fool with it from a liability standpoint. Besides, it is a pretty good trigger as is.

To cock the hammer and ready the rifle to fire does take a little more effort and can be seen as a safety factor proving that Ithaca was not reckless in designing this gun. The only thing I didn’t understand was that the rifle has a length of pull

The small pin from the front of the support on the barrel holds the tube securely. This pin is knurled, as the factory puts it, and must be drifted out left to right. The hammer must be cocked separately to fire the gun. The ejector is spring loaded and will clear the breech when the gun is opened. right at 14 inches. That’s designed for an adult, not a child. When I shoulder it my eyes are in line with the sights.

At least I didn’t understand until I perused the schematic and noticed that three stocks were available from the factory for the .22 Long, .22 Magnum and a youth model (presumably with an appropriate length of pull.) This is still being done today on some rifles and shotguns with the assumption that as the boy grows the buttstock can be swapped to fit. Personally, I think boy’s rifles are usually put down and replaced by a man’s gun when the time comes but I don’t speak for everyone.

Well, at least now I can fathom the vagaries of this gun manufacture’s mindset and can commend them for offering the shooting public a choice. I checked Numrich and all of the replacement buttstocks for the Model 49 are sold out. A custom stock maker may be the only way to go since this gun has been out of production for quite sometime and available factory parts will eventually be depleted.

Cutting the factory stock to give a shorter length of pull is an option but the original buttplate would have to be ground to fit. I don’t believe it’s worth it but that’s a choice each owner will have to make. My example sports a nine-digit serial number on the bottom left side of the receiver indicating it was produced after 1969 as The Gun Control Act of 1968 mandated serial numbers.

The sights are much the same as seen on the Model 94 Winchester, a kind of Vnotch rear with a sliding ramp underneath to raise or lower for elevation. This affair is set in a dovetail and can be drifted slightly for windage. The front is a triangular ramp serrated at the bottom and topped with an all black bead which must be drifted left or right in a dovetail for windage. This one has been moved very far to the right to get the rifle sighted in.

I might suggest to the owner to drift both front and rear in a regulated manner to improve aesthetics it works as is and the front sight is still solid in its mount. Recoil of the .22 rimfire being almost nonexistent, I don’t think he will have any problems keeping the sight on the barrel. That’s good, since the gun has no provision to mount a scope, such as a grooved receiver top, and is not drilled and tapped for a receiver sight.

Apparently, the boys of that generation could hit what they were aiming at using open sights. As well as the receiver being anodized aluminum, the lever is of similar material. A magnet revealed the trigger, hammer and falling block are all made of steel. The barrel band appears to be some kind of plastic. A hardwood—some report it as elm, but it certainly isn’t walnut—is used for the buttstock and forend. The buttstock sports functional pressed checkering on both sides of the grip. The forend is plain.

In operation the lever is pulled down and the block in the receiver drops, allowing access to the chamber and loading. The block locks the rifle in battery when the lever is pulled up. A rebounding firing pin system is employed as a safety. There is no transfer bar. The hammer must be cocked manually to fire and has no half-cock position. Of course, there are none of the buttons that grace our modern lever actions to operate hammer-blocking safeties.

Amazingly, the engineers that designed this rifle must have thought that if one cocked the hammer and didn’t fire the next step would be to

decock it and let the rebounding part do its job. All in all, this is a pretty good system for a youth rifle. This mechanism has been compared to the famous Martini action. Anyway, it’s a solid lockup and plenty strong enough for any rimfire including the magnum variety. I haven’t heard of any of these guns being rechambered for say the .22 Hornet, but I wonder. I have seen little break-open boy’s rifles manufactured in the early part of the last century so rechambered even though I can’t recommend this practice.

The Hornet operates at a nominal 43,000 CUP and the .22 WMR at a nominal 24,000 PSI. While one can’t compare apples to oranges in the case of CUP and PSI, I would hesitate to use a rifle so chambered with full-power Hornet loads. Among other things, the receiver is the weak link here being made of aluminum. Also, a system to change from rimfire to centerfire would have to be devised.

I don’t think it would be worth the trouble, since the Hornet is currently enjoying resurgence with the American public and new rifles are readily available. When the lever is pulled down the fired cartridge is ejected, even on the single shot. One of the problems that are commonly encountered on this gun is the ejector not working, causing the fired case to remain in the chamber. The usual cause of this is apart called the ejector trip (#17) being broken.

The ejector trip holds the spring-loaded ejector in place until the lowering of the breech block pushes down on it and it then releases the ejector to pop out the case. This is a pretty strong process as my gun will eject a loaded round with authority. Replacing this part means a lot of disassembly, so don’t be afraid to charge accordingly. Most of the parts that might be needed for this gun are readily available from Numrich Gun Parts Corporation (gunpartscorp.com).

Last I checked, the ejector trip was listed as available for $5.90. Takedown Instructions Before beginning, note that all pins are knurled on one end and should be removed and reassembled from the knurled side of the hole. This can be identified by close inspection, looking for three equidistant marks on outside diameter of the pin’s head. All current production has the knurled end on right hand side of receiver. Drive out from left to right and drive in from right to left.

Early production guns may have some pins with the knurled end on the right side of receiver with some on left side. Double check visually before driving out. Take out the two butt screws (#43) and remove the butt plate (#44). With an eight point 3/8" socket wrench or long screwdriver, remove the stock bolt (#40) in the bottom of the hole bored in the stock. The stock can then be pulled off.

With the hammer (#7) in the rebound safety position, remove the stock stud (#10), hammer spring (#9) and external lock washer (#42). Next, with the bolt (#3) closed, drive out the knurled ejector lock pin (#25). Carefully and slowly open the bolt fully, allowing the ejector trip (#17) to disengage the ejector (#11). The ejector can then be removed. Holding the gun muzzle end up with the bolt held fully open, the ejector spring (#12) can be removed.

It may be necessary to lightly jar the back of the receiver to dislodge the spring form the hole. The ejector can be removed without removing the stock if so desired. To remove the lever assembly (#29), close the bolt (#3), drive out the knurled lever pin (#28) and lift out the lever assembly. Hold the gun in a normal right-side-up position to dislodge the bolt plunger (#21), spring (#20) and pivot lock (#19) from the hole underneath the bolt.

It may be necessary to gently tap the top of the bolt to help dislodge these three pieces. Remove the bolt assembly by pushing out the bolt pivot pin and tip the receiver until the bolt protrudes enough to be withdrawn with the fingers, remove the firing pin spring (#5) American Gunsmithing Association

Ithaca Model 49 (Speci ications subject to change without notice) 1 *45050 Barrel .22 Long (must return complete gun) 1A *45070 Barrel .22 Magnum (must return complete gun) 2 46200 Receiver (Must return complete gun) 3 45150 Bolt 4 45850 Pin, Firing 5 46500 Spring, Firing pin 6 45600 Lock, Firing Pin 7 30490 Hammer 7A 45520 Hammer (gold plated) 8 46970 Rebound cam asy. 9 46550 Spring, hammer 10 46750 Stud, stock 11 45350 Ejector .22 Long 11A 45360 Ejector .22 Magnum 12 46450 Spring, ejector 13 45800 Pin, ejector trip 14 45300 Cup, ejector trip 15 46450 Spring, ejector trip 16 46250 Screw, ejector trip 17 46850 Trip, ejector 18 45700 Pin, bolt pivot 19 45750 Pin, bolt pivot lock 20 46450 Spring, bolt plunger 21 46100 Plunger, bolt 22 46800 Trigger 22A 46820 Trigger (gold plated) 23 46050 Pin, trigger 24 45900 Pin, hammer 25 45900 Pin, barrel and ejector lock .22 Long 25A 45910 Pin, barrel and ejector lock .22 Magnum 26 46600 Spring, trigger 27 46150 Plunger, trigger 28 45950 Pin, lever 29 47000 Lever, assembly 30 46000 Pin, forearm wood retainer Schematic Key for Model 49 Ithaca (Key, Part Number, Description) 31 46300 Screw, forearm band 32 45000 Band, forend 33 46900 Tube, forend 34 45280 Cap, forend tube 35 46760 Support, forend tube 36 46000 Pin, magazine support 37 46430 Sight, front 38 53870 Sight, rear 39 51870 Step, rear sight ramp #3 40 350 Bolt, stock 41 2060 Washer, stock bolt (plain) 42 2050 Washer, stock bolt (lock) 43 1460 Screw, butt plate 44 1170 Plate, butt 45 32900 Stock (with butt plat) .22 Long 45A 47480 Stock (with butt plate) .22 Magnum 45D 47500 Stock Youth (with butt plate) 45 45410 Wood, forend .22 Long

and lock pin (#6). Set the assembly aside. Drive out the knurled hammer pin (#24) and trigger pin (#23) to remove hammer, trigger and rebound cam assembly. To remove the ejector trip (#17), first remove the ejector trip screw (#16), spring (#15) and cup (#14). Drive out the knurled ejector trip pin (#13) and the ejector trip can then be removed. After perusing Internet chat shops and forums it became evident that there was some confusion about how to remove the forearm from this rifle.

This is understandable as removing the Philips screw holding the barrel band in place does not release the forearm. On the single-shot version the faux loading tube (#33) is pinned (#34) into the support (#35). The small pin runs through a channel cut in the top of the tube (not the middle) and can be seen in the illustration but it will hold the tube securely if not taken out. It is best removed with a small 1/16" starter punch.

One end of the pin has the three equidistant markings and should be driven out and reinstalled accordingly. Mine was taken out from left to right as most pins are on this firearm. The support for the forend tube (#35) is dovetailed into the bottom of the barrel and does not need to be removed to take out the tube.

The loading tube is wider and belled at the forend side, fitting into a dowel-like affair that is milled into A The forearm can be easily pulled away from these when the loading tube and forearm retaining band are removed. The rear sight can also be adjusted by drifting but in this case the front sight is tight in its dovetail and no harm will result. the end of the forearm. It may be a slightly tight after all these years but a little twisting and pulling will loosen it.

Be careful not to crush it as it is just a weak piece of hollow metal. Don’t use pliers here. Hand pressure is quite enough. When reinstalling it, a slight tap with a plastic or rubber hammer will seat it enough to get it into position to accept the pin in the end. Just don’t pound the tube in place. The front of the receiver has two pins protruding to mate with two small holes in the back of the forearm. They can probably be removed but I caution against it unless you want to end up making a replacement.

Just make sure you don’t bend them. This is how Ithaca made sure the forearm would not rattle around or twist sideways. It actually is a pretty solid lockup with the front support, barrel band, the loading tube bearing against it and the pins in the receiver. One could say this is overkill but, hey, if it makes the gun stronger, what the heck. Unless replacement of parts or the barrel is necessary it should never have to be dismounted.

As for the repeating version, the feed tube will extend all the way through the forearm and will function just like any other .22 rimfire feeding device, however, the action on the repeater is a completely different animal. The falling block is absent and a lifter and other parts make up the mechanism to move the cartridges from feed tube to chamber. Buttstock and forearm removal is comparable to the single shot. The Ithaca M49 is a pretty simple design to work on.

Not a whole lot can go wrong with this gun provided it is not abused. Most repairs will be in the nature of parts replacement. In this regard we are fortunate that Numrich Arms carries and has in stock almost everything we might need. Another resource is Diamond Gunsmithing (diamondgunsmithing.com). George Roghaar is a nice gentleman who used a portion of his time to send me some of the information he has on Ithaca guns.

He is the source for the schematic in this article that was taken from an old out-of-print service manual when the company was located in Ithaca, New York. He can be contacted at G