My 15yo son wants to duck hunt and my dad gave him the shotgun in the pictures below. On the one hand, I understand it’s not a fancy one, he should not shoot steel shot through it, and one barrel is full choke while the other is modified choke. On the other hand, my internet sleuthing is not turning up any other examples in as nice of condition as this one and maybe duck hunting, especially in salt water, wouldn’t be a good use for it. If I had a third hand, I’d say because of the crude engraving and all other examples on the internet having case hardened receivers, not blued, that this has been reblued any way so why not?

What sayeth SIGforum?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: trapper189,

I'd say it's okay as long as he isn't shooting around salt water. In any case, since he can't hunt waterfowl with lead ammunition, he'd best find some bismuth ammunition that wouldn't harm the gun and would still be lawful when using to harvest waterfowl regulated under federal law.

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Ithaca Lefever

if you're sure it's an Ithaca, I don't see any harm in it.

Looks to be in good shape so should be fine, mechanically. The fact that he will be around salt water wouldn't bother me too much but I would clean the gun well after every trip and not leave it sitting in a gun case for days before getting to it.

Definitely use bismuth shot and not steel. It is expensive but he shouldn't need much. I shoot Kent bismuth in my Belgian Brownings.

If he will be shooting decoying ducks at close range (under 30 yards), I'd shoot #6's or maybe even #7's with that full choke. Pass shooting, probably #4's.

I think Bismuth shot "flies" (carries inertia) better than steel shot as well.

Hunting out of a blind? Go for it.

Hunting out of a boat? Maybe not.

Shooting from a boat was really rough on my duck guns. Lots of opportunities to get water into the gun, and ding it up against the metal boat.

Even if I only used it once. Just for dad. Memory of a lifetime, and some value isn’t measured in money. Especially if dad is still alive. It would almost be insulting not to.

Use it and take good care of it and it will be fine.

Reminds me of dove hunting with my great uncle’s Sears Ranger 16 side by side. Not worth a fortune but meaningful to me.

He’s fired it twice now. Got a crow yesterday and his first duck this morning:





He stood there for two hours this morning and passed up shots I thought were shootable. He said he wasn’t sure.

I wish a had a picture of the whistling ducks and the goose that flew behind him between him and our house. It quacked me up.

He had to use the kayak to retrieve his duck and he dropped the cased gun in the water. The canvas case was soaked, but the gun was fine. I sprayed it with WD40, all I had at the new house, and shoved paper towels down the barrel with a wooden dowel, again all I had, and was shocked how clean the bores are. They look perfectly smooth and shiny which I found amazing for a 97 year old shotgun.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: trapper189,

Way to go, kid!

Is the duck hunting his idea and initiative?

Well done, son!!

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Originally posted by trapper189:
He had to use the kayak to retrieve his duck...

That's why God created dogs...

Nice shooting little dude! Cool gun too.

Ha! Can't believe the gun fell in the water after all. Glad it's ok.

Looks like a hen bluebill (scaup) to me.

Thanks guys.

It was his idea, but he has lots of ideas.

Unlike the $149,500 50' Hatteras Sport Fisherman we "needed" to fishing, this one was doable. He's never even shot a shotgun before. It reminds of when he was 6 or 7 and he said let's go look for dinosaur bones in the woods. Five minutes later, he yells I found some! He found a partial deer skeleton. I honestly didn't think he was going to get a duck either.

We actually have a dog that loves to swim and retrieve balls and sticks. We have alligators down here.

He knows everything of course so didn't listen to me when I said put the gun on the dock, then go get your duck.

It is a scaup. There's a ton of them, but the limit is 2 a day. It's 6 ducks total a day with lower limits on certain ones like scaup.

He's practicing duck calls right now to be ready for the youth waterfowl day on Feb. 7.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: trapper189,

Just prepare yourself - I’ve never found a scaup that is good to eat. That being said, good on the kid for getting out there and doing it!

Maybe he needs a cold weather duck hunt in the flyway next winter?

There’s something about using a older gun especially one with a family history at least for one hunt.

Out west I used to take my Springfield 87A for Jack Rabbit eradication. A farmer used to ask hunters to spend a afternoon when the Jacks started decimating his commercial vegetable farm gardens.