Читать книгу Gun Digest 2011 онлайн

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Ithaca successfully produced many thousands of guns before they were consumed by debt and bankruptcy from previous indebtedness. They were faced with a demand to remove hazardous materials from the site by the New York State Environmental Protection Agency and the city of Ithaca. This was the result of over a century of manufacturing. A federally-mandated cleanup program to dispose of land containing thousands of tons of lead-contaminated soil cost Ithaca $4.8 million dollars! Besides the cleanup, the factory itself was in a sad state of disrepair. It was obvious the grand old factory had to be sold or go out of business. Unfortunately, the low volume of the trap gun, the steady sales of the Model 37 and the large sales volume of the Model 49 all failed to revive the troubled company. They were forced into bankruptcy and the only saleable things left of interest for other investors were the timeless Model 37 pump shotgun and the new Ithaca Model 49 rifle.

The rifle was eventually sold to Savage and it was marketed as the Stevens Model 89. A total of 31,841 guns were shipped by Savage during the next few years. By then the direct labor costs to manufacture the rifle had increased, as had the price of zinc, the material for the major die-cast components. The rifle had lost its momentum and no longer offered the sales and profit advantage it originally enjoyed. This would be the sad ending of this fine little rifle, the Ithaca Model 49.