I was born in 1950, growing up back then if you turned on the Television it there were loads of Cowboy Shows. Roy Rogers, Cheyenne, Have Gun Will Travel, The Rifleman, the Virginian and others. Cowboys wore wide brimmed hats, rode a horse, and packed a 45 Caliber Six Shooter and a lever action, Saddle Gun.
From about 1961 to 1979 if you wandered around a K-Mart, Western Auto Store or Sears they had loads of rifles on wall racks. You might have seen this one at Sears as a Model 2200 Lever action (Also known as the “Roy Rogers Model’) , a Stevens Model 80 or an Ithaca M-49 Lever Action Single Shot Saddle Gun.
This is an Ithaca M-49. It’s a .22LR Caliber and except for a couple of light rust spots is in about 90%
I ran into this one at a LGS/Range. Sticker price started out at $100.00 plus tax. Back in the day these sold for $19.95 to $50.00 depending who you believe. Ithaca got started in the gun manufacturing business around 1880. Originally it was rifles and shotguns. When it came to rifles they did most of their manufacturing based on expired Remington Patents. When it came to shotguns they had a great reputation and produced loads of high and low end models. Eventually they bought Lefever and it was high cotton time.
The M-49 uses a modified Martini Breech System. You pull down on the lever and the dropping, tilting block action actions opens and you insert a single round. Close the lever and the breech action closes. You then have to cock the hammer to fire the weapon. Depending on the shooter these old gals weren’t nail drivers, but more suited to pop tin cans.
Prior to 1965 M-49s didn’t have serial numbers. This one’s packing a 1490XX serial number. I’ve found reputed reports of ones being made in 1968 with a SN of 307XX, and with a SN of 295,523 in 1979. I called Ithaca Customer Service at 1-877-648-4222. She said that about 6 years ago when the company changed hands again they got no records on the M-49s. She confirmed that they were made from 1961-1979 but could offer further assistance.
I’d guess it was made between 1966 and 1967. There’s no wear and tear on it and except for some small rust spots, she’d be NIB, if I had the box.
When it comes to Trap Doors, I always thing of the Model 1873 Trapdoor Springfield. It was the first standard breech loading rifle adopted by the US Army. They were a hinged breech block that opened like a trap door. These are a bit more sophisticated.
Eventually I bought it for $95.00, including taxes. I have a friend whose birthday is next month and he’d love this old gal.
