the spank
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Planet Earth Wearing My Tinfoil Hat
I arrived home late friday night from a 2 1/2 week stint on Vancouver Island to help my father recovering from a surgery and to help him with some decluttering and downsizing. Shortly after arriving home I discovered a box in the living room. I asked my wife what was in the box and she said "I assume a gun you had worked on as it has Chris'(C.J Dawe) name on it".
I was on the road 18+ hours friday including a 2 hour ferry ride and 900 miles of driving to reach home so the box had to wait until saturday morning.
To say I was pleased with the restoration would be an understatement. What a gorgeous gun! The CCH colours? Wow!!
And the ways in which Chris brought out the grain in the wood are truly stunning! What a craftsman!
Of surprise to me when I took out the 1957 all original 4E SBT I own to compare side by side with the 5E was the length and weight difference in the two guns. The 4E I thought(memory isn't the greatest at times) was advertised as a 34" bbl gun however upon placing the guns alongside each other and then confirming with a measuring tape I've discovered the 4E is actually a 32" bbl gun. I also noticed a significant weight difference in the pair of Knicks.
The 5E was made in 1926 and it is easily seen in hand and to a lesser degree in photos where some of the weight difference lies. The 5E receiver is slightly larger(deeper with not as sharp of rounded bottom) and the barrel has larger vent rib posts compared to the 4E and you can very easily see a difference in muzzle thickness. I will have to mic the muzzles to verify chokes but the 4E is stamped #3 meaning Imp Mod where the 5E has no stamp but I suspect its Full choke. The outer diameter of the 5E barrel appears to be of larger dismeter than the 4E as well. I suspect the 34" 5E barrel overall may be thicker walled but I cannot confirm until I mic it. I have been told Ithaca offered buyers of these custom built guns a choice of barrel weights and not just a choice of length. The 4E feels extremely muzzle light in comparison with weight balanced between the hands and the gun feels about 1/2lb lighter overall(yet to be confirmed by weighing) where the 5E has a more weight forward(muzzle heavy) feel and balance to it along with a heftier feel around the receiver area.
I'm of course a little impatient waiting for the snow to be gone and the clubs I shoot at to be open once again so I can take the 5E out for an inaugural test run and some practice on the traps, especially handicap as gun has the feel and slower swing characteristics of a long yardage handicap gun. I shot the 4E this past Christmas break while visiting my father in Nanaimo and the 4E has a quicker amd very smooth swing characteristic more attuned to singles(16yd) and short yardage handicap.
Of course the 5E has a ton of head turning appeal, not that the 4E doesn't but the 5E really has that extra bit of awe factor about it and I'd hate to be "that guy" carrying such a classic beauty, once considered to be the king of trap guns around the ranges.
