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kozak6 · November 19, 2008, 01:35 AM

It depends on what you want to do with your shotgun.

If you want a black tacticool zombie blaster with rails and foldy bits and pistols grips and such, the 870 is probably a better choice.

There's not really much of that sort of thing availible for the the Ithaca. There is some, but not really all that much.

If you are just talking about have a 'regular' shotgun, then the Ithaca is a viable choice.

I personally lean towards the Ithaca.

It is a bit lighter than the 870.

I like the slide release on the Ithaca a lot more. On both shotguns, the slide release is on the very front of the trigger guard. On the Ithaca, it's within easy reach of the trigger finger on the righthand side. On the Remington, it's on the left side of the trigger guard, which is exactly where I can't hit it without taking my hand off the grip. It makes me wonder why it's on that side.

The Ithaca is probably smoother.

Both have similar crossbolt safeties.

A detailed cleaning requires a bit more work with the Ithaca.

Older Ithacas can slamfire. This means that if you hold the trigger down and pump it, the shotgun will fire as soon as it locks into battery. It can be a heck of a lot fun for rattling off bunch of shells in a hurry, but there's also some sad stories about a lack of proper gun safety and handling leading to negligent discharges and accidents.

Older Ithacas won't accept the interchangeable barrels unless you have the factory install an adaptor, and Ithaca barrels tend to be more expensive in general, sometimes absurdly so.

The engraving on the side of the Ithaca is super cool. These pictures are from Ithaca's website, which mentions it is now machined instead of roll stamped, so these pictures might be a little flattering, but my point still stands.

Notice the lack of the ejection port on the side of the reciever. Some people consider it an advantage since it's one less giant hole in the side of your gun for junk, dirt, and mud to get into.

However, some people scream and shout about how this makes it way too difficult to load a shell directly into the chamber when it's so easily done through the ejection port on the 870. Some even falsely claim that it's impossible with the Ithaca. One poster even mentioned that some people were specifically milling such holes into their Ithacas solely for this purpose, although I am extremely skeptical about this.

I've never tried loading a shell directly into the chamber of an 870. I have done it with my Ithaca. It's really not all that difficult and I don't see what the heck the big deal is. Downright easy, even. If I can figure it out, it can't possibly be that tricky.

Bottom ejection is super cool, and the Ithaca really kicks them out of there. The only potential problems with bottom ejection would be a fired casing not clearing the gun correctly when fired from the prone position

or possibly from a bench.

Both shotguns are very well known for durability and reliability. However, the SEALS used the Ithaca during Vietnam. My Ithaca was built sometime around 1957, and is still going strong.

Oh, and the Ithaca was designed mostly by John Browning and John Pedersen.

November 19, 2008, 01:35 AM	#5
kozak6 Senior Member Join Date: June 16, 2005 Location: AZ Posts: 3,113	It depends on what you want to do with your shotgun. If you want a black tacticool zombie blaster with rails and foldy bits and pistols grips and such, the 870 is probably a better choice. There's not really much of that sort of thing availible for the the Ithaca. There is some, but not really all that much. If you are just talking about have a 'regular' shotgun, then the Ithaca is a viable choice. I personally lean towards the Ithaca. It is a bit lighter than the 870. I like the slide release on the Ithaca a lot more. On both shotguns, the slide release is on the very front of the trigger guard. On the Ithaca, it's within easy reach of the trigger finger on the righthand side. On the Remington, it's on the left side of the trigger guard, which is exactly where I can't hit it without taking my hand off the grip. It makes me wonder why it's on that side. The Ithaca is probably smoother. Both have similar crossbolt safeties. A detailed cleaning requires a bit more work with the Ithaca. Older Ithacas can slamfire. This means that if you hold the trigger down and pump it, the shotgun will fire as soon as it locks into battery. It can be a heck of a lot fun for rattling off bunch of shells in a hurry, but there's also some sad stories about a lack of proper gun safety and handling leading to negligent discharges and accidents. Older Ithacas won't accept the interchangeable barrels unless you have the factory install an adaptor, and Ithaca barrels tend to be more expensive in general, sometimes absurdly so. The engraving on the side of the Ithaca is super cool. These pictures are from Ithaca's website, which mentions it is now machined instead of roll stamped, so these pictures might be a little flattering, but my point still stands. Notice the lack of the ejection port on the side of the reciever. Some people consider it an advantage since it's one less giant hole in the side of your gun for junk, dirt, and mud to get into. However, some people scream and shout about how this makes it way too difficult to load a shell directly into the chamber when it's so easily done through the ejection port on the 870. Some even falsely claim that it's impossible with the Ithaca. One poster even mentioned that some people were specifically milling such holes into their Ithacas solely for this purpose, although I am extremely skeptical about this. I've never tried loading a shell directly into the chamber of an 870. I have done it with my Ithaca. It's really not all that difficult and I don't see what the heck the big deal is. Downright easy, even. If I can figure it out, it can't possibly be that tricky. Bottom ejection is super cool, and the Ithaca really kicks them out of there. The only potential problems with bottom ejection would be a fired casing not clearing the gun correctly when fired from the prone position or possibly from a bench. Both shotguns are very well known for durability and reliability. However, the SEALS used the Ithaca during Vietnam. My Ithaca was built sometime around 1957, and is still going strong. Oh, and the Ithaca was designed mostly by John Browning and John Pedersen. Last edited by kozak6; November 19, 2008 at 01:44 AM.