My understanding is that these were made by Browning, although I don't know who made the barrels and locks. These came out during the Traditional M/L Renaissance back in the late 70's and early 80's. There were a large number of manufacturers that decided to get in the game, in competition with TC. Most were very well made and that included Ithaca. At that time, Browning came out with this higher end rifle. It was a Lexis when most of us were cutting our teeth on Chevy's. As time progressed many companies started importing parts or complete rifles and then others just got out of the business. For now, I'm defaulting to Browning, all the way .....
Good catch and
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