Here in America, bigger is better. 72″ big screen TVs? Awesome. Ford F350s? Love ’em. King Kong burgers? Yes, please! For shotgun shooters, magnum loads are right in line with this obsession. And when it comes to magnums, the 3 1/2″ 10 gauge is king.
The Western Cartridge Co. introduced the mag 10 in 1932. It was stuffed with 2 ounces of shot and it generated a brain-bruising amount of kick. To handle it, Ithaca developed the NID Magnum-Ten side by sides. These doubles came standard with 32″ bbls and they weighed 10-11 lbs+ plus. The first one was serial number 500,000. From 1932 -1942, Ithaca made 887 of them in all. Here’s a bit about them from Michael McIntosh’s book Best Guns:
Today, you can usually find a few Ithaca NID Magnum 10s on the market. They’re usually expensive, but that’s how it goes. Nice things are never cheap.
ITHACA, NID, GRADE 2, 10 GAUGE – $3950
3 1/2″ MAGNUM, 32″ BARRELS, FULL AND FULL, EXCELLENT BLUE, MIRROR BORES. AUTOMATIC EJECTORS, NICELY ENGRAVED WITH GAME BIRDS, SCROLL, BORDERS AND STIPPLEWORK, SOME CASE COLOR, TOP LEVER TO THE RIGHT. MOST OF THE ORIGINAL BLUE ON TRIGGER GUARD. PISTOL GRIP STOCK, SPLINTER FOREARM, HIGHLY FIGURED WOOD WITH EXCELLENT CHECKERING AND FINISH. 1 1/2″ X 2 1/2″ X 14″, PACHMAYER PAD WITH SPACER, 11 POUNDS. SERIAL NUMBER OVER 500,000. ONLY 164 PRODUCED. CIRCA MID 1930’S. SCARCE GUN.
