POTD: More Popular Than The Savage Model 101 – Ithaca 49
Sam.S 04.01.24
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! In the late 1950s, an employee at the Bellemore-Johnson Tool Company named Robert Hillberg designed two prototype .22LR youth firearms inspired by Western movies/TV shows – a single-shot revolver and single-shot lever-action rifle. Savage acquired the revolver design that became the Model 101, while Ithaca purchased the rifle prototype and released it as the Model 49 “Saddlegun” in 1961. Though resembling a traditional lever-action Winchester ’94, the Ithaca 49 was actually a single-shot falling block action with an 18″ barrel and dummy magazine tube. Designed as an affordable $20 plinker, it featured basic open sights and an aluminum receiver prone to finish wear. Capitalizing on cowboy craze popularity, the simple, nostalgic Model 49 vastly outsold Savage’s revolver version, with over 500,000 produced through 1979. The Saddlegun remains an iconic, if quirky take on kid-friendly .22s evoking the TV-inspired Western fantasies of its era.
“Manufacturer: Ithaca Gun CoModel: 49-RifleType: RifleGauge: 22 S L LRBarrel: 18 inch roiundFinish: matte blackStock: hardwood”
Lot 942: Two Lever Action Rifles – B) Ithaca M-49 Single Shot Rifle. (n.d.-b). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved March 31, 2024, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/2058/942/two-lever-action-rifles.
