But, as soon as the technology advanced, the A5 was dead, and the Ithaca has died two or three times, so far. Some people get all misty eyed over how a gun is made, but most, like me, care more that it works reliably and is affordable. I do care how it looks, also. Remington issued in the new era of firearms design with the 11-48. They had truly interchangeable parts that did not require gunsmith fitting, simplified actions, and utilized stamped steel parts where appropriate. It reduced the costs of manufacturing, and other makers were quick to follow suit. Mossberg was probably the most successful of those at that time. Winchester went too far with their cost saving measures and had to backtrack, but they alienated a bunch of the former fans so bad it eventually helped the whole company go away. Browning went thru several false starts with semi autos until they finally found some good designs to replace the A5, but replace it they did, out of necessity. For a long time the Browning was the only reliable semi auto design, but that distinction went away. Ithaca only enjoys a very small market because most people will not pay what it takes to build one with their design, especially for a pump. Their forays into semi autos failed. Due to limited cash flow their more recent efforts to expand the line seem to have stalled. Browning brought out the BPS, a more robust and cheaper design and siphoned off some of the market that loves bottom ejection, even though the BPS is somewhat heavy.
If you look at any of the newer repeater designs you will find they all have more in common with an 11-48 than an A5 or a 37. If you are not in business to make money, pretty soon you may not be in business at all.
