SavageT. I know what you are saying. On my tour I was surprised at the age of their machines, most older than me.There are a LOT of steps in simply milling,drilling and profiling that 6 pound block into a receiver and especially on non computerized equipment. I beleive they told me their barrels were made for them in France, so they outsourced some things I guess. I too think they should have considered cast receivers, Ruger sure has made it obvious that it works.. I also think that Ruger cast a lot of stuff for other companies,not just for their needs. I am sure there are other companies that could provide this service and cut down on all tha machine work that goes into the gun. I personally could get by without the roll "engraving" they put on the receiver. It looks ok at best and is just another step in the process. Did they show you the twin action arm model 37 they were playing with. I guess people wanted them to have 2 arms like the Rem 870. Ithaca's opinion was they could do it easy enough but it didn't give them anything they weren't getting with the one arm. Except a forearm that was more stable. Anyhow, I hope they in fact reorganize, but I have the feeling we may have bought our last New Ithaca..