doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Model 37 or 870?

For hunting? Clays? Which would you choose and why?

37 is a better hunting gun. It's lighter and in a duck blind it drops shells down instead of to the side.

I love my 870 skeet guns, in .410 and 28 gauge.
But for hunting, you can't beat the Model 37, in 16 gauge! :-)

Both great guns but the 870 is accepted more on the range as you can see the open chamber better.

If you are left-handed, the choice becomes crystal clear. Beyond that, the advantages of bottom ejection are mostly theoretical. The King's Ferry guns were hand assembled and fitted, and, while more expensive then the usual 870, they are worth a little more. But, the great thing is, one can buy examples of both, use them, and decide for yourself which suits you better. You aren't going to do that with most of the dedicated clays guns being built today.
If one can't tell from fifty paces that an Ithaca 37's action is open, one belongs at the beach instead of the range.
Best,
Ted

Another vote for the 37. Especially as a hunting gun with the occasional clay shooting.

I used an 870 Express for trap shooting for several years, my only complaint was with the guns high wrist, the top of my thumb would hit the bottom of my shooting glasses on recoil, this happened even with LOP corrected to 15.5"s with a slip on pad. I finally got a pair of Ranger shooting glasses that sat higher on my face with stem that wrapped around the back of my ear and that fixed the problem.
Steve

I am an 870 fan. I like the little heavier weight, that the 870 carries. Besides, how many million sold can't mean that they were all wrong. But, there are are good points about the 37 as well.

Both are great pumps!-Dick

Neither in my opinion, if the barrels aren't juxaposed than it not worth having.