They were available for a few years after they were discontinued to clean up parts-roughly 40,000 were built. I was told by a somewhat reliable source that they turned up new at dealers into the early 1940s, almost a decade after being officially discontinued. If you are buying a model 17, make sure you check to see if the gun will drop it's hammer when holding the trigger back while completing the forward movement of the action. The gun is designed NOT to, but, dirt (mostly) and wear do take their toll. A few I've seen will drop the hammer AFTER the trigger is released. Plan on a deep down strip and clean if the gun is discovered to be in this condition. Parts are an issue, and don't plan on borrowing them from Ithaca 37s-most of them are just different enough not to work on the 17. Chris Hyde at Vintage sporting has a spare plain 26" modified barrel on hand, he wants $225 or so, not bad if you need one.
All this talk of 17s might make me drag my old soldier out. I have a two barrel set also ('sort of) with a 21" Stan Baker choked original and a 26" modified bought off of Ebay, or, someplace. My first repeater, and one that was too good to let get away, thankfully. I should check the headspace on the spare barrel I bought, but, haven't had time to use the gun with it installed, anyway.
Good luck, and let us know how it goes.
Best,
Ted
