doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 1940 Ithaca 37R before and after restoration

This gun could not be safely shot before fixing the stock. A gun that can't be safely shot is worth much less than zero. It's a liability.

I would have left it alone if it was unique. But it wasn't. There are quite a few pre war Ithaca's out there for the historians.

One the one hand I could have had a first year 37R which looked like it had been someone's favorite field gun for 70 years and which was unsafe to shoot. On the other hand I could invest in a brand new out of the box first year 37R which will be ready for another refinishing in about another half century.

Choice was simple and gun looks great.
Hope to be able to tell the Forum how it shoots soon.

Lou

37R debuted in 1940

The opposing attitudes toword restoration remind me of a discussion between Russ Ruppell and a true believer. It seemed Russ had in some way altered whatever brand the True Believer cherished and had been taken to task for it. Russ's response was classic Ruppell. He explained that if the collector had such a gun in untouched condition, he should be happy. His value had just gone up. There was now one less untouched sample for him to compete with. I think we all miss Russ.

A beautiful restoration of a gun made to shoot. Congratulations.

I guess the collector type can always make a cash offer to the restorer type to get the restorer's gun back into the hands of the collector. I have noticed that the restorer type is rarely willing to turn loose of the gun he wishes to restore, even if he is taking a financial bath on the project. Oh well. We collectors can always raise the offer.

The Early American Industries Assoc. and their magazine were for a time dominated by pro conservators and curators of historic collections dismayed by the results of their own choices in restoration and preservation. Put the wrong space-age metal pinch dogs in the stones of the Parthenon and get deterioration in 20 yrs. equivalent to that of the previous 2000. "Do no harm," reversability of treatment, non-replacement of parts was the mantra of a generation. I once saw the missing area of a sleigh runner "amalgamated" with epoxy dough because the treatment was theoretically reversible. Once modelled with various clay working tools and glazed/painted, it didn't have even the "formal" honesty of substitutions of Perspex feet, moulds, finials on irreplacable examples of historic furniture.

On the flip side, a piece of junk in the presence of a hygrothermograph is still a piece of junk. When "Do no harm" means "Do nothing", intimacy with the artifact is stopped in its tracks. Undoubtedly the use of materials and treatments consonant with the original is desirable in restoration and we all applaud the artisan/scholars who do this in the doublegun field. Those who proscribe corrective structural and cosmetic procedures should be sure to present their bona fides as competent/incompetent restorers alongside their superior attainments as evaluators of photographs.


jack

I have added the following pictures to the first post.

The crack at the head went all the way through to the other side.
If collectable means letting a gun gather dust because it cannot be shot safely, I vote restoration.

I agree with you! Good going and now having a nice gun to use and look at.

me thinks prices for field grade ithaca pumps are going nowhere fast. as ole' joe said winchester is for collecting and ithaca is for shootin'.

Sounds like hog heaven: I can afford to purchase and make like new the guns I want to shoot and I can't afford the guns that would merely take up valuable space in my gun safe!

Lou

I would have done the same restoration as Bushmaster. It is now an attractive gun that anyone would enjoy owning and using.

I've had several "rough" SxS's restored, and have been pleased with each one. It is more fun to hunt (or shoot clays)with a nicer shotgun.

gold40