doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Ithaca 37 Repair Guru Needed

Friends:

Help!

A buddy and I recently pooled our nickels and bought a very nice 1954 - made Ithaca Model 37R Deluxe 12g skeet gun, SN 570xxx. Excellent condition, but well used - stunning wood and with a factory installed Polychoke (or so it appears). We gave this as a gift to another friend who is getting started in the "casual" skeet game, who absolutely loves it. After fitting and stock shortening, her first round with it she broke 21 birds.
( I realize for you skeet-o-philes that isnt so hot, but it made her VERY happy).

Yesterday , which was the fourth round to shoot with the new gun, on numerous occasions, the gun was VERY hard to pump after firing. Even when handed to me, instead of the expected very easy smooth Ithaca shuck, it took a real yank to clear the empty. There were also several instances of failure to feed, after the ejection. I dont think this is merely "short stroke". This lady has been shooting skeet with a Model 37 20g for 5 years, and knows the manual of arms. In fact, after about 15 shots with the balky 12g, she swapped it for her other Model 37 20g and finished the round, no problem.

I checked the immediate suspects. The magazine tube isnt rusted or dirty, the follower moves freely, and these failures continued regularly even after a quick field strip and cleaning. The bolt appears to be locking properly, the barrel was firmly screwed in, and the magazine cap fully forward, tensioning the barrel. The ammunition used was Rio Top Trap 28, which is really good stuff. I was shooting the same ammo in my Ithaca Model 37 and had not a breath of a problem ( come to think of it, in 30 years I have never had a problem with that gun). I cannot see anything.

Anyone got any ideas?

I dont want to gut the gun myself, as I simply don't have the playtime these days to examine, diagnose and fix ( even if I have the skill - which I might not). Who is a good smith who knows Ithaca Model 37's inside and out and can really diagnose and fix? I dont want to send it to a "parts replacer" who will just swap stuff out in a "hit or miss" fashion. The lady wants the gun back ASAP, and I told her I would do my best to help her out.

As usual, all comments and suggestions welcomed and appreciated.

Regards

GKT

Check some other usual suspects.

First, try to chamber fired shells from problem gun in your gun. Possibly the problem gun has a chamber irregularity, and the expanded steel hulls are sticking. Try also firing the gun with brass headed ammo, like STS or AA. Rio IS good ammo, but the 'brass' (which is steel) is higher than STS or AA shells and if it's expanding into a rough chamber it will be hard to extract.

Greg,
check the ferule that holds the forend wood on. I had a 12 gauge of about the same vintage as yours and found that the ferule came a little loose and as it has a small arc cut in to allow it to clear the barrel as you move the forend back,if it moves out of alignment it can bind on the barrel.

Ditto what shotgunjones said-a touch of rust in the chamber area can make extraction miserable as well. I have a 16 gauge that would rather not eat anything but brass base hulls.

Pull that stock by removing the through bolt, and remove the little screws that retain the big screws that hold the carrier and trigger group in. A gob of varnish-esque grease planted in the works can gum up the action in a hurry. Soak the trigger group in the solvent of opportunity (what you have around the homestead, usually-mineral spirits, lacquer thinner, acetone, unleaded benzene if you have access to a refinery down there) overnight, with a good toothbrushing (use your old toothbrush) and a blast or two of compressed air. The bolt can take the same treatment. You don't really have to dissasemble either of them.
Time frame should be overnight, money spent, slim to none. Let us know what happens.
Best,
Ted

It's probably the ammo. Some guns don't like the plated steel heads. Had the same problem with my 20 ga. model 37 when using Winchester promo loads. Switched to Remington, which are also steel, and the problem disappeared. Brass shell heads were never a problem. I don't think the steel shrinks back as much as brass after firing. Anyway, try a different brand.

Yea, it's probably the ammo. The 20g 37s seem very sensitive to "European" ammo and while I've only shot Estate, and Remington through my 12g 37s it doesn't surprise me that some soft steel heads would cause a problem.

Other then that Les is the guy to go to.

Tim

Model 37's can be very particular about the ammo fed to them. It's unusual, though, to suddenly run into this problem if you haven't made an ammunition switch.
There are a number of potential culprits, most of which have been mentioned: high brass in tight chambers, binding forend metal, etc.

A man who can surely solve any and all problems is Les at Diamond Gunsmithing (mentioned in the first response). He was imployed by Ithaca and was their main gunsmith for many years and knows these guns intimately.

These are great guns and it should be a simple fix. I shoot a lot of sporting clays and skeet with my four Ithaca 37's. I have experienced extraction and feeding problems (generally with reloads) and have had Les solve them all when he was with Ithaca.

I had a problem that was similar recently it turned out to be that some junk got behind the shell stop and once torn down and cleaned no more problems this does take a good bit of tear down though.

I had the same problem with a pre-54 20 ga. that would not feed from the magazine. A bit of grass crud between the recess for the shell stop and the stop was washed out of the groove and all was well after that. Chopper