doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Ithaca 37 question

A 1980 catalog shows 26" barrels in imp cyl only. As the old ads show, skeet guns with short barrels could be ordered in any choke, but I suspect that would be a long search. People buying field grade pump guns were happy with standard barrel and choke combinations, or likely didn't know any better or care. I suspect the only way to get what you want is to cut a longer barrel and add choke tubes.

Unlike Ted, I've seen a bunch of 37's here in PA, but I don't recall seeing any short barrels. Probably a regional thing.

I used to have 4 37s in the safe. Down to one.

Every single one of them came to me from out east.

Best,
Ted

Yep. The only 26” bbl 12 gauge 37’s I’ve come across have been choked IC.

I have a Remington catalog from 1976 and the Wingmaster (non-magnum model) was available with IC choke only in a 26" barrel. Modified was only available in 28". Full choke was available in 28" and 30" barrels. I suppose it streamlined production prior to the advent of choke tubes. It was similar with doubles, too. 26" barrels came IC/Mod, and 28" and longer were Mod/Full. They had less imagination back then.

If I was looking for a model 37 right now, it would not be a 1980 vintage gun.

Best,
Ted

I think it's like Tim says: It's a regional thing. I usually see old Model 37s (usually 12 gauges) at shows all the time. But no one buys them if they don't have a rib. So you'll see them on the same table at the next month's show. If they do have a rib, they are beat up so bad they aren't worth the $1200.00 price the guy is asking. This is trap shooting country around here. Vandalia. Grand American. No one would dream of buying a gun without a rib. For anything............The Mossbergs are common, but only because they are cheap and it doesn't matter if they get beat to death in the field. That's the only reason people would buy one around here. I remember a guy coming up to me at work years ago and saying he got a great deal on a Mossberg 500. Only $50,00. I said, "That's not bad. The guy only had to give you $50.00 to take his Mossberg." When you're packing up to go home after a hunt, you can drive off and leave your Mossberg leaning against a tree- remember it a month later- go back and get it after it has rained and snowed and it won't matter one bit. It's a Mossberg!! Ha-ha!!......The same thing goes for the 870. It's cheaper than the Model 12. You can barely use one for trap shooting (if it has a rib) and you can beat one up in the field. No one is interested in the Model 12s anymore because everyone has one and the ones that are left aren't original or else the price is jacked up too high, so everyone passes. The old Model 37s are gone because people (like me) have stuck them away for collector's items. Or (around here) because they love their Model 12s so much, owning a Model 37 would be a sin in this part of the country. REGIONAL THING, as Tim says. An important two words. And it goes on and on...........:)

The M37 is my favorite pump. This past April I thinned the herd and disposed of four 20 ga. including a rare ribbed model and a first year 20 ga. with handchased metal work. The cheapskates at Ithaca had a faulty first run of receivers wherein the roll pressed engraving was incomplete so they dragged in their engravers to finish the job in fine fashion resulting in more detail. I kept a field grade 16 from the 1950s and a 20 ga. with two barrels from the mid 50s. I also have a 28 ga. that was made in Upper Sandusky about 15 years ago. It's my favorite dove gun. It is ribbed. I would have preferred one without the rib but that option wasn't available. The rib stanchions are machined from the same billet the barrel is made. The rib is easily removed but the stanchions remain. I also had a 16 ga. 37R from 1949. It was a fine dove gun with a 28" barrel. The solid ribs on the M37 were soldered on the barrel. The predecessor to the M37, the Remington 17, only made in 20 ga., offered a solid rib as well, but it was integral to the barrel being shaped from the same billet. The rib on my Ithacas added about 4 oz. to the guns. The production of newer guns limps along and it wouldn't shock me to hear of almost 90 years production under the Ithaca banner end. The guns are more costly than black guns and interested boomers will run out of years before running out of money. There's not much demand among the young for expensive pumps. Gil

I just looked up the serial number of my Model 37R. It was built in 1948. They really made some beautiful guns back then.

I have several and one is a16 gauge trap grade and one is 16 gauge skeet grade and both have the wide rib barrels. Bobby