school me on ithica model 37s shotguns!

Been wanting a pump action shotgun for a number of years for home defense.....and well cause I want one. Decided I wanted a traditional style, short barrel with wood furniture. Few days ago found one of these in a pawn shop for 325$. Dont know about the price being good or not, but its got age to it. Might be 40-50 years old and looks good. But no way of know its real age. Like the fact that they were used by the military for trench gun purposes.

So tell me what you know. What kinda prices I should be looking at. How I can tell the age, etc.

Some porn pics first:

looks like this one, but patina of age.


would like one with a bayonet lug....how cool is that!

If you can pick up a Model 37 for $325 in good shape, grab it. These are great pump guns. Light, smooth, dependable, all steel. IMHO, the best pump gun yet.

Bottom eject is good for lefties, not THOSE kind of Lefties....
Trigger held depressed is good for slam firing.

Heat shield & bayonet are probably pretty rare, cool!
Last Trench gun I couldn't get was $550.

Got an OK condition 37 marked "Washington State Patrol" for $250.

My dad thought so. He liked his Ithaca enough to buy me an Ithaca .410 for Christmas when he got home from that tour in 1968. Best Christmas present ever for a kid.

I have an Ithaca Featherlite model. Really nice piece and has never let me down. It's a little fancier than the op's, but basically the same. It's light and easy to swing. You do have to have it machined to put a choke on it though. Mine is the 28" barrel, meaning it's too short for trap and too long for skeet. Since I don't hunt, not sure how it does in the field, but the lightweight I'd imagine is a plus on a long day in the bush.

No interest in hunting for me and no interest in doing anything other than shooting 2 liter bottles and cans and looking pretty cool.

Capt. Robert Kermen, USNR, Brown Water Navy in Vietnam, with Ithaca 37 used to destroy mines.

Keep in mind the "slam shooting" maybe fun, if you expect it.
But these guns have had more AD credited to this model than any other shotgun.

Not putting down the gun at all but, in the hands of someone wanting to "look cool" this is a real problem that will happen.

Not sure but I believe they are chmbered for 2 3/4''.

The price sounds very fair if in good condition. Just get your finger OFF the triger before you pump another round in the chamber.

So are they all "autotriggered" (thats what I have always heard it called).

Dont know shit about shotguns, whats the difference in the shells? 12 ga aint 12 ga? Plenty of time with everything from muzzle loader flintlocks to ar15s and 1911s. Did play paintball at a time when I had a pump action with autotrigger and got used to working it.

any way to tell the age of it?

Looked them up in my older (much older) version of flaydermans and couldnt find a listing....

$325? Jump at it. Heck, chew him down to $275 and make sure he tosses in a box of shells!

I have Granpa's '37 in 20 gauge. He had fired it not knowing the barrel was plugged with mud:eek1. Yup, blew the muzzle off. Fitted a "Dial-a-Choke" on it (this was 40 years ago). Run the full choke shooting skeet in the backyard, tight patterns out past 50 yards.

I am a crappy skeet shooter, but this thing makes we look like a hero. Love the bottom eject, but this one has the safety set for a lefty. I'd like to convert it but havent yet, just have to keep reminding myself ...bassackwards safety button, and always leave the pump open and chamber empty. I'd also like to get a rifled barrel and shoot some slugs.

Nothing like a piece of history kicking you in the shoulder!

I had one as a kid but it was a featherweight 20, as I got older I couldn't swing it fast enough. Never had any problems with it,and sold it to a buddy. Check your pricing on Gunbroker.com it should show you everything you want to know.

did check out gunbroker, prices seem all over the place. Sometimes 250 sometimes 750. Think I will come by some time this week and see what we can come up with.

I have two DSPS models, both with short barrels and parkerized. My favorite fighting shotgun, bar none. This is primarily because I am right-handed but left-eyed so I shoot longarms left-handed. I look for longarms that don't eject right into my face.

Great gun. Bought mine in 1974 when I turned 12. $125 at the time. Still use it today to hunt rabbits. Has been flawless all these years. Been a lot of shells run through it to. Can't shoot worth crap, but I have fun stomping the weeds. Glad I don't have to hunt to put food on the table. Although, the weight loss might do me some good.

During a ride a couple of years back I stopped in Ithica to see the factory. Closed.

J

My Ithica 20 ga with full choke and slug barrells I love it I've had it for over 30 years. One fun thing to do when you are just wasting shells is to eject a spent hull in the air gun upside down then pull up and shoot it. it will toss them pretty high. I've killed about every kind of wild game in my state with this thing.

As to the "autotrigger" issue, as a general rule the early guns and the M&P guns don't have disconnectors. As long as you are aware of it and act accordingly, practicing the standard rules of safe gun handling there is no problem.

Older guns are 2 3/4, but new production is 3".

Some things to note,

Great guns, but not the most economical ones, love the design, but if you just want something to bang around, there are cheaper guns that work, Mossburg et al.

The barrels on these shotguns are not necessarily interchangable, depending on age, some are "soldered" or permanately attached to recievers, and guns made before a certain date will not allow you to have additional barrels fitted, an issue if you "like me" have one that has an odd duck barrel that does not do all you want it to do. (in my case short with a cutts compensator).

If you just want to screw around with a shotgun an 870 is much more universal and available.

I personally prefer 2 3/4" chambered 12 gauges IN PUMP ACTION SHOTGUNS - for the simple reason that when you pump the slide, the pump has to travel a distance sufficient to "clear" the shotshell, in this case this distance must be atleast longer than the fired length of the hull, and it increases in shotguns manufactured to fire longer hulls, for instance I am just over 6' tall, with corresponding wingspan an Length of Pull, but 3.5" 12 gauge guns I feel are too long between trigger and foregrip, perhaps fine for shooting ducks and geese, but I cannot use them otherwise.

A 2.75" chambered gun however I can clear the shells much more easily, and indeed, this means the foregrip fits much more comfortably. This is less of an issue in autoloaders, and a non-issue in breakaction or single shot shotguns.

As to the autotrigger, my mother almost shot my father years ago due to this phenomenon. Keep the damned finger off the damned trigger, and always point the gun in a safe direction. Guns 101.

12ga is 12 ga, but there are 2 3/4", 3", 3.5" shells.

This may be helpfull.

http://www.ithacaowners.com/index.php