Any Ithaca 37 Love in Here?

nowarningshot said:
Somehow I went on a 28 Ga spree. First a Franchi, then a BPS, now a new production M37. Two are for sale.....hint.....not the M37.
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Yeah it's pretty amazing the several small differences on this fine Ithaca shotgun.
Really like the little changes to the receiver! Rounded edges, placement of serial number, different engraving, etc.

quite nice and refreshing I think so myself
 
I had a 12g Featherlite for a while. I gave it to the son of its original owner as I felt he would appreciate it far more then I ever would. Beautiful gun. I think I'd like one in 20g one day fro grousing.
 
Bought my first 37 in 1976 I'm sure it was one of the first made, well worn ,not a hint of blue left and it served me well for 34 years. Around 2010 I upgraded to a 1958 model and I figure that one will keep me going till I'm gone.
 
I was reading about slam fire shotguns about 5 months ago and I had never seen a M37 and was intrigued. I started watching the EE and very few came up and then one finally appeared. The seller said everything was working fine and it was good to go. When it landed on my door step I instantly fell in love with it. The usual stock cracks at the bottom of the pistol grip and all the finish warn off but something with the corncob for end and the smooth frame had me.

I had some snap cap 12 G shells and tried it out. First thing I noticed is that the shells wouldn't stay in the magazine and it jammed up immediately. I looked at the parts diagram and went to YouTube to see if there was a takedown video. After watching a few videos I went to work finding out what was wrong. There was no spring in the shell stop and the slide pin was broken which took some time to get it apart. Picked up the parts at WGP and the spring was easy to replace and the slide pin was a bit more challenging but finally got it. I was amazed at how easy it came apart and I must admit that the love grew stronger.

I also noticed from the many years of use that the trigger group housing had become loose. The design basically has the whole butt stock weight on the trigger group so over the years of slam firing the side metal that fits in to the receiver rails on the trigger assembly will naturally wear from the weight and action of the stock. I detail stripped the trigger group which was easy and gave it a good cleaning. I did notice before hand that the safety was not very positive, sometime it would stick or otherwise not go on or off. When I stripped it apart a small tack came falling out and some how had lodged itself in there.

I had my friend tig weld the rail on the trigger group just enough to build it up so I could file it to fit. Don't need much just about 1/4 inch long and about 10 thou thickness on the stock end of the trigger housing. I did some fine fitting and now it is solid as a rock with no movement at all. I bet you could just take a pointy metal center punch and give it a couple of hits to divot the rail a bit and raise it up to work but I would rather build it up with metal.

Next was the stock. I soaked the end of the stock in acetone for a while to get all the oil out of it and then glued up the two cracks and good to go.

I took it to the range and oh my was it fun to play with. I tried buckshot at 10 yards and some homemade slugs and of course lots of #7 shells. I am smitten with it. It has been a lot of fun fixing this shotgun and now I kind of want a police version to go with it.
 
The only Ithaca DSPS I'd love to own belongs to Yukon12gauge and he won't sell it to me !! :shotgun: Can't say I blame him, I'd hold onto it as well.

h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFqMO5AzsrU
 
I had an old 12ga m37 featherweight for a little while. Slam firing was a lot of fun, but don't expect to hit much lol. I found recoil pretty stiff even with trap loads compared to my wingmasters. It didn't like cheap shells that were not brass base. They would lock that gun up tight. If it had been 16 or 20ga, I would have kept it though.
 
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