Ithaca 37 Project 1/2 (Pic Heavy)

[Grendeb]

Hi,

I thought I'd share my experience with my last little project, some things worked some didn't.
I've been wanting an Ithaca 37 for quite a while and thanks to a fellow CGN I was able to buy one in the condition and price I wanted.

New Ithacas are available but quite pricey, I wanted a model similar to this:

No engraving, corn grip style, short barrel.
What I bought:

The receiver had some rust but overall everything was in good condition for this project.
Videos on youtube are helpful up to a point, nobody shows how to disassemble the trigger group so it was fun to figure that out.

Good time to clean everything else.

Sanding:

Barrel Cut to 18.5":

I wanted to remove the engraving and rusts spots but haven't found much useful mostly people doing engraving or removing by sanding jewels but I was skeptical of removing material on a firearm so I tried filling it with steel weld epoxy...didn't work so I sanded all of that to the minimum which in the end is very minimal.

Engraving and rust spots:

All parts primed and painted with engine enamel, we'll see how it hold up.
Baked in an oven for 1h at 250F.

Reassembly, let the game begins

Final

Now I'll find how to do the wood (sanding or chemical to remove find the various oils) I like the forehand but the buttstock would need some love.

Cheers!

 

[Travis Bickle]

How did you strip the finish on the gun?
Wire wheel and sanding?

I did a similar project on a destroyed 1914 model 12 pump
I rebuilt the bolt and some of the trigger and screws for about 40 bucks from numrich
Cut the dented barrel back to 20" glued and refinished the stock sets.
I used engine block paint on mine too. Flat black with a primer and baked in the oven.
It turned out amazing and the thing will cycle shells for another 100 years.
It was a fun project. I paid 100 bucks for the shotgun and now it's good as new.

 

[Tigg3k]

Looks great!

 

[hollowedpoint]

Oh man great job!

 

[Grendeb]

How did you strip the finish on the gun?
Wire wheel and sanding?

You are correct, I used wire wheel and hand sanding for the hard to get places.
Wire wheel gets the job done so quick and gets into the cracks much better than with a brush or sand paper.
For the receiver I used a grinder with 80 sand paper used for paint and removed slowly until i didn't see the engraving or rust.

Good to heat for your gun!
How is the engine enamel holding up?

 

[Beater]

what is a " corn style grip"?

 

[MiG25]

Corn cob.

 

[bunny]

I have an original 1966 with a 20” full choke, looks a lot like yours, fun guns and lightweight.

 

[Travis Bickle]

You are correct, I used wire wheel and hand sanding for the hard to get places.
Wire wheel gets the job done so quick and gets into the cracks much better than with a brush or sand paper.
For the receiver I used a grinder with 80 sand paper used for paint and removed slowly until i didn't see the engraving or rust.

Good to heat for your gun!
How is the engine enamel holding up?

So far it's invincible
I don't baby my guns either. All of the few I own get rode hard, used frequently and handled rough lol
Its an excellent cheap finish and it looks awesome.
Attention to detail and a lot of brake clean to degrease it was the most important part.

 

[highlander]

My favourite shotgun.

So many good features.

 

[fingers284]

My favourite shotgun.

So many good features.

I always wanted to pin two of those side-by-side ,build a single stock to fit both guns, clamp the barrels together and have the "ultimate door knocker"....

 

[Butcherbill]

Awesome looking, I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled for a beater to refinish as I’ve always loved the older m37’s. I would think a 18.5”-20” barrel would be pretty perfect, would have to get it threaded for chokes as well.

 

[highlander]

There's been a lot moving on the EE lately, and at good prices.

 

[Grendeb]

what is a " corn style grip"?

the forehand style.
You might have noticed variations in forends either on pump or over/under, they all have name; classic, police, corn cob, light contour, M-lok...
Mine is the early designs that came on the firsts pump shotguns as far as I know and wanted this style over the classic upland styles.

 

[gwhysow]

Great refurb on this one! Thanks for the share.

 

[Mucho_Boosto]

How's the paint holding up after a couple months? I jmagine you can't beat it around as much as if it were blued because of potential chips or scratches to the paint.

 

[Grendeb]

How's the paint holding up after a couple months? I jmagine you can't beat it around as much as if it were blued because of potential chips or scratches to the paint.

Sorry for the delay,
Truth be told I haven't shot it yet it's staying in my safe haha I'm considering of selling it to move on another project.

 

[jd99]

"How's the paint holding up after a couple months? I jmagine you can't beat it around as much as if it were blued because of potential chips or scratches to the paint..."

Bought an orphan 37 decades ago for $5, put a stock on it [actually many over the years], cleaned and
painted it and carried it in a zillion 4x4s, used it lots and probably repainted it 5-6 times over the years.
Never let me down until forest service destroyed it. Handiest pump shotgun to use, just like the other
John Browning guns. A Rem 870 is a total clunkster in comparison. Don't sweat the paint.

 

[mbogo3]

Iv'e got an early smoothbore deerslayer12ga that clover leafs Brenneke slugs at 50 yards and a 20ga 28" FC I relax pheasants with.

 

[Brutus]

Iv'e got an early smoothbore deerslayer12ga that clover leafs Brenneke slugs at 50 yards and a 20ga 28" FC I relax pheasants with.

I have a police deerslayer circa 1990. Using one Brenneke I took a wild boar at 70 yards using its iron sights. I have a 20 gauge seen lots of small game hunts and two years ago purchased the newest 28. Superb upland shotguns.