Ithaca model 37 Defense

3

300dakota

Member
Rating - 100%
101   0   0
Location
La Minerve Qc
I own one with a 18 inch barrel and a 26 inch ....
Are they well sought after guns ? I love mine and it has a serial number that starts with DU (ducks unlimited)
Ithaca gun company said that it was probably made for a military order or police and in shortage of actions they used a DU receiver..
So anyone else heard of these beauties ? they are slam capable and a LOT OF FUN!
 
Last edited:
My favorite pump design, designed in part by a guy John Moses Browning...

That can require a bit more in the way of tuning and upkeep than most pumps, and they're a mixed bag quality wise in later years, but boy do they run!
 
Technically "pump-fire" and not "slam-fire" (pet peeve, but don't worry, almost no one uses the term).

Neat guns, almost picked one up at the Feb gun show for $150.00... Kinda thinking I should have now.

My personal opinion? Hang onto it. Supply exceeds demand at the moment for used ones. But sooner or later the tacti-fools will figure out the benefits of pump-fire, and that it's a dead feature (for legal/safety reasons) in new guns, and that will drive the price up eventually. Depends on how patient you want to be about it.
 
A morning at the range my buddy's 870 vs my 37
After 300 rounds he's 870 had a fail to extract so he picked up a mossberg pump and went until 180 and the pump arm snapped my gun went 500 rounds no cleaning and no problem
Now I'll stop typing cause my arm is black n blue !!!
 
enefgee said:
There's something about the look of the Ithaca - they just look right, very aggressive and old school mean.
Click to expand...

Very true.......but I prefer the extended mag tube on a riot gun , somehow a riot shotty does not look quite right without the extra mag capacity.......
 
Had my 1951 M37 dressed with a 1947 Nydar Shotgun sight. Uses no electronics but reflects ambient light to project the sight picture.

Retro-tacticool foolishness indeed.



 
Last edited:
The Ithaca 37 is often criticized for it's inability to be port loaded but it can actually be done easily, though it'll never be as fast as with a side port gun.

I find loading the magazine to be easier than on any other tube mag gun however.
 
Gunexpert007 said:
Very true.......but I prefer the extended mag tube on a riot gun , somehow a riot shotty does not look quite right without the extra mag capacity.......
Click to expand...

I just did a mag extension on my old beat up but much loved Ithaca Featherlight M37 that has a 18 1/2 inch barrel. Getting ready to start 3 gun in the future.

The threads for the Ithaca mag tube match up perfectly with ATI's fluted 870 extension tube.

Had to lose the barrel lug but some reworking / reshaping on an 870 magazine / barrel clamp and some time on the lathe to reduce the OD in the middle of the fluted mag tube so the clamp would fit properly and the shotty now holds 7 + 1.

Fired 60 odd shells so far and no issues.

I might add a barrel lug down the road if the barrel starts to rotate when firing but so far it works perfectly.

Marc
 
sendmorebrains said:
Had my 1951 M37 dressed with a 1947 Nydar Shotgun sight. Uses no electronics but reflects ambient light to project the sight picture.

Retro-tacticool foolishness indeed.
Click to expand...


I hear ya, man....:p


One of my 3 "slam-fire" Ithaca-37's.....:yingyang:


Ithaca37-right_zps3f54ed2b.jpg



Ithaca37-left_zpsbab1bc1a.jpg
 
The "slam" fire "feature" is a bit over rated, but there are other differences with the latest generation as well in that the shorter mag tube guns have fixed barrels and no lug and the lug is different on the long mag versions.
DefenseWood5Shot.jpg

DefenseWood8Shot.jpg
 
I believe disabling the disconnecter is pretty easy though it would kill a warranty and could possibly open you up to legal liability.
 
Can-down said:
The "slam" fire "feature" is a bit over rated, but there are other differences with the latest generation as well in that the shorter mag tube guns have fixed barrels and no lug and the lug is different on the long mag versions.
Click to expand...

True. The Winchester 1897 could pump-fire, and the Americans used it as a "trench broom" in WWI - with 00 Buck is was scary enough that at the end of the War the Germans (of all people) asked for 12 guage shotguns to be banned during the Geneva Convention talks (spoiler alert: it wasn't). The Ithaca 37 was built for sporting use, but the pump-fire "feature" was deliberately left in because, well, everyone saw WWII coming, and military contracts are lucrative.

But the nature of warfare had changed, so it wasn't as useful as it had once been, although it was cherished in close fighting in the jungles during the Pacific Island campaign, and was still a favourite of the Marines in Vietnam.

Personally, if given a choice between a modern build without it, and an older build with it, I'd take one with pump-fire, because, well... Fun. Maybe not useful, but fun.
 
I had a pump fire featherlite M37 not too long ago. It was awesome, but the barrel was just too long for me, I let it go. Ithacas have a special kind of bad ass look to them. Sleek, simple and wicked.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom