Red Letter Winchester 37 Steelbilt

M

Mike Webb

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
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Location
Southern N.B.
Recently picked up an old 37 Steelbilt, not to be confused with the 37 of the 70's and 80's which was basically a Cooey. It has the WINCHESTER trademark on the bottom of the receiver in red enamel which apparently was applied until around WW2. Those made after collectors call bluebellies as they ditched the red enamel trademark. Upon a little research I have dated the gun to first year of production by its features, the 37 were unserialled. It has the tiny hammer and the "pigtail" lever for opening the action apparently the lever was dropped in 1937 and replaced with a more conventional lever.
Hard gun to find in Canada and mine is in remarkable condition for a working gun pushing 90 years old. Anyone else own one? Will post pics in AM for anyone interested.
 
I have two first year M37"s with one LNIB. They are a well built robust shotgun. The title "Steelbuilt" was applied to the script to indicate the shotgun was made using all steel components rather than pot metal, aluminum or plastic the competition was using.

As well as the pigtail opening lever and the narrow hammer the first year guns choke marking was "FULL" rather than "CHOKE" marked on the subsequent years.
 
I had one for a while. Sold it to a guy who thought it was worth more than I did. Bought a AyA cosmos. Much nicer gun in my mind but I'm a sucker for true case color hardening and great patterns
 
I had all the chamberings except the 28ga, and a couple narrow hammers. I found them all to be good quality and never had a problem with one. Personally though I could not shoot one, I found the drop at comb and heel to be way to high for me personally.
 
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