Esteemed Colleagues:  

I am thinking about getting one of the pimped out pre-bankruptcy model 37 pumps.

It has the extension tube.
Who has experience with the Ithaca in 1980s vintage, and more importantly, can anyone tell me if the guns tend to be poorly put together, fragile, or otherwise chintzy.  

I am attracted by the fact that the receiver is steel.  Is extraction fairly positive?  I have had strange problems with a Rem 870, and am looking at my other options.  

thank you

Ithaca 37 is a fine shotgun. It is very desireable for the lack of disconnector. That means if you hold the trigger down, it will fire as you pump. There are not as many accessories available for them. The bottom eject is also nice for lefties. Get it if only because you don't have one. Kurt at KKF can even thread the barrel for chokes.

Thanks for the advice.  

Ahhh..you should know that your information on the disconnector is no longer current. Newer Ithacas are not capable of that .
  Ithacas from the 80's were made during a  period of on again, off again company solvency. Every year or two the company was shuttering the doors, laying folks off, etc. I think that quality control suffered as a result.
 If possible, get an older Ithaca 37.  The newer ones are getting better, even though the company is no longer located here. Too much money though, I think.
 Definetely stay away from the Ithaca 37's that were temprarily labeled as the model 87 during one of the companies reincarnations.

tcsd--

thanks for the information-- One question-- is your belief that 1980s QC suffered based on a gut reaction or more concrete experience?  Gut feelings are worth a lot, but I would like to hear of some horror stories if available.

I live in Ithaca; been here my whole life. We had Ithaca's in our patrol cars until this year, when we went with 870's.
 Over the years I've had a lot of chances to handle various 37's and talk to current and former employees of the company. The subject of quality control has come up at times, and what I posted seems to be the general consensus, as well as mine.
I guess that all that being said, it's my personal opinion.

if you're getting a pimped-out Ithaca 37, any of them will do fine, IMO.

If you're getting one to enjoy carrying in the field, and pass on to the next generation, then get a really nice older one.  Like 50's or 60s production.

Thanks to all for the replies.  Tcsd,  as a former NYC lad, I don't like NYS's gun laws, but Ithaca is one of those places that I'd love to live in sometime.  You have one nice town. Carl Sagan's house wouldn't be a bad pad!    

And thanks for the clarifications.  Variable QC definitely sounds like something to consider.

Was the switch to 870s primarily due to availability or some kind of performance issue?  

Sorry for the "20 questions."   :)

Yeah
Sagans place is nice. I worked on it when I was in high school; it had been the clubhouse for a Cornell University Egyptian club or frat of some sort and sat just a  few yards from the cliff face. An ex-Cornell prof bought the place and really did a nice job fixing it up(that was the job I was on).
Shortly thereafter Sagan bought it.
I was sorry to see that it was sold and the addition torn off. Now it has a high privacy fence around it, which really ruins the view as you walk through the area.

The Ithacas had been refurbed a few years ago; about half had been chopped down , parkerized and folding stocks put on them.
 The firearms staff felt that they had outlived their useful life. I  personally disagree, since they were older late 50's, early 60's guns of good quality. They were carried more than used, like any police-issued weapon. They were sold off for a fraction of their actual worth in the end.
 
  I think the chief firearms guy at the time this decision was being made (actually a few years ago; the Ithacas were in storage for a while while the 870's were being considered)was not a particularly well-informed gun guy, so to speak. He just wanted new toys. I was irritated that when they DID go with the 870's , they went for a plain  wood stocked model, no extended tube, no synthetic stock, etc. At least they got rifle sights.

  The same guy opted for plain jane civilian , blued Mini 14 with 5 round mags  when it came time to order patrol rifles, so that tells you his level of expertise. In comparison, plain Bushmaster Dissipators were only around $75 bucks more at that time than a Government model Mini, which is what he SHOULD have been comparing  the AR's when he comparison priced  various rifles.

 Now I'm part of a vastly different range committee of what I believe will be some really dedicated shooters. The firearms program is under-going more changes than it's had since I've been with the dept (13 years now).We are supported by an exteremely pro-gun range instructor qualified Undersheriff, and have 2 competitive and one serious rifle shooter out of 4 range instructors
 So, things are looking up here.
Sorry to babble. If you ever get up this way, drop a line and we'll burn some gunpowder.

Had no idea whatsoever that the 37 was another of Browning's achievements.  I don't have many people I idolize, but Browning is at the front of that pack.  Browning must have had access to alien technology or something.  Everything I hear about him makes me scratch my head in wonder.  

Thanks for the invite.  Let me get set up here in OR at a range and you're welcome to shoot anything I own.  

I have a soft spot for Ithaca 37's and have several. One Deerslayer modelwas bought as a mostly carried and woods worn specimen. All the action parts were smooth but tight. This is a smoothbore riflesighted version and it will keep 3 shots at 1.5-2"'@ 75 yds. all day long.
I had the barrel chopped to 19" (with a new rifle sight put in place, added a peep sight for back-up, mounted a 1 1/2x long eye relief Leopold for primary use, had the screw in choke option put in,  spray painted the entire gun, wood and all, a really ugly camouflage and joyfully carry it every year. When deer hunting I use a really open choke and my groups are still great. During turkey season a full choke.
I'm still going to own my "ugly stick" when I die. Always works, always hits what I aim at when I don't screw up,it can't get any uglier so I don't have to baby it and I've had it so long it feels like part of me. Buy one and enjoy.

Rain, Big Bear, TCSD, Radio44, Gun_Fan

Thanks for the help.  Am now proud possessor of Model 37 skeet serial number 15XXX.  As it was manufactured in 1939, it has a certain interesting quality:  no disconnect.  

Unfortunately, the appearance is blemmed by one of those @#$% Cutts compensators, but other than that, it's top notch. Got to figure out if I can fire steel through an early ithaca barrel/Cutts combination.
Could cut back the barrel, but will leave as is for now.  Nice slick action, and seems pretty tight.

BTW, Big_bear, there is a tell-tale crack at the stock where it meets the rear of the receiver ;).  Maybe a Choate is in the future, but the walnut sure looks nice.  


Thanks again.

i have two ithaca mod 37 one in 12 and one in 16  both gun are smooth as silk and very plesant
to shoot the 12 ga was made in the 50's and the 16 was made in the 70's i've no regrets and my wife enjoys the 16 for clays.

[img]http://www.finalfront.com/hosting/users/geepgeep/ithaca.JPG[/img]

Here is my M37 Featherlight 12ga. Yes, the barrel is short. It was cut down to 13.5" and is on a Form 1 Tax paid. The gun was manufactured in 1968-1969 time frame. Parked and has some awesome wood. Also incorporates the "slam-fire" feature...just need to be careful about shooting my fingers off!
I wouldn't trade or sell it for anything!

I have shot the model 37 waterfoul hunting years ago and never had a problem with it but sold it after a good friend of mine blew his up. it was back in the early 80's and I do believe the gun was know to be capible of pre-fireing because of the feature you guys like and his went off before the round was all the way into the chamber. the round went off and it caused the round in the tube to also fire blowing the bottom of the shotgun apart.
like I said mine gave me years of trouble free service but bought a remington after that.
the only shotgun I would not recomend is when weatherby was building their auto loaders in the late 80's. every time you shot a max load in it as like for geese. it would blow out a pressure seal and you would have to send it back. they did not mention it when buying it and selling them at that time in my gun shop it was the last one I sold to anyone.

The rumor of "pre" and "post" bankruptcy Model 37s is just that--a rumor. I've had several 37s ranging from 1950s-vintage up to 1980s-vintage guns. The only thing that I see as different is the older guns featured the "knuckle cut" receiver which is now being offered on the Model 37 Classic. Everything else is more or less the same, with no appreciable loss in quality. I currently have and will not part with a Model 37 Ultra Featherlight in 12 gauge. Talk about a sweet handling scattergun for the field! With a 25 inch barrel and weighing in at 5 1/2 pounds, it has been my favorite shotgun for several years now (its carton bears a January 1986 ship date). It is not entirely a J.M. Browing design. Its original incarnation was as the Model 1908 Remington, an Irwin Pedersen design. Later, John Moses refined it into what became the Model 1910 Remington (12 gauge only) and further on down the road, it was introduced in a 20 gauge version as the Model 1917. Later still, the design was refined into the Model 29 Remington. Remington decided it was in their best interests to come up with an in-house design and replaced these guns with their own Model 31. Ithaca acquired the patent rights during the depression in order to supplement their line of high-dollar side-by-sides and simplified the design to take advantage of more stamped parts and the rest is history. As far as the "no steel shot" comments, a pre-steel shot gun can have its barrel modified by cutting the forcing cone and choke to gentler angles so as to be more compatible with the less-than-malleable steel shot or a different barrel can be used (fitting required if the serial is below 855,000). At any rate, don't buy in to that "pre" and "post" bankruptcy nonsense.