Ithaca 37 barrel

[richhodg66]

I have both a 16 and a 20 Ithaca. The 16 I can't tell is any different sized from 12 gauge guns, but the 20 is definitely on a much smaller receiver.

[rking22]

What vintage is our 16? I have not been able to get hands on an older 16 but am told they were smaller than the 12 ga. My 20ga M37 was more trim than the 12ga but the Rem 17 is even more so. oo many guns , not enough money to try them all !

[W.R.Buchanan]

Here's some little known info on your gun. John Browning designed the original to be a duck gun. It ejects spent rounds strait down into the boat. I just found this out recently from a guy who know shotguns pretty well.

Also if you must do internal chokes on your gun do yourself a favor and send it to Briley. They do hundreds of guns every month and are considered in the shot gun world to be the best and surprisingly the most reasonable as well. http://www.briley.com/ Briley chokes are considered the best.

Also as far as keeping the original finish on your gun for value reasons I have to disagree. Maintaining a finish on a gun is part of maintenance , and it doesn't detract from the value of the gun unless the gun has some significant historical value and even then sometimes it doesn't matter. You wouldn't refinish a Colt Revolver that was owned by US Grant! But it is not a problem refinishing a common shotgun owned by your dad.

In the case of High End British Shotguns and Rifles made by the top makers in the world it is not uncommon for these guns to be returned to the maker for refurbishing to original or upgraded condition as needed. It doesn't detract from the value one iota! In fact diminished condition does detract from the value and anything less than virtually new condition is considered a major negative.

I just had my 1940 Ithaca M37 refurbished by Ithaca last year. It cost about $300 to do it which included complete disassembly and rebluing and/or replacement of all defective parts including my 6 Cutts Compensator Choke Tubes. I also redid the wood to English style with wood I purchased in 1976 but never finished.

I now have a brand new Ithaca Model 37 that was made in 1940! The gun is absolutely beautiful!

it's value is about $1500 right now as it is perfect. It is also nice and broken in, and runs so smooth it is pathetic.

Randy

[ksfowler166]

I have a 1953 16ga M37 with a 28" full barrel. What I did was to reload for the gauge. That way I could make loads not commercially available in the 16ga ie #9 loads for skeet as well as the immediate problem of the tight choke with spreader loads. Took the full barrel down to I.C. maybe more open.

[Ithaca Gunner]

Why not do a classic Poly Choke with the original barrel. It'll look right for the period and give you what you want.

[justashooter]

the nice thing about the Remington 17 is that it is a 20 ga size reciever. The M37 was up sized somewhat.

same deal with early winchester model 12 in 16 gauge on the 20 gauge receiver. many had factory 26" barrels, making a very handy gun with near full power loads.

[waksupi]

Somewhere around here, I have a barrel for a M37 I would part with. I would have to dig it out to tell you what it is. If any one is interested, PM me, and I will check to see what it is when I get back home. I know it is a 12 gauge.

[rking22]

same deal with early winchester model 12 in 16 gauge on the 20 gauge receiver. many had factory 26" barrels, making a very handy gun with near full power loads.

So true, I have a first year 16ga M12, very sweel little hunting gun. It's a 26 mod and still chambered for the 2 9/16 loads. It shoots Rem gun club OK, but I still trim them back before reloading. Anything else, factory 2 3/4, will not clear the ejection port, makes it a really slow single shot

Waksupi, better watch having extra barrels around, that's how I wound up with the M17. Had a nice barrel I figured I neededd a gun to go with it !