Winchester Model 37

[richhodg66]

Seems like whenever I see these, they are priced crazy high. Saw one today in a shop priced about like the run of the mill Stevens and H&R single barrels. Decent working shape, not pristine.

What are these going for and why? I'm tempted to go get it and try to turn a buck on it. Seems like a good sigle shot, but can't see where it's any better than an old Stevens or Topper. The extractor sure seems thin on these, I guess they work OK.

[country gent]

If memory serves me these were a forged reciever

[richhodg66]

This one had "Steelbuilt" on it. Are those different from other 37s?

[Hardcast416taylor]

As I recall there were 2 different runs of the model 37, a pre 64 and a post 64.Robert

[Frank46]

I've heard that some folks prefer to use these receivers for converting from shotguns to firing low pressure handgun rounds. mainly because these are steel and the firing pin can easily be bushed to a smaller diameter.Frank

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I've got a couple of them--they all say "steelbuilt". They are typically good Winchester quality, fit of wood to metal, etc. If you turn the gun upside down and it says "WINCHESTER" on the bottom of the receiver it is what is called a "red letter gun". The letters were originally filled with red paint, although that tends to wear off after a lot of years. They got more attention to detail in assembly than did the later guns, better metal polishing, etc. The later guns did not say Winchester on the bottom of the receiver--just smooth. Red letter guns can be worth double what an unmarked gun is worth. When the Mod. 37 was discontinued it was replaced by the 37A which is not as nice a gun and is worth less than the less expensive Mod. 37.