Winchester model 37

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HARDWARE

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I'm more excited about this one than I have a right to be. Somebody once said that shooting single shots is a lot more fun when you don't have to.

I bought this partly due to nostalgia, a 20 gauge model 37 being my first experience with a firearm.

This one is in .410 which brings a premium these days.

They weren't serialized but thru production changes we can narrow it down to somewhere between 1948 when they stopped stamping the underside of the receiver with "Winchester" and 1957 when the round Winchester logo was changed to an elongated "Winchester" spanning the butt between the screws.















With a 1952 model 12 in 20 gauge

 
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My dad had a 37 in .410. I have no idea as to where he got it, but we had no money so it was a gift or real cheap. I begged him to get a 12, but he said the .410 was just as good. What he was saying, was "We can't afford it." I had a great uncle who was a hunter and one year he brought me a single shot 20 to use. I may have killed my first pheasants with that gun. When I was 16 I got a Winchester 1200 in 12 as a Christmas present. I got it prior to pheasant season however. The 37 and the 1200 are friends today and live in my safe.
 
Years ago a friend borrowed a 16 ga M37 to go pheasant hunting with me.

He had very little gun handling experience.

He couldn't get the thing cocked in time to get a shot.

Then he was left with the task of lowering the hammer.

On one such occasion, the hammer slipped from under his thumb, gun discharged and the hammer took a chunk out of his thumb.

He was done for the trip.
 
Looks just like mine. My .410 Mod 37 has the Red Letter Winchester marking. It was also my first gun. Doesn't the quality of the walnut in these old Winchesters just blow you away. For an inexpensive gun, you would now have to pay custom prices to get wood as nice.
 
It hasn't been that long ago that most every kid started out with
a single barrel shotgun. The 37 was the top of the line. In my
area 12& 16s are fairly easy to come by. 20s a little more scarce
and 410s are like gold. The mentality was all gauges cost the same, so most of them are 12g, more for the money I guess. Still
a brisk trade in them for collectors. My 1st shotgun was a 94
Stevens 12, I never thought it a disadvantage to be a single shot.
Nobody makes a nice single shot these days. They can make the
cheap, clap trap pumps for less than a good SS. Kids now turn up
their nose at a single shot. The 37s in 410 usually get passed down through families and don't come up for sale very often. When one ends up in LGS, it don't last a day.
 
HARDWARE said:
I'm more excited about this one than I have a right to be. Somebody once said that shooting single shots is a lot more fun when you don't have to.
Click to expand...

Once in awhile with people I know I will use a single barrel to shoot skeet and sporting clays. Having to shoot all singles slows things down but it amuses a senile old man. Larry
 
Beautiful gun!
I too just picked one up identical to yours this past Tuesday. My intentions are to give to to my 6 year old son in a few years when he's older. They truly are a piece of American quality that's nonexistent in today's manufacturing.
Thanks for sharing!
 
Thanks everyone. I think I may have found my new collecting niche.

Also, thanks for merging the photos s&wchad. The reason I had posted them separately is that I was having a problem with my text and pictures disappearing while going back and forth to photobucket and having to repeatedly start over.
 
Drm50 said:
It hasn't been that long ago that most every kid started out with
a single barrel shotgun. The 37 was the top of the line. In my
area 12& 16s are fairly easy to come by. 20s a little more scarce
and 410s are like gold. The mentality was all gauges cost the same, so most of them are 12g, more for the money I guess. Still
a brisk trade in them for collectors. My 1st shotgun was a 94
Stevens 12, I never thought it a disadvantage to be a single shot.
Nobody makes a nice single shot these days. They can make the
cheap, clap trap pumps for less than a good SS. Kids now turn up
their nose at a single shot. The 37s in 410 usually get passed down through families and don't come up for sale very often. When one ends up in LGS, it don't last a day.
Click to expand...

Yep, single barrels were the best for neophyte hunters like myself in the beginnings of the second half of the last century. We never felt under anything when armed with the old single shots. I must say that I've seen a few 37As in the past couple of years, but they're not the same as a 37. The 37 is primo.....

I recently found an old Stevens Model 94 in .410, and it looks to be near new. I was thinking about it this afternoon over a glass of scotch, and decided to go back after Christmas and if its still there, and if so, I'll spring for it. This old Stevens has beautiful case hardening on the receiver and forearm spacer. It's really a nice squirrel and rabbit getter. The guns made around mid-century were absolutely the best in craftsmanship and materials. One can never go wrong with anything from that era.......
 
When I was in college, I walked into a pawn shop and found a Model 37 and a Model 20, both in .410. They wanted $35 apiece but I made a deal for both for $60 and ran across the receipt the other day. The Model 20 and 37 have the hammer and barrel break lever in exactly the opposite position.
 
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