Ithaca 37

[jframe]

Couldn't pass this up, even though I've got an older one that is a keepsake from a departed friend. I think this one was made in 1975, and appears to have the 20" barrel, best I can tell. The wood has some really pretty grains and figure, and I'm such a sucker for these slam fire Featherlites. Who else likes these guns? I find the setup to be MUCH better than an 870 for a lefty like me.

 

[armorer951]

I have a similar old 20ga heirloom handed down from my dad and made in 1940. I'm not sure why I like this Browning design, but I've always shot it well. No sweat carrying it around all day either! Hope you enjoy it.
Found the serial number stats here:
http://www.ithacagun.com/pdfs/serialnumbers.pdf

 

[paco04]

Congrats on a good one there. Nice furniture.

 

[Nedroe]

Seems Like.......

I'm always trippin' over one around here. I actually added 2 more since this was taken, one just last Saturday.

No finer shotgun ever made.


Ned

 

[tinman931]

Beautiful gun. Enjoy it!

 

[Rangerpat]

"Who else likes these guns?"

I do, I do! The very first firearm I ever purchased was a 12 ga. Ithaca Model 37 "Deerslayer" (20" slug gun barrel) purchased in 1974.

I still own it but use it more as a home security gun than deer hunting shotgun. I love the sound it makes when feeding a shell into the chamber.

 

[30-30remchester]

I have had a few over the years with them working fine. I could not get over that ugly roll engraving on the receivers.

 

[Lee Barner]

Mark, I just checked the AL laws and those aren't legal there. i'll meet you Saturday and take it off your hands. lee

 

[shouldazagged]

My late brother's daughter has his old 12 gauge 26" IC M37. It belonged to my brother's father-in-law for years before he passed it along to Gerry, who was a southpaw shooter. It still works very well indeed, my niece says.

I can't even hunt anymore, and I'd dearly love to have a shooter grade in 20 gauge. Don't mind the roll engraving at all.

 

[tom turner]

I'm a lefty too, and couldn't pass up the opportunity to buy this one with a LEFT-HANDED SAFETY!

 

[bigjohn4]

I just picked a 5 shot up on Saturday, it's from 1981 about 10k serial numbers after my 8 shot.

 

[don5]

Thanks for posting the serial numbers armorer951.

I bought a very used 16 ga pump 37 from a guy I used to work with. He told me that he had heard it was made in the 1950's due to the low serial number. I just confirmed it using your list. The gun was made in 1952. It has a big hunk of wood taken out at the top of the stock behind the receiver. I have never shot it. I didn't pay a lot and just added it because I didn't have a 16 ga.

 

[tops]

I liked the M37 because it wasn't as heavy as other pump guns. I never saw any real use for the gun not having a disconnector but it was fun to play with. Larry

 

[federali]

Deerslayer II

I have the Ithaca Deerslayer II which can put saboted slugs insides 3" on the 100-yard bench. Ithacas are light and slim and a pleasure to carry. Although I no longer hunt, I have no plans to part with my Ithaca.

 

[mr-mom]

I have Model 37s in 12, 20, 16 ga. Yah, I likes 'em. The 16 ga. I've had since my college days, a long time ago.
Dave
SWCA #2778

 

[MOONDAWG]

Congrats on you new Ithaca M-37 featherweight.

From 1968-78 my LE department used them before switching to Remington 870's, then to Mossberg M-500's in the mid 1990's.

Like the old Timex watch commericals used to say, those old Ithaca's could take a licking and keep on ticking!

 

[kaaskop49]

A very fine shotgun. Steel receiver, yet lightweight. In the Deerslayer version, accurate with rifled slugs, and advantage with any shotgun.

NYPD used these for many years, unknown if they still do. I would see ESU officers carrying these with cut-down barrels for building searches. At a demonstration at Rodman's Neck, the NYPD outdoor range, we watched a range officer use a Model 37 to blast a large can of water into the air with a slug and ventilate it with 3 rounds of birdshot before it hit the ground. Very smooth action, that 37.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

 

[NYlakesider]

I have had a couple 37s over the course of time. When I was 16, my father and I went "hafies" in purchasing a 16 gauge so I could go hunting. I wanted a 12 but he had a 16 double from the 1920s and he wanted us to have the same ammo.

Started skeet shooting and as this gun had a Polly Choke on it I used it for a while, but finding skeet loads was a bit of a problem,

By now I was working full time and had the money so I bought a 12 gauge and had a specialty gun smith work on the choke to open the pattern shot this gun for about 2 years which amounted to about a 100 rounds fired most every Saturday and on Wednesday nights in the summer.

Also put on a 20'' slug barrel and took a few deer. Suffice it to say this gun certainly had a lot of rounds put threw it without one problem to report. Shot so much skeet that I sold the 37 with both barrels and bought a 12 and 28 skeet Remington 1100 to shot NSSA. That worked for a while and I added a 4.10 and used the 28 to shoot in the 20 gauge category so I shot 4 gauges!.

Now sort of sorry I sold that 12 with two barrels because it taught me so much and was just a great gun.

 

[Squarebutt]

My first shotgun was a WWII 12 gauge M37 with a Polychoke. Still have it and still hunt with it. I found a 20 gauge from 1969, and it's perfect for the grouse woods - light and fast. I'd like to find a Deerslayer, as the old 12 gauge is too early to accept interchangeable barrels.

 

[striking]

I have a 20 gauge Featherlite circa 1950 that was a gift from my late father-in-law. It is a joy to carry in the woods and, even with the ugly polychoke, it is light and points naturally.

Beautiful little gun.