IthacaOwners.com

I read that someone at Gunsite said the 37 is a bad choice for a tactical/self defense shotgun. He said the actions aren't strong enough for tactical use. Is this true?

They would be completely wrong. The Model 37 has been through World War II and Korean War and is used by the LAPD and other police departments.

That's just foolish talk. Did he have any valid reasoning behind it? Probably not. It would seem to me that if the us army uses them how bad can that be? There's always going to one guy trying to tell the peeps on the forums that its bad. It is not bad. Its great! Don't be fooled by the fool. Who is more foolish? The fool or the fool who follows him?

You've been fed a line of you know what! 37 is bullet proof.
I'm gonna steal a Jim Shockey line here just for fun!

I trust my life to my Ithaca model 37, and you can too

He really said that? Well, I can tell you, I have taken apart nearly every major brand of pump and the M37 has one of the strongest actions in the business and hands down the strongest receiver. They do have some minor idiosyncrasies, then again every gun does. the action and the receiver are not it. Why do you think they are so expensive? Every part is made of machined metal, there is no stamped metal in the thing. Compare that to any gun with stamped metal parts in the action and I can promise you there is no way it will be stronger.

How many old Ithaca's are out there or even Winchester M12's? If their actions weren't strong enough, they wouldn't last as long as they do.

No he didn't say it exactly like that, I swapped Thompson center for Ithaca. But damn it sounds good;)

Gunsite has an agenda...the will promote whoever pays them the most. And you know what the say about opinions...they're like noses...everyone has one !!

( ...thought I was gonna say something else, didn't ya !!?? )

SHOOTER13 wrote:Gunsite has an agenda...the will promote whoever pays them the most. And you know what the say about opinions...they're like noses...everyone has one !!

( ...thought I was gonna say something else, didn't ya !!?? )

I'd love to know what they consider the "strongest action". All you have to do is look at what is old and still being used or how much work was needed to get it functional again. Especially when you consider in the first half of the 20th century, most of those guns were used until the bluing was worn white and they used shells that had smelly dirty powder and corrosive primers.

First off thanks for the replies. Second, I contacted Gunsite and they said they never said anything bad about the 37. So I believe the comment I read about Gunsite bashing the 37 is just be a bunch of BS.

Whoever said that was probably referring to the fact that the model 37 just has one action bar instead of two. I have run into that same train of thought myself. I always remind them that the two smoothest, smoothest, and long lasting pumps in the world have just one action bar, the model 37 and the model 12!

The whole two action bar thing got started with the Remington 870, and not because of its better strength. The reason the 870 had to have two action bars was because the barrel was slip fitted. It just has a tang that slides back into the receiver. On model 37's, model 12's, model 31's etc... the barrels were attached using some kind of thread system. This ensured that the barrels locked up tight and that there was no movement or wiggle.

Because the 870 could have some play in the barrel, it needed two action bars so that there would be enough force to cycle the gun should the barrel not be perfectly straight. No need for this on a model 37! Just read all of the posts on shotgun sites about how to shim an 870 barrel to keep it from moving around so that you can shoot slugs to the same POI every time. You have folks cutting up coke cans right and left to shim those guns up so that they can deer hunt with them. No need on a model 37!

Ain't it amazing how a design flaw lo those many years ago is now seen as a great strength?!

Sermon over!

helluva sermon! Nice job Col!

Thank you brother. Now turn your hymnal to number 376 and let's pass the offering plates.

Amen! But you really don't want me to sing. you'll think one of my dog's has a stomach ache.

But that was one of the best explanations between the two I have ever seen.