Pictures of your Ithaca Model 37

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PostPosted: Wed Jun 08, 2016 6:50 pm
One word of advice. If you decide to make the plunge, do it because you love it and you want to help people do the right thing. BUt I am sure you'd be good at it.
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 6:24 am
At last my upgrade licence arrived and I was able to collect my new guns. Together with a Valtro PM5 I am very happy to now have my high capacity 37 which has joined its older sister and with a change of clothes is ready for competition. It is a '71 model with custom 10+1 capacity magazine. The '65 now wears the stock and forend from the '71 and the original '65 furniture will be restored over time

Ithaca sisters.JPG
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 10:34 am
Looks COOL! Boy I bet that barrel would be almost glowing after empting that mag rapidly. Donald
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 4:29 pm
Nice work. That is a mean looking mother. How does it handle?
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 5:48 pm
Not got to the range yet, but home try-outs with inert (weighted) dummy rounds have shown it to be very muzzle heavy when fully loaded (no surprises there then!) fortunately the long, fully threaded stock mounting bolt gives me the opportunity to lock in place (with a nut either side) any number of lead slugs to counter balance. Sure, she'll be a heavy beast but the weight, combined with the soft recoil pad and full pistol grip will make her a soft shooter, I hope! Well that's the plan anyway. this is not a gun to carry around all day in the field so I am not too worried about the weight. Short, sharp, tactical competition stages will be this guns home. The division that I will compete in with this gun limits the initial load to 7 + 1 but once the start signal is given, I can get a useful edge with the extra 3 rounds. The large (4mm) hi-vis tunnel sight caused me to shoot high when on the old '65 so I'm guessing it will be similar on this one and my developed '6 o'clock on target hold' will hopefully work for me again. Probably not get to shoot this weekend as our club is hosting a national competition and I am on the range control and scoring staff. I will update when I get range time, can't wait!
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 3:55 pm
Cool, be sure to post when you take it out for a test drive.
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 24, 2016 6:20 pm
I finally got some range time after a particularly busy early summer, working transport at Chelsea and Hampton Court Flower shows, Wimbledon Tennis and Farnborough International Air Fair. I gave the high capacity 37 a good workout with 28g fibre wad shells and had no fails to extract (happy about that!) Unfortunately on the last stage the spot welds on the action bar broke! Still, not a major repair and the gun performed faultlessly up to the breakage. It has great balance, even fully loaded (with 2 ounces on the stock bolt at the butt pad end) (Thanks to Raven for that pointer!!) and is a real softy to shoot. A lot of rounds and a hard first time out for this gun but it promises good performance in future. The half choke is just about the perfect compromise for knockdown, birdshot spread and range at steel plates. Yet to try with OO buck and will seek out a nice soft slug round for safe use with 1/2 choke (any thoughts?)

37 slide.JPG
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 12:01 am
impala59 wrote: Unfortunately on the last stage the spot welds on the action bar broke![/attachment]


Exactly the same thing happened to me the first time I shot an M37. (It was a M&P DSPS made in 1982, I think.) I had gone to a clay shoot in order to see if I would like clay shooting and took my late father's gun. After the eighth shot, the spot weld broke.

As I understand it, they used to use four spot welds and then changed to two. On *this* gun, only one of these had "taken" with the result that it had been operating on a single spot weld for thirty years.

And then "chaos" came along...

It won't break again; I had our local blacksmith weld up both sides of the action bar.

Regards,

Mark.
Came late in life to shooting but is making up for lost time...
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 3:22 pm
I decided to make my own repair, and not having immediate access to welding equipment, went another way. I decided to screw and epoxy the two parts together and then discovered that the weld that was left in the bar is the hardest substance known to man! 4 tungsten carbide HS drills and two needle point grinding tools later and I had two holes! At last!!
I tapped the holes for M4 screws and made a shallow countersink. I assembled with Araldite steel epoxy and when dry ground the screw heads to the bar profile. I dremelled the inside to flush fit and then cold blued the exposed metal (not really my forte, more practice needed in that field) I sprayed the whole thing, in and out, with ACF50 protective lubricant and wiped off after an hour or so.(It keeps the Harley rust free on our salted winter roads, so should protect a cherished 37!) Re-assembled the gun and its rock solid for another few years. I guess that if in the States I would simply have bought another fore-end tube/bar, unfortunately, over here the average gun dealer spares inventory for Ithaca is Zero!

37slide (1).JPG
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 3:41 pm
Well done, probably better than the spot weld system anyways.
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 06, 2016 10:25 am
Nice work. Very nice work.

For bluing if you can get Brownell's 44/40 cold blue use that. It is the best stuff I have ever used.
It takes practice but you can do it. I'm quite good it at but only after practicing on 20-30 old hand tools like screwdrivers, etc. I have an entire tool box of tools with industrial finishes!

Never ever reuse your cotton swab. Use a fresh one each time you dip. The metal must be surgical clean and dry. Use several coats until you get the right shade. Wipe it down and oil it immediately
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 08, 2016 6:09 am
Hi Jim, unfortunately, it seems that 44/40 is not available over here, I have G96 instant blue at the moment and the range of Birchwood Casey cleaners/degreasers etc. For some reason I didn't get the BC blue in the pack that I bought, so maybe I get it and will try that one next.
Your tips and advice are very welcome and I will experiment on tools! seems like a good way forward
Thanks
Roland
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 11, 2016 2:14 pm
Too bad you can't get it. But keep practicing and you'll get good at matching the color.
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 28, 2016 3:21 pm
My Upper Sandusky M37 Trap with Graco comb and adjustable butt plate.
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IMG_2579.jpeg
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 2:29 am
Great looking gun. Looks like you can adjust it to anybody, or any condition. It's a keeper! Don
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 4:29 pm
That is a superb looking gun, hope it shoots as good as it looks! It shows clearly form following function equals a great piece of kit! In the UK we are not used to seeing pump trap guns and the proportions looked at first a little odd to me, with the long barrel, high rib, large fully opened stock and relatively petite fore-end but the more I study it the more I want one! Lovely wood too!
I bet you are happy :)

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PostPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 7:42 pm
Thank you both. Impala, yes it does shoot quite well. I'm 6'3" so I needed the adj. comb and butt stock just to get the gun fit. Still need another 1/8" cast off and maybe 1/4" to 1/2" drop at the heel. I have owned all makes of pump guns and this is my first Ithaca. It has the shortest and smoothest action of any shucker I've run. I enjoy this gun so much I have shot it exclusively since receiving it some 5 years ago. It has really made Trap shooting fun again. The best part is showing up at a range and getting strange looks from the "K", "P" and "B" crowd which quickly change after a 25 or two. Then the quizzing starts :D
PostPosted: Fri Sep 30, 2016 11:17 am
It IS a fine looking shotgun...
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2017 9:40 am
A happy day for me today! My dear wife asked me what I wanted this past Christmas and I casually said "I could do with another '37!" To cut a long story short she bid for and won a real beauty which I picked up today! To top it all, its a '59! Ser. no 730xxx. It is a full choke 28" 2 3/4" field model with a slightly smaller trigger guard than my '65 and '71 and is fitted with what appears to be genuine Ithaca synthetic furniture. It swings great and I can't wait to get out and shoot it. It has just about 99% of its finish and lovely sharp engraving, possibly been a cabinet queen for most of its life, although the yoke is fitted hard up to the mag nut which suggests to me it has been used in earnest. Happy days!!
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3759a (3).JPG
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 18, 2017 5:49 pm
Another '37 came my way recently. In a bit of a bad way but working fine. The safety catch was missing so I made one from brass as a temporary fix whilst awaiting parts from the States. The worst thing is the finish, a nasty, sticky, black, hand-paint job complete with over paint and brush marks! I mean really? Why would you? Its a 26" imp cyl choke Vent Rib 1977 model (it has the two additional lugs on the carrier which prevent loading direct to the chamber.) It appears to have had the stock cut short then badly re-lengthened, fortunately I have a spare stock that will grace this gun when refinished. For all its faults and shabby appearance, it shoots great though.
7737.JPG
with brass S/C fitted
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This is probably the worst looking 37 on the forum, I'm looking forward to restoring it to its best
7737 before (2).JPG
showing missing S/C and dreadful paint
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Last edited by impala59 on Sun Oct 29, 2017 11:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
PostPosted: Wed Oct 18, 2017 8:48 pm
A worthwhile project...
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 29, 2017 11:54 am
As it was so bad I have tried a couple of finishes on this gun to get a better looker. On the receiver I used Rustoleum stove matt finish, sprayed onto hot metal then heat cured. For the barrel I used Plastikote stove semi matt then heat cured with a heat gun, passing hot air through the barrel for one hour. I fitted a home made fibre light tube and I'm fairly happy with the result, definitely an improvement over before! It remains to be seen how durable these finishes are.
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7737 refinish (3).JPG
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 29, 2017 11:57 am
Continued.....
7737 refinish (2).JPG
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7737 refinish (5).JPG
7737 refinish (5).JPG (85.9 KiB) Viewed 35779 times

Next job is to strip and oil finish the wood, also replace some of the chewed screws next time someone goes stateside
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PostPosted: Wed May 01, 2019 8:09 am
A couple of new acquisitions to the collection.

Top, a 1959 picked up cheap, 12g, 28", full, opened to 1/2 choke. Some clown has scooped out finger grooves in the forend !? so a replacement will be sought. It also has a late '60s deluxe stock so I may do some mix and match with others in the collection to try and get the date relevant parts right. Had no safety catch or bead so I fabricated the former and have found a source of cheap metal beads in the R/C model car market (3mm threaded post ball joints available with 3, 4 or 5 mm ball) I am trying a high mounted 5mm on this gun to try and correct a tendency to shoot over the top of birds. The receiver on this gun is in remarkably good condition, including all screw heads, inside and out. Considering the wrong, spoiled and missing parts, go figure?

Bottom is an early 1963 (pre interchangeable barrels and still with matched barrel/action numbers) 12g, 28", full, opened to 3/4 choke with a year correct plain stock and ringed forend. This gun has a nice aged patina and I may just leave this one as is, it just feels right. this gun also had no front sight, but it had the remains of the ray-bar mount, I straightened it and fitted one of my home made light tubes.


After my usual regime of component level take-down, both guns are now as slick as can be and both shoot great, happy days :)

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Top '59 bottom '63
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375963 (4).JPG
'59 with high mounted 5mm R/C balljoint
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375963 (3).JPG
'63 with home-made Ray-bar sight
375963 (3).JPG (53.62 KiB) Viewed 29692 times
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 23, 2019 3:44 pm
12 16 20 (3).JPG
12 16 20 (3).JPG (149.81 KiB) Viewed 28869 times

Three more additions to the collection, now returned from Birmingham proof house after a bit of British delay and burocracy.

Top is a 1971 25" barrel 12g with an interesting choke modification. It is an exterior, metric threaded system by Breda which fortunately for me is the same as my Italian Valtro so I have a good selection of chokes. The forend is a short, plain type I have not encountered before. The only work to do other than a full takedown clean and overhaul is to replace the butt plate. I am visiting the USA later in the year and hope to get some sunburst butt pads amongst other stuff.

Middle is a 1947 26" barrel 16g (my first sweet 16!) in really nice overall condition other than needing a butt pad as it is perished. This has a Cutts compensator poly choke so another good flexible gun.

Bottom is a 1982 24" barrel 20g Ultralight English with its distinctive straight hand stock. I have never seen one of these in the flesh before so am quite pleased to have acquired it. It is also my first 20g M37 and is wonderfully light in the hand. I will restore this one as the wood is a bit tatty, for some reason it has a brass butt plate which is not too attractive.

Happy to have broadened my collection and looking forward to some different M37 experiences
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