The M37 is my favorite pump. This past April I thinned the herd and disposed of four 20 ga. including a rare ribbed model and a first year 20 ga. with handchased metal work. The cheapskates at Ithaca had a faulty first run of receivers wherein the roll pressed engraving was incomplete so they dragged in their engravers to finish the job in fine fashion resulting in more detail. I kept a field grade 16 from the 1950s and a 20 ga. with two barrels from the mid 50s. I also have a 28 ga. that was made in Upper Sandusky about 15 years ago. It's my favorite dove gun. It is ribbed. I would have preferred one without the rib but that option wasn't available. The rib stanchions are machined from the same billet the barrel is made. The rib is easily removed but the stanchions remain. I also had a 16 ga. 37R from 1949. It was a fine dove gun with a 28" barrel. The solid ribs on the M37 were soldered on the barrel. The predecessor to the M37, the Remington 17, only made in 20 ga., offered a solid rib as well, but it was integral to the barrel being shaped from the same billet. The rib on my Ithacas added about 4 oz. to the guns. The production of newer guns limps along and it wouldn't shock me to hear of almost 90 years production under the Ithaca banner end. The guns are more costly than black guns and interested boomers will run out of years before running out of money. There's not much demand among the young for expensive pumps. Gil
