doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com off topic - Ithaca model 37's

I recently learned that a company at least calling itself Ithaca is supposedly still making model 37's. Yeah, $2800 per the website. I was shocked as I thought all vestige of Ithaca Gun Co was long gone, which shows how much I keep up with guns younger than I am. And is there anybody out there really buying these things for 2800 bucks? Although, looking at what's available on the new market now, unless someone likes black or camo plastic, you're pretty much out of luck.

Roger

Inflation.

From The Google…

$350 in 1975 is worth approximately $2,172.55 today, based on an average inflation rate of 3.64% per year over the past 51 years. This calculation reflects a cumulative price increase of 520.73%, meaning that today's prices are significantly higher than those in 1975.


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Ithaca 37, the best gun in the world.

I bought from the Upper Sandusky Ithaca (present company) two guns. First was a 28 ga. M37 I bought directly from Ithaca over 15 years ago which I still shoot and a 20 ga. Turkey Slayer M37 which I bought a little later in 2011 and I gave it to a friend. Very few of the 28 gauges were made. I paid under $1K for the 28 ga. with upgraded wood. This was the first time Ithaca built a 28 ga. pump. Early M37 guns made in Ithaca NY while highly desirable can be bought relatively inexpensively compared to the new guns. Gil

I think the pricing on the 28's was something like $2700-$4500. I did not read the fine print for the differences between the extremes. I assume these are essentially custom / hand built with quality to match?

I think it's cool that they are still in business.

The finished quality of the earlier guns, at least in the ones I've owned, IMO, is better than my current 28 ga. The earlier guns were hand fitted; the current ones are made by the Italian gunmaker, Seeincee. Gil

Gil,
Could you elaborate please? Are you saying that the new M37’s are being sourced out of Italy now? If so, when did the Sandusky guys stop making them in house?
Super curious. I’m not too familiar with the Sandusky guns, I’ve only bought some parts from them over the last few years.
The prices on the new guns seem absolutely bonkers.

Seems reasonable enough when you’re loading it into your $80,000 pick up truck.


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Made in Italy? Blasphemy.

Dustin, pronounce "Seeincee" fast. Gil

Whew. It’s just the name of the Italian-American guy -or gal - pushing the buttons on the computer.


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Ay, oh, way to go Ohio.

Here's the first bird shot with the gun in Feb. 2011. When I shucked the shell, the magazine dumped out two shells with the carrier below the shells. Some disassembly required. It went back to the factory as others had "timing issues" in the 28 ga. The one man who dealt with malfunctions in the 28 ga. was on sick leave due to knee surgery. It was months before the gun came back but the problem was solved and has performed flawlessly since then. I should not have written that. I am doomed opening day of dove season...

CNC

Computer Numerical Control

Seeincee

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Well. I guess I done got gotten. Damn. That doesn’t happen very much. Can’t believe I missed the punchline. Got me. 😆

Shhhhhhhh, it happens. 😁

I bought one of the very first 28's they put out the door. I bought the standard model (no fancy engraving at all) withthe highest grade wood. It was thebest fitted, slickest M37 I have ever owned and was a joy to shoot. I really enjoyed it for dove hunts. I paid $700 and change for it. I travelled to the area for work often, stopped on the way home, ordered it and picked it up at the factory about 3 weeks later. Have no idea now why I ever sold it and have been looking for another ever since. I had a lot of 28's at the time and likely sold it to fund a different project. (Probably a new RBL 28 I bought).

They later made a line of WWII 45 auto pistols which were duplicates of their WWII models. I remember them being popular for a while.

For slick it would be hard to beat my old 20 gauge Remington Model 17 that I've been shucking for over 60 years now. Ithaca had to wait a long time to mess with Browning's design.

The only bottom eject pump I kept is my Model 17. If you find a spare barrel for a 17, about 9 out of 10 times it drops right in place. The model 37s aren’t like that, they usually have to be screwed with to get them on.

50 years with mine in September of 2027.




Best,
Ted

Nice Ted!! The real thing as J.M.B. intended.

Much better than those slab-sided knock-offs from Fall Creek! Remington made the stock look right. Probably no more than a 1/16" or 1/8" difference anywhere, but to my eyes the Remington stock has always looked "right" and the Ithaca stock just doesn't. My 17 is the earlier style Model 17A "Standard" Grade with the plain stock and ringed forearm with a 28-inch solid rib improved cylinder barrel. About the same time the Model 10 morphed into the Model 29 and the Model 11 got the improvements and the cross-bolt safety the A "Standard" Grades all got checkering.

Walt Snyder had the slickest, custom made 28 ga. M37 made, if not the slickest, it is in the top 2. Three years ago, a fanatical Ithaca M37 collector bought my first year 20 ga. M37, my M-17 as well as my first year 20 ga. 37R which was probably unfired. Yes, I understand the slab side comments re: the M37 also the rib differences between the ribbed M17 and M37R. The 37R 20 was made the year of Ithaca's war shutdown of civilian guns to make the 1911. In the first year of the M37 20 (1939) roller engravers for the receivers weren't set up properly and the run of some of the earlier guns was defective. Rather than junk those receivers, Ithaca had their factory hand engravers finish the job by handchasing more detail into the receivers. Also the early guns had a high luster blued finish.

A 12 gauge Featherlight Model 37 was my first gun - dad bought it for me in the summer of 1974 from Dam Road Gunshop outside of Delavan, WI for me to use that fall for my first hunting season.

A fun little gun, just the right crossover for weight and load size for a 12 year old, I used to for my first successful hunts for Grouse, woodcock, pheasants and bobwhite quail.

I've got a bit of nostalgia for them, but the few times I've tried to buy one on auction, they've gone past what I'm willing to pay.

No, the only ones bringing "$2800" are factory engraved ones or the 28ga. Genuine military issue trench guns are even more expensive. Old gun can be had for a song. For example, early post war 12ga (had all pre-war features) in about 98% condition sold for $450 recently, that's a deal. Sixteen can be found for about $100 more and 20ga for $200 more. Nothing can compete with them in pump shotgun department.
I had Ohio-made 20ga the only complaint was its 7&1/4lb weight just like 20ga BPS. They aren’t common on secondary market because not that many were made and sold. I can't shoot pump worth a damn, but I keep 16ga Model 97 because it mikes fine Holoween prop. Most what you find were made from mid 1950s to ca 1985.

Years ago while still happily married to her I bought my EX a 20ga Ithaca Ultra-Featherweight English. It was her favorite grouse gun. Kind of wish I would have liberated it when I left .

I had a 16 gauge Ultra that came out of King Ferry. Spectacular wood, screw chokes, the pewter feather grip cap.

But, it wasn’t that much lighter than the mid 1950s garden variety 16 gauge that I already owned. The wood, pretty as it was, was heavier than the pallet grade stuff the old gun used. The barrel was a gas pipe compared to the 1950s fixed choke version, on account of it having screw chokes. Not long into ownership, I figured out I was indifferent to which gun I used, and when the world figured out they couldn’t get one, new, guys at my club started to notice the gun when it tagged along with me. A guy offered me $800 for the Ultra, and down the road it went. I sold the 50s version later, I wasn’t crazy about the un checkered stock, which, made it slick when it was wet or cold. Yea, I could have had it checkered, but, the model 17 was sitting right there next to it, all ready to go.

Somewhere between the “party all night “ and “you are really going to need to get another bird dog” phases of my life, the ability to run a pump gun, efficiently, diminished. I had friends that noted, when I was younger, that I could get a second round off faster with my pump than they could with their gas automatics. That doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.

Still, I keep and use the 17 a few times a year. The dog doesn’t care which gun I bring.

Best,
Ted

She was a wizard with a pump. We shot skeet with some folks that didn't know her. They joked that I handicapped her with a pump. The first set of doubles the first comment as she shattered the pair was " I didn't even see the slide move". I could never shoot a pump like she could. Her trap gun was a pump also and she always ranked up there at the club in the doubles events, usually second behind her dad.

She had a pair of 870 Wingmaster 12ga field guns fitted to her 30" IM and 26" Skeet.

I used to shoot low gun skeet with my 37. Didn’t find it all that difficult. Tried International at Quantico and was humbled rather quickly.


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If you can hear the slide move they aren’t a pump gunner. Read that somewhere, don’t remember where.

Did getting the RBL improve things?

Best,
Ted

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I’m betting not.

I worked w Zach Amert from the Sandusky shop early on to build a nice 12 gauge w good wood and chased engraving. We explored having the receiver case colored via Turnbull as I seem to remember but the experimental results didn’t look very promising. I think I still have a photo of such a receiver. I don’t think anyone had that done. I went the regular blued and I felt the wood and checkering was wonderful. They sent me regular updates and photos from time to time as it went along. I’d gotten everyone who touched making the gun to sign a letter. I wanted to support them with a purchase. I’m very happy with mine. If any of their CNC production moved off shore, that’s unwelcome news. Next time here I’ll post an image of the Ithaca.

I've shot many AZ dove with my old Remington Model 17, 30" full.
It was petty ugly--Bob Kerr did a nice re-stock in the early 80's while he was in Anchorage.
Easy and fun to shoot! I'm sure the grandsons will be shooting it for years too!