Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Favorite pump shotgun and why ?

Remington 870 20 ga, Win 97 12 ga and Win Model 12 16 ga

Remington model 31 16ga , Remington model 17

Winchester Model 12!

Ithaca Model 37 is just a bastid Remington! (LOL!).

Tough to beat an older wigmaster from the 50's thru the 70's production. The M37 is great as well. I think the BPS is a really under appreciated pump gun, probably more reliable than an 870, but the weight doesn't yield as good of an upland gun.

My favorite pump is the 870 12 ga. 3" chamber. Versatile hunt anything gun, and I like location of safety @ rear of trigger guard, so my finger doesn't get lost feeling for it.
It reloads smoothly, and operates smoothly. Downside, it's not much to look at.

Have you ever had a Wingmaster fail you? Just curious...

Yes, the proper staking of the shell latches is critical in an 870 for proper feeding. I had an older 70's one that sometime wouldnt allow a shell to leave the tube when the pump was back. Had to have a smith tweak and re-stake the shell catch to correct.

I also had a 90's Express do something similar, I cured that one by adjusting the shell catch. Never had a BPS do this, but suppose it could happen.

I don't count the Express Model along with the Wingmaster's. I've never had trouble with a Wingmaster but I've had three Express guns and had one sort of trouble or another with each of the Express guns.

Agreed, I've had Express models but they aren't the same guns as the Wingmaster, Police magnum or 870 Marine.

Sir, I'm not trying to sound like a know it all but I do believe the shotgun in your photograph is either a Savage Model 67 or 77. It is not an Ithaca Model 37. Thank you.

Savage 77E
Notes: A long-unsung hero of the Vietnam War, the Model 77E was one of the standard shotguns of that conflict, used by MPs, security forces, and even some personnel such as platoon sergeants and special ops units. Though designed to be a police riot gun, it saw much more service in the military, in Vietnam, the US, and other world postings. Between 1963 and 1964 some 60,920 were built and delivered to the US military, A further “emergency” order was made in late 1964, for a total of 1980 shotguns. 771 of these were provided to the ARVN. The M-77E was relatively inexpensive, and proved useful in the jungle.
Complaints by flak-jacket-clad shooters led to the stock being sawed off by 0.62 inches. This led to further complaints from those not wearing body armor, and later, a screw-on stock extender was devised that allowed the M-77E to be brought back to the original LOP. Unlike most US military shotguns, the M-77E had a thick recoil pad; the stock and pump slide were made of varnished beech, painted black. The stock was cheap and not too strong; a strong butt-stroke against an enemy often required a stock replacement. Savage responded by shipping the Army and Marines lots of extra stocks. The stock has a deep semi-pistol grip. The trigger guard was also made of weak alloy and broke often. As replacement trigger guards were in short supply, armorers often resorted to taking one off of an M-77E not being used or making them from scratch. Metal finish was Parkerized black. A few were experimentally fitted with bayonet lugs, but as bayonets on shotguns were little used, the experiment came to a halt, and the bayonet lugs removed. The crossbolt safety was on the left front of the trigger guard, a very ergonomic position.
The Savage 77Es were regarded as less-desired brothers to the Ithaca 37 and Winchester Model 12. Most were sold into civilian and police service after Vietnam, where their shortcomings were not as deleterious. They are now considered collectors’ items.

Pumps are my thing.. Probably my favorite is my old 870 field magnum.. I have shot it steady since I bought it in the 70's.. Also have a special field 12, a couple 870's in 20 ga. and one 28.. Shoot all from time to time.. My old 3" heavy duck model 12 is a favorite for turkey when I use a shotgun..
I have a late model 97 12 ga. that is a great gun.. It once dropped a gobbler stone dead at 62 steps..
My model 31 Rem 12 ga. is the slickest shotgun I own..
Have a BPS 10 ga. great goose gun.. A bit heavy for gobblers, but it does a number on them..
Almost forgot my Mossburg 12 ga. 3 1/2".. It sits in the bedroom incase of intruders.. Have killed a number of turkey with it..
Right now I have no model 37.. A 20 ga. in that model was the first pump I ever owned.. Am looking for another 37 12ga. with a solid rib.. Pumps are awesome..

Always loved 870s and haven't been w/o one for probably 45 years. I have a coup,e of model 12s that I really like though to me they handle a bit different than the 870 or m37 due to the slide lockup. I find the secret is to pump immediately on firing wheat her you need to shoot again or not. I have my Dads old M37 too and it is a nice gun. Actually I could hunt and be be happy with any of them. I'm one of those guys that just like pump shotguns over other action types. There is something about the machinery that fascinates me and I think they handle just great despite the brains of the double gun guys. Just a great tribute to Yankee ingenuity.

Model 70 Man, Really enjoyed your information on the M77E in Viet Nam - thanks!

Thank you Sir. The shotguns used in Vietnam interest me more than any others. I joined the army as a 3 year RA unassigned. I always regretted being assigned a 16B MOS instead of 11B where so many great people served their time and I still feel guilty for those who didn't come back. I was a black boot cold war soldier. We don't get a lot of recognition because the Russians and Cubans never tried anything.

I used my Ithaca M37 12 ga Deerslayer pump as a poor mans/ rainy day drilling.

With it's 20" barrel and iron sights it's handy and shoots both slugs and bird shot well.




It's rear sight on that barrel has a place for a scope mount to grip so that say a 2X scope can be mounted.

I use a 2x Redfield.

When my youngest daughter got married, I sent her home with my 20 gauge like that. I miss them both!

It might be incorrect but my understanding is that the 16GA M37 was built on the same frame size as the M37 20GA.

If so, the 16GA is really just a super backbored 20GA magnum.

Winchester 42.

What I have owned and used:

The most would be the 870, followed by versions of the Mossberg, 97 and 12s both takedown and solid, 37, and then BPS.

I seem to always make the 870 work, but they never stood out beyond that of a tool.

The Mossbergs were a tool, clunky and cheap.

The 12s always seemed to be good, but two of my 97s, one solid, the other takedown, always had the WOW/Cool Factor best covered (though to the blind eye they didn't truly handle as well).

The BPS was clearly different than the 870 in mechanics, but I always thought of them the same, like maybe an 870 in Sunday clothes. Had one BPS I used for jump shooting ducks that I liked a bunch.

The 37s however, in forms of Riot/Trench gun, Featherlight, and Deerslayer, have all passed the blind test for me, at being very intuitive in the field, and just plain worked well. So for me, setting the WOW factors and the Tool factors aside, and merely looking at the joy I've found running a pump afield; I'd have to pick the 37 as my overall favorite to use.

Ithaca 37 16 ga.

Purchased it new in Baker,Oregon in 1972.

Was used primarily for chukar hunting. Used to be a ton of them around.

I had to have my 870 12 magnum repaired so I ended up using the Ithaca for all of my bird hunting that year. Even got a goose or two with it.

It has a 28" barrel. It was full choke and shot patterns tighter than a bulls a.. in fly time. Had it opened up to modified. Still shoots good patterns. Occasionally a bunch of shooting buddies get together and shoot at a local gravel pit. Every now and then we will bring a trap along and shoot some clay pigeons. I can still out shoot the other guys usually getting 22 to 24 out of 25.

Most use lately has been for blue and ruffed grouse in the Blue Mountains south of Pendleton. My oldest grandson has dibs on it after I hit the long trail.

Happy Trails!