Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Current Ithaca model 37 8-shot?

Anyone have experience w/ the latest Upper Sandusky m37 8-shot 12ga defense model, that now comes w/ the removable barrel, no longer fixed?

The 20ga is still fixed, but the 12ga was changed over to the removable barrel. The wood stocked version comes w/ the two yokes and swivels, as depicted in the picture from their link.

http://www.ithacagun.com/defense37s.php

I have been interested in one, and though not deterred by a fixed barrel, the new removable barrel seems to interest me more.

Other than nostalgia, was interested in the gun for general home defense, and was interested in a newly CNC machined model, vs an older model.

Would appreciate any feedback, especially if losing the fixed barrel was a bad thing.

Thanks

I hear good things about the new ones. Handed one and it looked good but id not shoot it

Thanks, had hoped for more feedback, but likely this is the wrong forum to ask on such an Ithaca model 37.

The new removable barrel is likely moot. You could not switch out barrels for a Featherlight hunting barrel, when the Defense model had a screwed in fixed barrel. Now that it has the interchangeable barrel, I could change to a hunting barrel, but the base gun would need to be a (4+1) five shot, not a (7+1) eight shot. I like the 8-shot, so that aspect of making the gun more versatile is moot.

Probably give me the excuse to get the 8-shot, and then later spend more money for a separate Featherlight, maybe 28ga$$$.

Thanks!

Go get one and let us know how it works.

I love Ithaca M37s but mine are all older guns. I have not had the chance to handle one of the new ones. They look nice on the website

Handled their previous fixed barrel version, but did not run any shells through the gun. Liked, and became interested. Decided to pull the trigger, to find the barrel is no longer fixed. Still not sure if that will be a negative or a positive, but intend to go ahead and get the gun. If it ends up a good gun, I'll likely pull the trigger on a Featherlight as well.

Don't have enough hands on with the current models to validate claims made by others that this CNC version is as good as the older best, but I intend to find out for myself.

Is there any advantage for a fixed shotgun barrel except, perhaps, for shooting slugs?

Yes, gun was built around a design intended for use in a fight, so both buck and slug would be the norm. So not only better accuracy, but the fixed barrel eliminates any chance of the barrel getting loose under those conditions, which would increase headspace and risk having the gun not fire a live round because the primer strike would then be light.

Does not occur often, but it has on interchangeable barrel LE and military guns. Just saw a video of this recently on a military shotgun being tested.

Flip side, many civilians complained about the fixed barrels for greater difficulty to clean and the inability to swap barrels around. The current gun is marketed for civilians, so they got rid of the fixed barrel, which also saved money, as the fixed barrel is more expensive to produce.