Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns What would you do with a 20 ga. pump, full choke, no steel shot?

Are these just obsolete relics or are they bought to go hunting?

If so, what would they be used for.

Thank you

I would just shoot lead.

What would you hunt with a gun like this?
And are hunters buying these types of guns for hunting?

Depends on what it is and what you use a shotgun to do. I would open the choke to IC or M and use it for an upland gun.

You could also just shoot bismuth or similar shot and not worry about it.

I am looking at an Ithaca 37 from the 1950's, which I would get just for the fun of it.
And I am wondering if guns like this only have a nostalgic appeal.

What kind of gun is it? Most pumps have extra barrels.
Where do yo live, what do you hunt?

If you want to hunt grouse in the midwest your gonna hate it. Might make for a fine dove gun though.

So lay out the detail

I don't hunt
I just like shotguns and I shoot them at the trap range.

The Ithaca 37 I saw is a pump 20 ga. Field gun, long barrel, no rib full choke. It is not made for the trap range. I would get it just to try something different for a awhile.


I am wondering if guns like this are bought and used by today's hunters.

Thank you

It could be used just like it was in that day as long as it was in good shape mechanically.

It might be less desirable today though because of choices and marketing where people are lead to think they really need those choices.

I would hunt the sheet out of it! Will kill ducks, and any upland game your little heart desires. Wouldn't phase me one bit to hunt grouse anywhere with it either.

We think alike. I have one old Model 12 16g a with mod choke that is a fine Grouse gun and like MCH I would not hesitate to use it for the other upland game he mentions. Just bought its almost twin from a fire member. Again Mod, but if it happened to be full I would use it the same.

You want to have less cripples to bear on your conscious as you try to forget those that sailed or run off not to be found, then use more choke. You will blow-up less Birds than you will cripple with the so called open chokes that are supposedly best for certain game birds. Count on it.

For a walking gun on later season sharptails, it might be just right. For the first couple weeks of sharptail hunting, it seems to me that skeet choke or IC work well, as the birds often flush nearly under your feet. But by late September/early October, modified or even full works well. And twelves get heavy on a long walk down the buffaloberry draws. So if you live in the prairie region, you may have a great shotgun!

Bismuth. Otherwise, ruff or sharptails with lead.

Do you squirrel hunt? Maybe pass shoot doves or crows,pigeons and the like. If full is too tight for you a choke reaming to open it up would only be $40-$50 .

For myself the weight and balance of the model is a better indicator of what I would prefer to use it for than choke.

Sounds like a great pheasant or sharptail gun.

I am a sinner, if the price was right I would chop that to 18.5 and leave it for the Mrs in bear season when they are roaming the hood.

You can always use spreader loads for up close hunting.

I would hunt the raybar sight right off it. Makes a perfect upland gun, if the birds get up close let them travel a bit.
I carry a mod/full double and would not hesitate to carry a full/full.
I also have a soft spot for the model 37, believing it to be the perfect upland pump gun.
YMMV

No Raybar on a 50's gun they had a bead. It's good to go as is to shoot 16's with anybody's promo ammo with 7/8 oz of 8's. A set of Briley choke tubes and a Simmons rib on top would qualify you as a pretty sharpshooter in any upland environment. Come to think of it that work well over the broad spectrum of skeet and some sc games also. If you are a guy who doesn't focus on anything but 25 straight ,leave it to someone else. If you like variety and gaining skills with shotguns in different venues it's a worthy project. Depends on your expectations, you asked. Magnum Man

I've got the exact gun. Early 50's Ithaca 37 Featherlight 20 guage, corn cob fore-end, slider bar on the magazine cap for extra leverage. Choked extra double super full from what I can tell from shooting clay birds in the backyard.

It kills wild Kansas pheasants well, from shots that would be more suited to a gun with cylinder choke off of a point. Have killed several limits of doves with it as well.

Between it and its bigger brother in 16 guage, I haven't shot my choke-tubed Beretta autoloader on pheasants in a few years.

I suggest that you sell it to Rug3and let him figure out what to do with it.

Two of my three daughters are pretty good with a shotgun. The other one is good with a rifle and handgun, but can't hit well at all with a shotgun. (???) What I did for her was, I bought her a 30" full choked gun and chopped the butt and barrel to fit her. No choke is better for close work and she is not going to hit anything very far off anyway. We could always install choke tubes, She is bumping forty these days and has been using that one since college.

Full choke will work just fine for pheasants.

One of the best turkeys I ever saw was shot by a 12 year old boy with a 20. His dad is a pretty fair caller, so all he had to do was sit real still until time to shoot.

A number of these old 'relics' work just fine. I shoot 5-Stand every weekend with a bunch of 'pawnshop rescue' guns. My every weekend shooters include Remington Model 11's, Winchester Model 12's, Ithaca 37's, a Stevens 620, Savage 755, and a High Standard Flite King. I have some high end shotguns but these are more fun.

Squirrel gun.

I hunt with an old 16 gauge, full choke, Belgian Browning Auto-5; I traded a buddy out of the shotgun several years ago to use it for turkey hunting. I killed this Tom on opening day in 2013 using the Federal Premium 1-1/4 oz. load of plated #6 lead shot - just wait until they get within 30 yards and it will put them in the dirt.

[quote=louiethedrifter]Squirrel gun.





Yup, would have used it Sat on limbrats.

Beautiful gun and great photo!