Home Forums Reloading 16 Gauge Society Ithaca 37

I am thinking hard on an Ithaca 37 16 gauge. Probably plain barrel for weight savings.

What years or submodels seem to be the most preferred?

I have an early 1950s M37. It is the standard plain barrel model. It has cut checkering panels on the pistol grip and ring grooves in the fore end grip. I much prefer this configuration over later models that have embossed checkering.

I have a 1938 model 37 Skeet, 16 gauge, 26 inch improved cylinder, and vent rib. Pretty handy gun. I don’t think the vent rib adds enough weight to be a consideration.

Like carbon12 I prefer the older 37s with the cut checkering.

I own several 16 gauges and like the op, have a hankering for pump gun. I had one in a local gun store but it had that god awful poly choke on the end. That was a deal breaker for me.

Just FYI, I bought one of the new manufactured model 37 in 16 ga, 5-6 years ago. It was a great gun but very heavy. Sold it.

What did it weigh?

Never heard of 37’s being described as “heavy”

DF

The new ones were/are a brick compared to the older.
Have handled both.

There website now only lists a 20 and a 12.

The only new one I’ve handled is the 28 and it’s not heavy. It uses a scaled down frame. I like mine.

If they making them heavy, they’ve lost what makes a 37 a 37.

I have a first year 20 ga with solid rib. Nice gun.

DF

Have a 28 also..It is lightning rod quick when it comes to handling...Great little shotgun...

First year 20 ga. It has a Poly Choke, which was initially a turn off to me, like the previous poster.

But, it represents that vintage and works well. I thought about cutting it and installing choke tubes. But, was afraid it may be too whippy, the Poly Choke adding some wt.

Metal was as your see it, wood was terrible, so I restored it, recut the checkering. It handles great.

Walt Snyder's book, Ithaca Featherlight Repeaters, The Best Gun Going, is a must for 37 lovers. Walt ended up with the Ithaca, NY records and has done a lot of research on the subject. Walt says those solid rib barrels were rust blued, receiver and other parts, hot blued. One can see the difference with close inpection.

I had worked with Bill Askins, Col Charles Askins Jr's son, on his grandfather's Superposed which I ended up with. When it came time to sell Major Aksins double Ithaca 16 ga.Grade 4 ejector gun, Bill offered it to me. I thought Walt should be the one to have it. I notified Walt and helped with the deal. Walt did a great write up on the Major, featuring that gun in The Double Gun Journal, Winter 2018, pg 92-101. The Major was a renouned gun writer, the most prominant shotgun guru of his era. I have some of his original books.

This link is long, has details on the Aslins Superposed and Askins info not otherwise published. http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=124719

DF

^^^^ This is what I prefer too.

The Ithaca 37 in 16 ga is a sweet upland gun!

I just picked up this 1956 Ithaca 37 featherlight today. 12 gauge, 28" full Choke, ventilated rib. It was value priced at $349.99. Some day's you get lucky.

Nice.

You done good.

DF

I have no clue what the most preferred is but I really like my non-ribbed, full choked 37, made is 1948.

It has been a solid gun for me.

I own a handful of Ithaca 37s. Really like the 16ga. One 16ga is a solid rib version, the other vent rib. Haven's shot the VR model as I've been dragging my feet with a needed stock repair.

Getting ready to get serious about looking.

Any tips? Questions to ask seller since I will most likely end up buying over the net?

10g.. I have had a bunch of 37s and I really like them.. When I was a kid 60 years ago several of my older cousins owned them in 16 g. The handled really well and those guys put a lot of rounds through those old guns. I always had a soft spot for them, b ut the one I have never owned is the 16.. Had a 20, and a number of 12s, but never a 16.. If I weren't so old I would still look into one.. But with the little bird hunting I still get to do, I doubt I ever get a 16.. Get one and enjoy.. I do like the older models.. I might be seduced in to an older 16 with a solid rib.. But I am not sure I ever saw one. Enjoy/..

^^^This^^^

You and I don't agree on much but you've hit the nail square on the head on this. When the new Ithaca gun company made a limited run I reserved a deluxe with vt rib , colonial choke tubes, sunburst recoil pad and ring grooved forend. Mine was #269. Everything was fine but the butt stock did not copy the original line in the grip area. I KNOW BECAUSE I have a 37 R in 16 gauge. I shot it for awhile and it went down the road still have the 37R. Mb

Here’s mine. From 1938 a 37S. 26”IC. Sweet upland gun and turning out to be a great skeet gun.

If possible I’d look for a prewar gun, preferably a deluxe with the wraparound checkered pistol grip and checkered forend. If you can’t find one a standard gun from the same era up to the 50s will have the same dimensions minus the fancy checkering. The newer guns from the 60s, 70s, and 80s are just as good mechanically but the stocks became kinda clubby over time.

Hey Mart is that like sudden death and chained blue lightning on ptarmigan? Mb

It is. And purty handy on grouse.

Any idea what serial # I should stay below to get one of the older guns??

Found a Skeet model. Serial number starts with an S and is in the 80k range.

Only thing that kills me is the the skeet choke. Not sure I have much use for a choke that open.

VR barrel too. May swing by this week and drool over it.

Hard to find ones that are choked like that.

I’ve cut down a few of the old full choke models for quail guns.

You’d be shocked just how effective a skeet choked gun is. I have hunted upland with my O/Us for the last 25 years with IC over Skeet. I would have been just as happy with my 37 if it had been choked Skeet. It just happened to be IC and a great deal. That skeet choked 37 wouldn’t slow me down a bit.

Never weighed it. Trust me, it was heavy. Believe the barrel is a good bit heavier/thicker than the original.

Yup dale06, the reproduction managed to lose what the originals had going for them. Call it what you will but my 80+ year old 37r handles with a life of it's own. Mb

Iv never have owned a M37 and shooting lefty I should. Almost bought a older gun last fall that was mint but it was a 12 gage. I really want a 16, one I have 2 M 12s one a 12 trap and. 16 solid rib but with a poly choke.

If there is even the slightest possibility of you wanting to get a slug barrel or change the present barrel for a different choke you need the serial number to be above 855,000 or begin with "37".

Guns with serial numbers that are lower have barrels that are fit to that particular receiver and will not interchange with guns with a serial number above 855,000. The lower numbered barrels will also have the receiver serial number stamped on the barrel. Newer barrels will not have a number stamped.

Guns that have serial numbers that begin with 37 will interchange barrels with other non-serial numbered barrels.

The new "Ithaca" gun co. will take your low numbered receiver and modify it to accept "newer" barrels. Last I knew the service was about $225.00. Keep in mind once the service is completed your old barrel will no longer fit and they'll be happy to sell you new barrels. Your old numbered barrel may be used as a tomato stake...

On a side note. Should you buy an older low numbered gun and a non-matching low numbered barrel there is a chance it could be fit by a competent gunsmith, a chance...

I own of a pair of 16 gauge 37s.

My preference is for models of pre-war vintage with cut checkering on the fore arms and butt stocks. Lightweight guns that swing and point well on upland birds. Choked IC or with opened barrels.

Nice.

I like that one.

DF

Does look fine the quality which demands a quality libation at the end of the shooting day. Mb

Trying different shot size and velocities can be quite instructive on how that gun patterns. Working with Major Askins' Superposed, choked per his specs at 45% and 55%, it was pretty amazing how differently loads can pattern thru open chokes. When you find the optimal combo, hunt with that one.

Check it out.

DF

Here's a link on patterning open chokes with different loads. Check out the previous page, also.

I was wrong, the Super was choked 45% and 50%. https://www.shotgunworld.com/threads/1933-superposed.124719/page-19

DF

Hoping to get mine out this weekend.

No whole gun pics but the stock sure is pretty in the sun. Model 37 R Deluxe. Solid rib and modified choke.

That is exceptional wood.

DF

I concur.

I just picked up a 37 in 16 ga for a decent price. It has a full choke. I’m obviously going to pattern it to see how it shoots but my question is, how difficult or expensive would it be to have the barrel choked to modified or ic? Or would it be better to have it threaded for interchangeable tubes? It would be my primary pheasant gun. Just looking for options if it patterns undesirable.

Thanks

Send it to Briley and have them put thin-walls in. Last I checked cost was in the ballpark of $175 for threading and one choke.

I always wanted a 16 gauge M37 and stumbled across one recently that is a bit of an odd configuration. A 1938 S in full choke. I honestly didn't know what I had until I got home, just knew it was a 16 with a vent rib and the price seemed fair. I'm a big fan of more open chokes and almost passed because of the full choke. Seems odd someone would order a skeet gun in full but I think likely they just wanted the vent rib and I don't think they made the trap version in 16 gauge. Downside is the stock has been cut down to 13" with a pad. I've got a slip on pad on it temporarily to get it back close to standard but haven't had a chance to shoot it yet.

That's an interesting configuration as you say.

The 37S or 37 Skeet was a model rather than specifically a skeet gun. They were available in all the common chokings. Mine is a 26” IC.

Understood. So were the S and T versions the only way to get a vent rib at that time? Yours is really nice looking, mine looks to have been carried a bit more with some bluing loss on the receiver along with stock and forearm wear. No worries as I didn't buy it to collect. I may refinish the stock at some point since it is no longer original anyway and it has some nice grain. Cool guns.

I’m not real well versed in the 37 history but I believe that is true. I don’t think the vent rib was offered in the early years except on the S and T models. I’ll dig out my Ithaca book and see what it says.

A little 37 history from Snyder’s Ithaca book. Looks like the 37S and 37T were offered with the vent rib. In 1940 they made the 37R which had a solid rib. In 1957 the 37S was dropped from the line up. In 1964 they dropped the 37T. The author says that in 1964 the Featherlight models are offered with a vent rib. So I would garner from that information the 37T was the only vent rib model from 1957 to 1964. The 37R was the solid rib. The book doesn’t say when it was dropped.

I sure wouldn’t be afraid of that 37S full choke. Briley can tube it for you or open up the existing choke. I have to say that my 26 inch IC makes a lively upland gun and no slouch on the skeet fields. I shoot it as well as my Beretta O/Us. I think Ithaca will restock it for you if you’d like a longer stock.

Packed mine a couple weeks ago I’m Montana, didn’t get much action as my time was spent filling buck and antelope tags, 2 shots, 2 pheasant…. Was a pleasure to carry for sure…

Very nice! I started looking for a clean one several years ago and they seem to be far and few between.

I got lucky, 10gaugemag turned me onto this one, bout perfect 4 bills. Damn nice scattergun

Not to derail the thread, but the talk of chokes made me wonder: I haven't heard the old "a modified choke in 12 will accept a dime". Is it still valid? Was it ever? I ask because we had an interesting experience regarding it.

It was a dime. No way a quarter would go down any 12 bore. The rule of thumb was if a dime wouldn’t enter the muzzle of a 12 gauge, it was a full choke or tighter.

In reality it wasn’t quite that simple. While generally true, choke is measured by the amount of constriction from the bore diameter to the final choke diameter. So it is possible to have a slightly undersized bore with only enough constriction to be considered a modified choke and still not have a dime enter.

Thank you. I corrected it now. I know damn good and well it is a dime, but my aged brain decided to short out.

I could really like the 16 ga if they ever made it with the English stock in the Featherlight model; did they? But a big obstacle for me, a lefty, is the plunger safety that has to be pushed off from the right side. And I don’t know if that one is reversible.

Ithaca made an English Ultra Featherweight in 12 and 20 I know. I am not sure if they made it in 16. They do offer English stocks for their 37s and I expect they would restock a gun for you.

About a year ago, you could get a new 16ga 37 that was running $1600....customish gun.

The 37 safety can be reversed. RH-LH, LH-RH. Don't believe the trigger group of the Featherlight is any different from the others. My most recent Mod 37 acquisition (a 16ga VR, with a p*ss poor job of reattaching the broken toe) had the safety configured for a LH shooter. Pretty simple to change it over for a RH shooter, which I did.

As to whether Ithaca ever made a 16ga Featherlight with an English stock - can't help you there.

Thanks. Good to know.

I've always had a soft spot for this shotgun. I cut my teeth on a 16-ga M37, solid rib, improved cylinder, ringtail forearm. Quail, dove, rabbit, squirrel...and more quail. If you're a reloader (or a lefty) the bottom ejection is a godsend. And unlike a Sweet 16, it's light enough to not stretch your arms as you chase bird dogs all morning long.

What does a M37 in that configuration weigh?

I wish I had it to weigh, but I'd guess somewhere in the neighborhood of 6.25 - 6.5 pounds. On classic shotguns I've always liked solid ribs over vents for the simple reason that vents can sometimes get a little dented when banging around a duck boat. But there hasn't been a solid rib put on a shotgun for a long, long time now.

Wouldn't a solid rib weigh more than a vent rib or plain barrel?

Probably a couple of ounces at most. I believe it's a hollow rib, so it can't weigh much. I had a 12-guage with two barrels: one plain and one with the solid rib and there really wasn't much perceivable difference. But the one with the rib pointed a lot better for me. BTW, that 12-guage weight just a tad under 7 pounds.

I would love to find a nice older model 20 gauge with 26" plain barrel, IC choke. I do a little rabbit hunting with a couple beagles. That would be a great gun for that.

If a 20 gauge crosses my path before I find a 16 it's coming home with me. Though I would prefer a rib if I had a choice.

Not to hijack the thread but does anyone know of any prewar Model 37’s in 16 gauge for sale? Looking for a 37S or 37T or 37R would consider a standard model also and newer ones just has to be a 16 gauge. Thanks