Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Shout-out to Ithaca Gun Company

I sent a trigger assembly to Ithaca earlier this week to see what was going on with one of my Model 37s. Patrick Huffman found that the pull weight was out of spec (too light), adjusted it, and is returning it to me at no charge, covering it under warranty. This despite the fact that I bought the gun used. A superior product plus superior customer service makes Ithaca a great company to deal with. We are always quick to complain when we get poor customer service from an outfit, so I wanted to give credit to a company that is doing things right.

In this day and time, that is great to hear.
Thanks for letting us know

Great to hear. Love the old Ithaca’s, but the new ones are excellent guns

I have two Ohio-produced Ithaca M37s. Both of mine are 3" chambered guns that developed a (very-common to the M37) timing issue where they would occassionaly dump a 2 3/4" round out onto the ground from the magazine when cycling. I called and spoke to Patrtick and invited me to send them both in for a look. I had both of them back in under 10 days after they were delivered, adjusted, with new springs, and a note from the gunsmith on how to retime should it happen again. At no charge. And with no recurrance of the timing issue.

Not only is Ithaca's CS the best I've encountered with any gun company, the Ohio-produced guns are superb. I've owned two 70's vintage M37s (and still have one) and the two Ohio produced guns. Aside from being a little heavier than the older guns, the newer ones seem to be more refined. The barrels, IMO, are the best made shotgun barrels available today.

Good to hear, I have passed on a couple of older 37's because of the timing issue. They looked well worn and I was a little afraid of what I might be getting into with them. I did not know that you could send them back and get them fixed. Next one I run into, I might have to take a closer look.

The "new" Ithaca in Upper Sandusky, Ohio will work on all Model 37s regardless of when or where it was made. If you have an old M37 that needs a new barrel, they will modify the receiver to accept their "new" barrels.

The timing issue is weird. I never experienced it on older guns, just the newest. Old 3" receivers and new receivers are the same dimensions except for the lower ejection port, which is a tab longer on the new models. I only experienced the timeing issue with 2 3/43" shells, never with 3".

Ithaca's barrels are amazing. The barrel, rib posts, front rib wedge, and bottom lug is forged out of a single piece of steel. None of that stuff is soldered on.

One issue older Ithacas had was that sometimes the rib would come loose and slide forward under recoil. Now adays, Ithaca has forged a little wedge into their barrel just ahead of the rid to prevent that from ever happening. The rib can be slif of rearwards once the top screw is removed and the barrel taken off (though I've never done it and see no reason too unless the rib gets damaged). The rib is now phyically blocked from coming off by the front wedge in the front and the receiver in the rear. They've put a lot of time and effort into their barrels.

I would like to find a 20 ga with vent rib that was not an arm and a leg, but I guess most everyone else would too....

I've asked Ithaca when they plan on producing some 20gs. I'd like an Ohio made 20g. They can't say for sure when they are going to produce another batch of 20gs. They sell out as soon as they become available.

In some ways they are. But they are heavier, since they are designed to handle 3'' shells. The barrels are made heavier for the same reason I suppose, as well as to accommodate choke tubes.

BTW, the trigger assembly arrived back at my doorstep on Saturday. So, a 6 day round trip. Excellent.

Yeah i know the new Ithaca shotguns are very well made but they are so much heavier than the old aluminum reciever models I am not interested....Hb