Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Ithica 37 vs. Winchester 12

These are certainly two iconic shotguns. Anyone out there with experience with both?

I've got a 60 some year old Ithaca 37 20 guage that is just flat out fun to hunt with. Weighs nothing and I hit pretty good with it. I wish it weren't a full choke, but I'm leaving it as it is.

Grandpa's got a model 12 12 guage that I carried a few times in my youth pheasant hunting, it couldn't have had more than a handful of boxes of shells through it in its life.

Can't do a good comparison as it was 12 versus 20 and its been close to 20 years since I carried the model 12. So in conclusion, my post is worthless.

I have 3 pre64 model 12's and a 50's model 37 and a '79 ultra
Featherweight. The 12's are built heavier and will undoubtably
last longer if you shoot them to death. The 37's carry so darn nice
and Ive never shot one til it broke. I love'em all but wouldnt care
for a 37 in 12 gauge. Two different but wonderful shotguns in my
opinion. 21

I have used both..plus 870's, 31's, 97's and some odd balls like the J. C. Higgins..I love pump guns..my first pump was a 37 in 20 ga. then a host of others..Both the model 12 and 37 have pluses an minuses..the model 12 is heavier and for the most part the stocks fit me better..the side ejections makes it easy to see if you have a round in the chamber, and also load singles if you are shooting trap, or run into the mother load of ringnecks..

The 37 is ligher, and the bottom ejection throws empties near your feet, and lets less junk get into the action..Personally, for hunting the uplands, I like the 37..mine is an older model with a solid rib. By next fall I will have the choke opened to modified..I like the 12 bore, due to the variety of loads I can use in it..but I do a lot of traveling and hunt a variety of game..for a specific area, a 20 might be just as good..

the simple thing is buy both...

Both are classics and each has its own personality.

Like noted above, the M-12 is heavier and a real tough work horse of a gun.

The 37 is lighter and easier to carry. It may not be as robust as a M-12, but a good action, nevertheless.

I have a first year solid rib 20 ga. M-37 with a Deluxe Polychoke. It's a really nice gun. I've had M-12's before, but traded them along the way. I could hit better with a Rem 1100, so I have several of them.

I have owned several Model 12's and several Model 37's and which one is the best depends on your taste and likes in a Shotgun . I believe the Model 12 is a better made shotgun , but like both. If i could have only one pump shotgun it would be the Winchester Model 97

About as nice a one as I've seen.

I own both and have hunted with both - I lean toward's old Winchesters, but the M37 gives nothing up as a fine, classic pump action shotgun.

what they said..........

Thanks.

I was fortunate to find it at Collectors Firerams in Houston for a good price, IIRC $275 or similar. The wood was in bad shape, the metal as you see it. I was able to restore the wood and recut the checkering.

DF

I had a great uncle who was a big time trap shooter and owned a large hardware store in our town. He always drove used cars and was very frugal. He bought his first new car, a 50's Buick Roadmaster. He was really proud of that car.

I was in the market for a shotgun as a teenager, had picked up pecans to pay for it. I liked the 37 and the M-12, so I asked my uncle which one he would choose. His comment, the Ithaca is like a Ford, the Winchester, like a Buick. So, I got the Model 12. Back then they retailed for $109. My Dad was able to get me one for $80 wholesale. Now, that was a while back...

DF

both are awesome......

I have hunted many years with both and lean towards the other member's comments regarding ease of carry and toughness.

My 37's are slick and southpaw friendly and easy to carry and swing nicely.

the 12's are rugged, balanced and also point beautifully. They all have needed a break in period and the adjuster on the barrel threads is a nice feature. I have never needed to adjust one.

Both handsomely styled and built.

Hot tip: Unless you are a savvy mechanic, do not try to disassemble either one too far!! Don't ask me how I know this....

You will definitely want to buy at least one of each!!

I like both equally well, although I did have a 37 that would shuck a live round out of the magazine tube when fired. Shame to, because it was a 16 gauge, but it went down the road.

I have owned two 37's that did the same thing and i was young and Gunsmith Illiterate, so traded them .

I think the 37 feed is more quirky than the M-12. You don't hear about M-12's doing that.

Set up right, the 37 is a wonderful action with lots of advantages. Parts can wear and become out of adjustment more often than with the M-12.

Someone mentioned the Win '97. It isn't the gun the M-12 is, IMHO. You hardly ever see a M-12 so worn than that it's not repairable. Not so with the '97. And the M-12 isn't associated with accidental discharges as much as the '97; never called the "widow maker" to the best of my knowledge.

And I have two '97's no M-12's. Not bashing the '97, just saying...

DF

I love my 37; have never had a 12, but would like to. Not to hijack the thread, but the mention of the Buick Roadhog reminded me of Dad towing me (on my sled)around town on the packed snow of the streets behind a '53. (The thing easily had as much steel as a Sherman tank.) I had a long rope tied to my sled and fed around the rear bumper and back to me. I held the end. If trouble developed, my instructions were to let go of the rope and steer for the snow bank to the right. Can you imagine how quick they would have Dad locked up if we were to do that today? Sorry, back to the (very good) topic at hand.

Dirtfarmer, you ever feel like selling that prewar 37, 20ga give me a call. I need it to round out my collection. It will fit nice between the 16ga and 12ga prewar's in my safe.

I'll build you a longbow for it

I don't collect the mod 12's, too heavy and clunky.

Started to purchase the Browning mod 12 in 20 ga. but shop wanted way too much.

My dad did the same thing for us, only with a '50 Ford, and we weren't smart enough to do the rope trick you described. Different times...

For HS graduation, my dad bought me a new 12 gauge M37 Ithaca. I still have it, pretty much for sentimental reasons for I've been a double gun man for quite a while now. Still, a couple of other shuckers went away while the Ithaca stayed- a M12 and an 870.

This debate has gone on since 1917, when Remington bought the patent from John Browning and started making the Remington 17. Ithaca didn't get into the pump gun end of the business until the patent expired, by which time Remington had introduced the Model 31. The 17 I had the privilege of trying out was one heck of a nice, light gun.

I think I would like a M12 in 12 ga for shooting a lot and walking a little, a M37 (or M17 if I could find a decent one) in 20 ga for walking a lot and shooting a little, and a M31 in 16 ga for the sake of completeness.

I have never messed with M97s much. I think they represent Browning's level of development in pumpsters in 1897, and the M17 was his mature thought after taking another 20 years to think about it. Lee Marvin did a heck of a job with his in "The Professionals" though, didn't he?