I bought two sequentially numbered Ithaca Model 37s directly from Ithaca a few years ago. Serial numbers ####44 and ####45. This is the "new" Ithaca in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. One of them has a 24" rifled slug barrel (and a spare 28" vent rib barrel) and is my primary deer shotgun. The other sports a 26" vent rib barrel. I've shot them quite a bit and have been pleased with them. Both are chambered for 3" rounds.

The M37 with the slug barrel developed a timing issue, which was particularly apparent when cycling Hornady SST slug rounds through it. Occasionally, I would fire a round, cycle the action, and the next round would come out of the magazine and fall to the ground, not having been picked up by the carrier. On a couple of occasions, it would double feed a round into the receiver and jam the gun, and I would have to push the second round back into the magazine.

This isn't necessarily a quality issue. It's an issue inherent in the design. I've owned several M37s made by different Ithaca companies and occasionally it happened with those, too. Depending on the ammo. Other's have reported similar issues. And many of the Hornady shotgun shells I have are out of round, have wonky rims, and are different lengths than Federal and Remington 2 3/4" shells.

So I called Ithaca in Upper Sandusky. A live person answered and it was precisely the person I needed to speak to. No call transfers. I was greeted warmly and the service rep referred to me by name. He asked how my M37s that I bought on ##/##/20## were doing. Told them what was happening. He asked me to send both guns in to be checked by their gunsmith, though I only experienced the issue in one of them. They sent me a prepaid shipping label. I boxed them up and sent them in. They were there less than one week before I got a notice that the work was complete. The gunsmith not only fixed the timing, put in new shell stop springs, and honed some parts, Ithaca installed a rear sling swivel stud on my slug gun at no charge (I requested the stud at my expense). I told them I appreciated the quick turn around and was told in return that Ithaca immediately moves any warranty issue to the front of the service line, that they take pride in their product and stand by them. I got my shotguns back in factory boxes, along with a note from the gunsmith explaining exactly what he did and how to minimize timing issues. They also work on previous Model 37s not made by them. Two M37, there and back in right about 10 days.

That's how you run a gun company. And now I've added a new sling that isn't a butt cradle type.

Sounds like great service by them. I bought one of the new 16 ga guns of theirs. Nice looking, functioned perfectly but was heavy. I ended up selling it.

Had the same type of response with a 37 28 Gauge that had a timing issue. At first we thought it was a bolt issue, so they sent me a new one. When that didn't work, I sent it back and they fixed it. They said to keep the new bolt and no need to pay for it.

Great service...but it is much easier when the company is small and few people get involved in the process.

Great to hear.

I've had the same experience with Weatherby as well.

Thanks for the report. We always hear about bad service but far too often don't get the good reports.

Wow, just wow.

Almost unheard of in this day and age.

Great to hear!

Made in the USA!

Read a lot about the Company,and how they got started, a few yrs back, about an hour North West of me.

They are truly keeping a great old name in Fire Arms alive!

Great. Guns. Not cheap, but well worth the dollars

I'll throw in a plug for Marble Arms. The sights on my Ithaca are Marbles. The rear windage and elevation screws are tiny and are very easily boogered. Marbles apparently doesn't sell direct to the public, so I sent them an e-mail asking where I could buy spare windage and elevation screws. The man wrote back and said if I gave them my address they would just send me some at no charge. I did. Yesterday, I got a half dozen of each in the mail.

Marble Arms. Another outstanding all-American company.

Yep.

The problem the OP described isn't that uncommon with the 37. I'm glad to hear about their stellar CS.

I have a 28 ga Ohio 37 and like it a lot.

DF

Bottom ejection is a nice feature but making the carrier accommodate that brings its own issues.

Does the Browning BPS suffer from the same issue?

I've dealt with Marble Arms as well; great to deal with.

No.

StudDuck is right. I've owned a couple of BPS and never had that issue. BPSs are very reliable and fine pumps.

The 37 is a somewhat complex gun IMO. A John Browning design. According to Ithaca's gunsmith, there are mainly two ways the 37 can get out of timing. One is for the shell stop spring to wear and not hold shells until the right time. This can be fixed with a new spring. The other way is to shuck unfired shells through it, which I, admittedly, did do. That timing can be reset, according to him, by firing a round and then cycling the action fully. I did have an issue firing a round and cycling the action, so I don't know. It seems to be doing okay, now. Apparently, the preferred method of getting rounds out of the tube on a 37 is to manually depress the shell stop. I tend to cycle them and saw the majority of my issues.

I do think the Hornady shells were partly to blame. Not only were many of the plastic hulls out of round, the rim diameter seems a hair smaller than Federal and Remington. The rim seems thinner, and the top of the rim has a steeper angle than the Feds or Rems. I was cussing the gun until I started having feeding problems with the same shells in my Savage 212. That Savage was having a hard time chambering and extracting Hornadys, though it would cycle Feds and Rems just fine. The dual extractors were just not holding onto the rim consistently.

Anyways, all fixed now.

Oh, and by the way. New Ithaca M37 barrels aren't like 37 barrels in the past. They are no longer "Roto Forged." Now, the barrel and the vent rib posts are made out of one piece of steel and the rib is slid onto dovetails then screwed into place, so if you ever damage the rib, you can slide it off and put a new one on. The part that the end cap tightens into is also once piece with the barrel. On the Deerslayer barrel in the picture, the part that the end cap tightens against, and the block ahead of it that the sling stud screws into, is also one piece with the barrel. None of these pieces are soldered on. The barrel and all those protuberances are all made out of one piece of steel. It's pretty impressive. I suppose that contributes to the cost of their barrels. I also like that the vent rib barrels aren't back-bored.

Good information, thanks. I have been keeping an eye out locally for a M37 20 gauge. Hoping for an older corn cob forearm era. There is a BPS 20 in a local shop but it seems heavier and bulky compared to a M37.

BPS is gonna be bulkier and heavier than the original Ithaca 37. Newer Ohio guns may be heavier than the older ones.

DF

My M37s both have 3" chambers. My previous ones had 2 3/4" receivers and chambers. The new ones aren't heavy, but you're right, they are heavier than the older ones.

I got this one around 10 yrs ago from Collectors Firearms in Houston. It's a first year 20 with solid rib. The barrel was rust blued, the receiver hot blued. You can look closely and tell the difference. The metal was as is, the wood was a mess. Paid $275.

I reworked the wood, recut the checkering. Interestingly discovered that the forearm was 18 lpi, the stock 20 lpi. The only explanation I could find was the concept of a cottage industry like in Spain, where piece work was farmed out. So, I guess different workers checkered the forearm and stock.

It has a Deluxe Polychoke, which at first was a turn off. Even thought about cutting it and installing choke tubes. But the gun is light and I was concerned that it may be too "whippy" without the Polychoke. Besides Polychokes were vintage and the gun is vintage. It has grown on me.

I changed the pitch of the butt plate, not liking the original as much as my Browning Superlight. So the Ithaca now mimics the Superlight. I was criticized on another forum for altering a first year 20 ga. stock. I replied if the gun was valuable, it wouldn't have sold for $275 from a major dealer. I sorta see his point, as these original stocks are hard to find. But, the gun suits me and altering it didn't bother me nearly as much as it bothered him.


DF





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I don't have a picture of my first Ithaca. But I got it at Wilcox Bait and Tackle around 1979. It was the first firearm of ever owned. It had a 26" fixed improved cylinder choke. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to use buckshot in an IC choke back then. Neither did any deer I took. But then I discovered it would fire foster slugs like no ones business. I could break bottles with it at 75 paces. Just aim down the rib like a rifle. I had that gun for a lot of years and ended up trading it for something "cooler." Didn't take long to regret it. Picked up another used one years later, but it wasn't the same. Sold that. And was Ithaca-less until I got my current Ithacas some years ago. Still not the same, but the wear and tear is mine.

My first Ithaca M37 Featherlight looked like this with a 26" barrel and no sling attachment.

That is about perfect.

Thanks.

I sorta lucked up on that one. It is a great gun, handles as good as it looks.

1939 was first year the 20 ga. was produced. They sorta get slick after 82 years or so.

Note the smaller Pre-war trigger guard.

DF

Current mfg. Ohio 28 ga. vs. 1939 37R, 20 ga.

The older gun seems to have more drop, but they handle about the same. I don't really like the looks of the Ohio pistol grip, but they handle well. The larger, tighter pistol grip isn't as sleek, IMO.

New gun isn't as smooth as the older one, but works well. Maybe after 80 yrs or so, it'll be as slick. Doubt I'll be around to confirm

DF.

New gun actually has nicer wood. When I got it, it had too much dark coloring in the checkering, didn't match the forearm. So, I re-cut the stock checkering, forearm untouched. To me, they match better.

I also replaced the OEM pad with a thinner one. Seems to handle better for me.

DF

Always liked the 37's, never owned one but liked them none the less. Always thought the bottom eject was cool

Good deal for South Paws. Just reverse the safety and you're good to go.

My Ohio gun throws empties way forward, the old gun, straight down.

DF

I shot left handed back when I was in my teens. I am left handed and that is why I really liked them so much. I had an 870 and my best friend was also left handed and he had the 37. I would come in after shooting with streaks of black on my face from hulls hitting my check after shooting my 870. He was a much better shot than I was until one day he said "which is your dominate eye"? After checking we found out that I was right eyed so after changing the world around and starting to shoot right handed the 870 was not so bad. I was not such a bad shot after I practiced a little right handed either.
After all that, I still loved to shoot his 37.