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Joined: 09 Dec 2012 Posts: 691

This is my 1951 Ithaca 37 16ga. It is marked FULL, but sometime in its history, it was opened to Improved Mod.

I had this gun finished. HAD.

I had ruined the blue on the barrel within a couple days of having it back the first time trying to blacken the rib post solder. BE ADVISED solder blackener will destroy a blued finish and etch the metal. It's a hot blue of course.

So I had to strip and repolish the barrel. It is almost done. Next week it will go to be blued along with the 1957 16 ga that I am completely redoing.

I wanted a high polish gun, so that is what I made for myself. I have a granite surface plate that I put abrasive paper on to keep the sides flat and the edges crisp. You can look on gunbroker and see guns that have been refinished, the first tip-off is muddied out edges.

I take pride in keeping the edges crisp and sharp and if you click on the pictures, they will expand and you can see the sharpness of the edges. I polish by hand (I must admit I don't know how to use a buffing wheel), however, the receiver flats are absolutely flat and the transition to the top radius is sharp. This all goes back to the kind of work I did before starting to write software for big corporations.

That is my I-phone you can see reflecting in the receiver.

Once everything is back, I might redo another wood set for this gun using a darker stain. This was my first attempt at Tru-oil. I have some of the old Winchester Red stock oil. That might look nice. Or, I will brew up a concoction using MinWas Gunstock, along with some other colors (similar to how car paint is blended) and come up with a pleasing color.

Of course, this is not going to be a hunting gun.

Looking in the photo, I can see that I missed the bolt that holds the trigger pack in. That is going to have to be replaced with one that has fresh bluing. The right side shell stop pivot pin is going to get a some Oxpho blue gel also.

Its amazing what you see when you post a photo. I had been so disappointed in myself, that this gun has sat for a few years. Ruining the barrel generated one of those Ohno seconds for me, you know, a Nano second is a sliver of time, an Ohno second is that sliver of time when you realize how bad you just effed up.

Member Joined: 09 Jan 2013 Posts: 2170 Location: Florida

Great job, should look really nice when it's done.

Joined: 09 Dec 2012 Posts: 691

Thanks. When I was younger I had really wanted to end up being a gunsmith doing really fine work, but the operations on my hand ended that. I was actually even talking to Browning about coming to work for them.

I enjoy working with metal. All of us have a medium we like to work with, metal is mine. I could do things with machine tools that others only tried, cutting and working with metal just made sense.

Some people weld, cut and make works of art. I got deep satisfaction from making things precise that also looked really good.

I have single shot rifles that I have done the wood on also.

Dave, nice work. Stock is looking great. Be sure to show us the "after". Gil

Joined: 10 Sep 2022 Posts: 2 Location: Lexington KY

I’m very interested in your project. I have a 1954 m37 I picked up cheap at a pawn shop that needs rebluing. Where are you having yours done? Did you have the receiver done before? Any tips or advice? Thank you.

Joined: 08 Feb 2009 Posts: 1310 Location: Western WA

The M37 is a superior 16ga repeater, very deserving of of your attention. I’ve always admired quarter sawn American Walnut stocks, strong but not heavy. Your treatment is ideal, such a classic look, hard to improve on that.

B.

Super nice work, Dave. The polishing looks great. Can you tell us to what grits you polished, and the polishing sequence around all the details of the rib and it's posts. Also, will you have it rust blued (Belgian blue in some people's words), or hot salts blued? If rust blued, can they still effectively card off the converted black oxide around the rib, the posts and the donuts between rusting stages? If you use the hot salts process, will that negatively affect the rib post solder joints? From what I read, the highest temp for hot salts bluing is about 290 degrees F. It seems that should not affect even soft solder, yet I hear folks say only use cold rust blue when the parts have soft-soldered joints. Let us know the details and choices if you would, please.

Can't wait to see how it all comes out.

Best Regards,
Tony

P.S. -- I'd like to improve a couple of Model 12's and a Remington Model 17, all having solid, matted ribs. I know there are places out there that do bluing work, but I've seen the lines and edges on the receivers take a beating during the typical over-enthusiastic wheel polishing, and they do not come out looking well. Anyway, you're experience and techniques would be most interesting to me. Thanks for anything you can relate.

Joined: 05 Nov 2017 Posts: 17

The wood finish is very nice. I did the "unthinkable" years ago and cut off the pistol grip and shaved the stock into an English grip. I just prefer them and to my eye it just looked better. I used waterlox as a finish and it's very waterproof and tough.

Joined: 09 Dec 2012 Posts: 691

I finally have the gun all finished. Oil on the barrel looks like flaws since it is so polished.

I have one more complete set of receiver screws just waiting for the day (if ever) that I take on restoring another stray.

Joined: 04 Mar 2019 Posts: 1844 Location: Central ND

Beautiful!!