16ga.com ~ View topic - Model 37

Joined: 04 Mar 2019 Posts: 1914 Location: Central ND

All the guns that I am referring to are 16 gauge .

I bought a Model 37 from a friend back about 2009 or so, it cost me $150.00. Nothing outstanding about it. It's a 1955 model, 28" barrel w/modified choke, weighs in at 6 lbs. 4.5 oz.. No checkering, corncob forend. Nice condition. Never really used it much, just like the previous owner. I shot a couple of rounds of skeet, shot a few Connecticut barnyard roosters with it, but it mostly sat in the safe. Until last fall when a friend thought that we should shoot pumpguns on the sporting clays course for bragging rights. I have a nice Model 12, but it doesn't fit all that well. My 870 has been transformed into a turkey gun. So the Model 37 was it. I shot it well enough to tie him, and a 42 out of 50 for a shotgun I hadn't used much wasn't half bad.

After the sporting clays, I was thinking, hey maybe I should try it out for pheasant hunting. Wow, not half bad, matter of fact, pretty ******* good.

I took the 37 dove and grouse hunting a few days ago, in Nebraska. We didn't find many grouse, but we found dove and I shot the 37 lights out on the dove. We were in the middle of a 1/4 section of wheat, with stubble about 18" high, (you don't see that much anymore) and a pond at the north end. I've never shot that well in my life and some of the shots were over 50 yards. I only needed the second shot for two birds of a 15 bird limit. I did miss one completely.......and I have a witness!

What makes this so different for me, is #1 this is the only shotgun I have ever picked up that doesn't need more drop and more cast off. #2 I normally HATE shotguns that weigh less than 7 lbs. Mostly because they feel like all the weight is in the butt stock, which I also HATE.

Anybody else ever had this kind of nice surprise, with a shotgun they originally bought only because it was in good shape and a 16 gauge?

Kinda, sorta, in a round about way...but not really.

I've bought plenty of cheapies, none that surprised me like that, though the Sarasqueta did open my eyes when I scored a 23 with it first time I used it. It cost much less than $1k, but it still wasn't in that category. I still put up good scores with it, have only hunted it 4 days so far.

My Lightning Feather surprised the heck out of me when I had to use it in a shoot-off match after using the White Lightning all season, and then again at my first registered match. But again, not the nice $150 type of surprise.

Your comments on light guns and balance (butt stock weight) ring true with me. After the LF surprise I have been looking into balance points on my guns. I shoot better with more forward heavy guns, regardless of weight. Lots of research and opinions out there saying that the balance point should be at the midpoint between the hands, and although that bears out with my guns, it seems like it's more a matter of preference & shooting style. There are just as many opinions for the opposite. Weight is simply about lasting the whole day and/or being able to mount quicker for me. My Flues & the WL weigh essentially the same, but the Flues is just a bit more forward balanced due to the hollow stock, and I now attribute some eye- opening shots I made with it to that balance.

Joined: 08 Feb 2009 Posts: 1356 Location: Western WA

Mark your observations have a familiar ring. I came across a couple guns like yours, a 2 1/2” 16ga M12 and the M37 I’m using now. Both are about 6 1/4 lbs, and shoot like lightning in a bottle. What a nice suprise to find them!

But another point you make is critical: You can only judge a gun by its performance in the field or the range, not in the showroom. I have a couple other shotguns, a 20 and 28, that felt wonderful at the counter (aiming at light bulbs), and which satisfied all the accepted criteria of weight distribution and balance, but are utterly useless to me to actually shoot, for various reasons . The might serve me better as umbrella stands or window prop.

Thanks for your note, nice find.

B.

Joined: 04 Mar 2019 Posts: 1914 Location: Central ND

Brewster11,

I have a Citori that feels right, but I struggle to shoot it well......I am at a loss as to why. Still working on it though.

Member Joined: 30 Nov 2011 Posts: 1714 Location: Minnesota

Ive had several 16ga M37s. Currently a 1940 20ga 28 inch. Had the choke opened to 14 which seems great for pheasants. Also a 1948 16ga 26in,factory IC which measures out to 8 pts. The 37s are THE upland pumps for me. Model 12s just dont fit/feel good.

Joined: 04 Mar 2019 Posts: 1914 Location: Central ND

Savage16,

My Model 12 feels OK, but I need to get it fit. It needs more drop and 3/8" or so of cast off....but I don't believe I will shoot it as well as the Model 37.

I shoot an occasional round of Wobble Trap at a local club. It is an interesting set up that is a good warm up for bird hunting over dogs. It has 5 stations. Stations 1 and 2 and 4 and 5 are on either side, and even with, the trap. Station 3 is positioned on top of the trap house.

One single and two report pairs are shot on each station. Most shots are 20 - 35 yards, and a second shot is allowed on misses when shooting the single targets.

I generally hunt upland game with my 16ga Marlin Model 90's or a 16ga Ithaca Model 37, typically choked IC/Mod. I never had a 25 straight with those guns on that course

Imagine my surprise when I got a 25 straight the first time I shot my 16 ga Eastern Arms 101.7 (5100 frame) SxS weighing 7.1 Lbs.

Joined: 08 Mar 2022 Posts: 104

My brother-in-law, now deceased, was a big fan of his 37. We shot clays many a times over the years and he used many different shotguns, but when it came time for hunting, it was always that Ithaca. Before he passed, all of his guns were sold, except for that Ithaca, which was handed down to my nephew, where it sits, unfortunately, in his closet....

Joined: 09 Dec 2012 Posts: 709

There is only one detail that can make a mid to late 50's/early 60's 16 ga Ithaca 37 better and that is a late 40's to early 50's buttstock.

In fact Ithaca had what was deemed the "Deluxe Standard Grade" that used the early style buttstock with a beaver tail fore end, instead of the ring cut one.

As the company was cutting costs, they did away with the cut checkering and (in my opinion) made it thicker through the wrist to try and deal with the dreaded "Ithaca crack".

Which can be alleviated quite a bit by making sure the buttstock screw is appropriately tight and not over oiling and storing the gun standing muzzle up (which causes the wood to get oil soaked).

I have converted all my post 1954, including the interchangeable barrel models, to early 50's stocks and I actually have a 1957 Deluxe Standard Grade.

For some people, a pre-war stock is even better as they have different drop at comb and toe dimensions.