Opinions On Current Production Ithaca 37

The Ithaca is the nicest pump made currently. There is absolutely no plastic or stamped parts at all, barrel is (interrupted) threaded to the receiver just like the ones built 70 years ago.
I doubt you would gain any reliability over an 870 or 500, and the Ithaca is more expensive than the 870 Wingmaster, and almost 3 times the cost of an 870 Express or Mossberg 500. They do make a defensive model with short barrel and parkerized finish.

My Ithica is my bird hunting go to. Love the lighter carry weight and the bottom eject for right or left shooting. Saw one in a pawn shop with open barrel and old style poly choke. Had poly on an old 16g I started with and really like the versatility. Just couldn't justify the 450 tag.

As has been said, they are the very best pump gun made today.

Unfortunately, their cost will not and cannot be justified in any sort of useful way.

As a side note, Ithaca also makes the very best repeater slug guns for the rapidly diminishing areas which require shotguns for hunting. Once again though, nice as they are, that price cannot be justified in a meaningful way compared to the other options out their.

They are light.....and that’s it.

This is coming from a lefty who is a big Ithaca 37 fan. If you want an Ithaca 37, buy a used one.

I'll say they are this good in my opinion.

A fella made a reproduction trench gun out of one a couple years back which entailed ZERO parts being replaced - rather - only the necessary parts added.

The quality was so high that I was flummoxed as to whether it was an outstanding original or not.

Too, they seem to be seriously underpriced for what they offer.

Todd.

I owned a Kings Ferry Ithaca “87” from 1988. That too was one of the nicest pump guns I have ever seen in person. It was $400 in 2015.

I would look for one of those if you want something more akin to the current Upper Sandusky offerings for a fraction of the price.

I like my '74 M37 more than my '67 Wingmaster. Light and quick to the shoulder for wingshooting. Also the distance to pump is much shorter and quicker. Interrupted barrel thread makes for a very accurate slug gun.

While I was in college in the mid-90's, one of the Denver Metro gun shops had Ithaca M37 Denver PD surplus riot guns for like $200. Of course, before I could get the $$$ together, they sold out.

Buy used. Plenty available on GB, for example. If you buy a Full choked model, you can have Mike Orlen (available on Google) modify it for screw-in chokes - about $70 as I recall.

First shotgun I ever hunted with was an Ithaca Model 37 20 gauge with a 26" plain barrel. Loved it's lightweight for hunting upland game and it was the slickest pump action of any shotgun I ever used.

Have seen the new ones and while they appear to be very well made I can't justify their high prices. I would suggest looking for a older Model 37 that's in decent shape and save your money.

My local dealer has whole bunch of Ithaca guns. After NY allowed rifles in the southern tier shotguns and especially slug guns become less valuable as many switched to rifles. I was thinking of picking up one myself.

I didn't realize Ithaca was still in business. How do their pumps compare to the Browning BPS? Aren't the BPS and 37 extremely similar?

Got mine back in late 70s from a neighbor for $90.

Mr. Mosin said:

One of em recalls seeing em in Vietnam, though I personally question such.

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I believe Ithaca Model 37’s were in Vietnam.

somethingbenign said:

I didn't realize Ithaca was still in business. How do their pumps compare to the Browning BPS? Aren't the BPS and 37 extremely similar?

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Functionally they are very similar both being bottom-load bottom-eject. But the parts are not interchangeable in any way. If you hold both you will find the BPS is a bit heavier and has a close rear-end of the receiver making it noticeable stronger. The slickest pump shotgun I have ever use was one of the original 37s. The 37 is a very smooth action. The newer generation I have handled have never been as smooth as the original or even as smooth as my BPS. If you really like the bottom eject of the 37 at least give the BPS a look. Depending on what you want in your pump gun you may find the BPS a better choice. My BPS is a 3.5 inch Stalker and gets used for Turkey and had been used very hard and still working great. The extra weight is appreciated when touching off the 2.25oz 3.5 inch turkey loads.

It is of my very humble opinion that BPSs are better made than any 870. That doesn’t mean they are better. They handle differently and have slightly different design that could be more friendly to certain people. Pure build quality goes to the BPS when compared to the 870.

somethingbenign said:

I didn't realize Ithaca was still in business. How do their pumps compare to the Browning BPS? Aren't the BPS and 37 extremely similar?

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Ithaca’s are lighter and smoother cycling than the BPS. BPS is easier to field strip because they require no tools.(many say the BPS is hard to put back together. I don’t find this to be the case at all.) BPS has better support for barrels and parts IME. Used market is better for BPS. They are not the same design. Ithaca 37 is more true to the original Browning design which was first utilized in the Remington model 17. The 17 and 37 are very similar in design. The main external differences are the dual action bars and top tang safety of the BPS as well as the more conventional “Remington 870” type of barrel attachment.

cdb1 said:

I believe Ithaca Model 37’s were in Vietnam.

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They were. Some were even equipped with the mythical “duckbill” shot diverter which was supposed to make a circular pattern become a horizontal ellipse. Theoretically that would keep more of the buckshot pellets below the height of the average enemy. I’m not sure they worked fully as intended but the duckbill equipped shotguns were still effective.

Apparently people who were experienced with using shot guns in combat preferred the 37 because it was less prone to malfunction in wet and dirty environments. One could think it was because of having one less opening in the receiver but I tend to think it had more to do with the inherent design.

Does the BPS used stamped sheet metal internals for the shell latch and ejector like the 870 Wingmaster?

dak0ta said:

Does the BPS used stamped sheet metal internals for the shell latch and ejector like the 870 Wingmaster?

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Yes, as I believe most pump guns do. Except in both cases they are properly hardened medium carbon steel not really "sheet metal".

IIRC the BPS does not have an ejector. The lifter fingers throws the spent shell down out of the election port as they move down to catch the next shell being released from the magazine. Gravity is a backup.

In the 70's my hunting buddy had an Ithaca Model 37 (mine was a Remington Model 87). I never felt his gun was better than mine but that never stopped my from liking it. It was (probably still is) a really smooth operating pump action with nice wood & tasteful engraving on the receiver that gave it a nice touch. The only thing I read about them that compared to my 87 made it less desirable was that it only had one rail instead of two in the pump action. That supposedly made it a weaker gun but as far as I know my buddy never had the slightest problem with it.
If I were shopping for another pump shotgun for hunting the Ithaca Model 37 would be on my list.

Charlie Martinez said:

In the 70's my hunting buddy had an Ithaca Model 37 (mine was a Remington Model 87). I never felt his gun was better than mine but that never stopped my from liking it. It was (probably still is) a really smooth operating pump action with nice wood & tasteful engraving on the receiver that gave it a nice touch. The only thing I read about them that compared to my 87 made it less desirable was that it only had one rail instead of two in the pump action. That supposedly made it a weaker gun but as far as I know my buddy never had the slightest problem with it.
If I were shopping for another pump shotgun for hunting the Ithaca Model 37 would be on my list.

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That thing about the single action bar is definitely an imagined disadvantage. Really bad shotguns like the Winchester Model 12 and Stevens 520 family only had one and look how they turned out.

Yeah lack of two action bars is not really a problem. I’m thinking more of a marketing gimmick or it just worked out that way in the design.

One action bar wouldn’t be the reason I didn’t buy a shotgun and two wouldn’t be the reason I bought one.