Ithaca 37 featherweight locked up

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hey_poolboy

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I have an Ithaca 37 that is just flat out locked up. Slide is in the forward position, so carrier group and breech block are in firing position. The slide won't move. I removed the butt stock and the trigger group to no avail. Even sliding the little keeper over on the bottom of the carrier won't allow me to move the slide.
After coming up blank there I also tried removing the barrel to see if I could get it apart from that end. I can't get the barrel off. It is possible that there is a round in the chamber. It's hard to tell and even if there is I can't tell if it's live or spent. Someone else was shooting it, so I'm not sure of the status.....
Looking for ideas on how to finish disassembling.

Thanks
 
Lol! I already figured that much out. ;)

I know we were shooting some of the steel cased Winchester junk. Wonder if it's a spent one in the chamber and it is swelled. I noticed in my 870 that the winchester junk was making the action a lot stiffer.
 
You say you have the trigger group out of it, so I am assuming the butt stock is off the gun it being a Model 37. Did you try dropping the hammer in a safe direction before disassembly? Hard to diagnose with more information or pictures. Please be safe whatever you do forward. Keep us posted on what your plans and/or findings reveal please.
 
I would try a rod down the barrel to see if it has a shell in place - you can likely tell if it is loaded or not the same way - I would give a live round a gentle tap and an empty shell a pretty good whack - I bet the shell is stuck.

I love my 37s and cannot see how the mechanism could cause this failure.
 
.."steel cased Winchester junk..." Yup. That stuff will jam most shotguns. If the shell was fired you're going to have to gently bump the action open by rapping the butt against a hard floor while depressing the slide release. Gently. Look closely at the extractor hook after you get the bolt open. Steel cases will expand but won't retract (much). Brass makes MUCH better ammo cases.
 
Since he already has the butt stock removed along with the trigger plate.

Going with the dowel down the muzzle is the best way to go, beating the butt stock on the ground/floor is a good way to buying a new stock.

The Winchester steel headed shells are well known for sticking in chambers.

By the way get a different gun to loan out, Ithaca's don't deserve to be mistreated that way.
 
The butt stock is indeed off. I'll try to get pictures. In my haste I did forget to mention that before removing the trigger group the trigger would not pull, the safety would not move in either direction and the slide release lever would not move.
I was going to try an oak dowel down the tube to see if it is loaded or not, but I don't have one at the house long enough. I may try a cleaning rod just to measure and see if it's loaded or empty.
 
Great idea to use the cleaning rod to measure and find out if the shell is fired or not.
 
If the trigger would not pull, the safety would not move and the slide release would not operate, the hammer was down. The cleaning rod down the muzzle will tell you if the shell is empty or of it was a dud. My money is on a fired hull stuck in the chamber.
The extractor will keep the barrel from rotating while the bolt is closed so don't try to move it till you get it open. When you do get it open and remove the barrel, give the chamber a good polishing.
 
That's a good fix --- alter the gun because of crappy shells.

Why not just buy better ammo!!!
 
Going with the dowel down the muzzle is the best way to go, beating the butt stock on the ground/floor is a good way to buying a new stock.
Click to expand...

Agree with the above. However, first thing I would do is to use that dowel rod like a ram rod and see where it bottoms out. Mark the rod and then place it alongside the barrel. If it reaches down to the breech, it's empty (or fired). If not, then you've got a live shell in there.
 
4v50 Gary said:
Agree with the above. However, first thing I would do is to use that dowel rod like a ram rod and see where it bottoms out. Mark the rod and then place it alongside the barrel. If it reaches down to the breech, it's empty (or fired). If not, then you've got a live shell in there.
Click to expand...

That was my plan with the cleaning rod. I didn't have a dowel at home long enough. Mine are all cut to length to fit 1911 barrels.

Thank you for the help folks. I did measure and it was indeed an empty that was jammed. I set the end of the receiver on a wood block and had to tap on the pump with a plastic mallet to get it out. Cleaned it well and re-assembled. Good to go. Have to make sure she doesn't get steel ammo anymore.

Thanks again.
 
Thank God for plastic mallets. I cannot believe the crappy ammo we are being sold today. I suppose as long as they can sell it then it's not their problem if it jams your gun.
 
For some reason the Winchester value pak shells won't contract after firing. The steel head expands and stays that way.

The Remington, Federals, and Rio's all have steel heads that are brass plated, magnet sticks to them. And those shells do not have that problem, just the Winchesters.
 
The brass (plating or solid) has a higher lubricity (slicker) than steel. There was a reason that brass and copper was chosen when self contained cartridges were developed.
 
Barss and copper was used because it was easier to work with, back in the day they did not have the carbide tooling to draw steel cases.
 
I need to defend my clean the chamber statement. These crappy shells leave a residue in the chamber that can lead to lock ups. Even Winchester steel base shells should work in a slick, clean chamber. If they locked up every shotgun they were used in, Winchester could not give them away.
 
Winchester doesn't give them away.

But Winchester loads them as wally world wants, that is cheap!!

Clean is one thing, but too many times in the past the advice is to use ScotchBrite and the electric drill motor.

Try polishing your nicely blued gun with Scotch Brite , your gun smith will love you after he reblue's the gun.
 
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