Anyone ever fire a short barreled Ithaca Model 37?

[bushmaster1313]

As a resident of New Jersey it's no NFA guns for me.

However, I can speculate that a short barreled Ithaca Model 37 with a shortened stock (11.5 inches) would make an excellent short barreled shotgun for close in work.

This would be a relatively light shotgun, so perhaps 16 or 20 gauge would be better than 12 gauge.

Can anyone report on whether a light and short Ithaca 37 is a controllable weapon?

What kind of range would it have with slugs?

Related question:
In firing a short barreled shotgun is the perceived muzzle blast significantly greater than with a barrel that is 18.5 inches?

 

[Warners]

I have an Ithaca 37 featherweight riot gun (12 gauge), 20" cylinder barrel, and no recoil pad. It shoots fine and with the target loads I've shot through it, the recoil is not bad at all. My son shot it last year with the same loads....he weighed about 90 pounds at the time, and didn't complain about recoil. I'm not sure what your question is exactly, but from a recoil standpoint I didn't find it too bad at all. Very controllable.

Warner


EDIT: I just read your post more carefully.....I guess my gun doesn't qualify as a "short" barrel in reference to your post. Here in IL, 18" is the minimum legal length....

 

[bushmaster1313]

I have an Ithaca 37 featherweight riot gun (12 gauge), 20" cylinder barrel, and no recoil pad. It shoots fine and with the target loads I've shot through it, the recoil is not bad at all. My son shot it last year with the same loads....he weighed about 90 pounds at the time, and didn't complain about recoil. I'm not sure what your question is exactly, but from a recoil standpoint I didn't find it too bad at all. Very controllable.

My question relates to whether it would still be controllable if the barrel were cut down almost to the magazine nut (making it an NFA short barreled shotgun), and whether the perceived muzzle blast would be significantly increased.

 

[PJR]

I have a 14" Remington 870 and it is definitely louder with increased muzzle flash than when it's used with the 20" barrel. I can't comment on the Ithaca but the Remington is no less controllable with the shorter barrel but I prefer the longer barrel unless storage and space become issues.

 

[Youngster]

I've never fired an SBS '37 but if its like every other SBS pump I've fired then recoil shouldn't be any physically worse than its riot length counterpart.

Muzzle blast and noise is another story however, my 870 wearing its 12.5" bbl totally ups the blast, flash and noise ante compared to the same gun with a 18.5" bbl.

I would hate to have to shoot that thing in an enclosed space without hearing protection.