Ithaca 37 slide lock troubleshooting

[Virg1L]

Good evening, Gentlemen.

I inherited a late 70's Ithaca 37 from my late grandmother a few years ago. I've never fired it, and only taken it down and cleaned it a few times. When I got it, everything seemed to be in good working order. However, the last time I reassembled it, the pump/slide would not lock forward. Of course, I looked all over the net and always came to a dead end, even on this site, where in '06 a thread was made regarding this exact issue. There was only one reply; a link that is now a 404 redirection. I recently took the 37 out of its case to do some routine maintenance, and decided to fix this once and for all. If anyone here knows how to fix this I would be eternally grateful.

Also, ever since I got it, the receiver has been missing one of the tiny carrier-lock screws that holds the larger carrier screw in place. Again, I have searched high and low for a source for replacementsbut have yet to find a single mention of it. If anyone has a customer service number or better-yet a link to purchase one, I'd be much obliged.

TL;DR: hoping to find out how to fix the slide on ithaca 37 from not locking forward and also need source to order replacement carrier-lock screw.

http://stevespages.com/pdf/ithaca_3787.pdf

Thanks for the help.

 

[wlewisiii]

Go here: http://www.diamondgunsmithing.com/

From everything I have heard, he's the Man for Ithacas. I've never needed his services but if anything ever goes wrong with our 37's he'd be the first place I'd call.

 

[grandpa1466]

I have a late 70s Model 37 as well. I found a gunsmith in Stephenville, Texas who fixed an ejector problem that another gunsmith could never figure out. Shumaker GunWorks is inside Star Arms gun store. He does good work. Contact info is at this website:
http://www.stararmsllc.net/Home.php

 

[Virg1L]

Appreciate the links. Will look into them once they open tomorrow. I will say that I doubt it should should need a smith's services, or at least hope. I get the feeling that the last time I disassembled it, I probably messed with something I shouldn't have.

Thanks for the help and if anyone has had this problem before please put your $.02 in. I have it disassembled now so I'm going to put it together and run some snap caps through it to see if I also have an ejection problem that I have read a lot about. TTYL

 

[pps]

Ithica is back in business. They can fix it, or they can provide you with the parts.

http://www.ithacagun.com/

 

[stan rose]

Diamond Gunsmithing is an excellent business to deal with. The slide release on the Ithaca 37 can easily be replaced. I had an issue with one that I was shooting two to three times a week, and once I shouldered it and the forearm just slid right back and the action was open. The "little finger" on the slide stop was just missing the under side of the bolt.A call was placed to Les at Diamond Gunsmithing, I was instructed to purchase a new slide stop and a spare set of springs. I tried just replacing the spring which did not work in my case, I then replaced the entire piece, the stop was a little heavy so when you pressed the release the bolt still caught by just a little, judicious filing took care of that, the entire repair took about an hour or so, if the slide stop did not need to be removed and filed, tested and filed again it would have taken fifteen minutes. Ithaca guns has the parts you need.

 

[jaguarxk120]

Sounds as if there is dried oil/dirt in the trigger group. It needs a complete disassembly and cleaning/lube. Not a hard thing to do. The factory service manual can be downloaded from www.shotgunworld.com in the Ithaca forum.

As far as replacement parts just call Zak at Ithaca 419-294-4113 and he will help you out.

Remember this, the butt stock HAS to be removed first before trying to taking the action apart.

 

[Milkmaster]

Remember this, the butt stock HAS to be removed first before trying to taking the action apart.

YEP! That one fact has caused a few 37's to be damaged during reassembly. Take off the stock and the world of the 37 will be revealed in a lot nicer manner. I have found the new Ithaca gun company to be very helpful. They sold me a replacement stock for my 1964 model at a very reasonable cost.

 

[Virg1L]

fixed

Before I had a chance to call a smith my dad took the initiative and fixed it.
Simple fix: he looked at this thread, followed y'alls advice cleaning/lubing the trigger plate group and for good measure lightly popped the spring to give it proper tension. Ran snap caps through it for about 50 cycles and it works great. Thank all of you for the input, I really do appreciate it.

All I gotta to now is call ithaca for some replacement screws.

Quick question while I have your attention: I'm told grandma bought this in 1979. D o any of you know by date or by serial # when they stopped making 37's that could slam-fire?

 

[Southpaw 02]

Unless it is a police model the slam-fire feature was discontinued in 1975.