Ithaca M37 vs. High Standard Flite King

[Grunt]

My last poll of which is the best shotgun of all time, the Winchester Model 12 or the Remington 870 is turning out to be pretty interesting and fairly evenly split (25 to 23 the last time I looked) in the voting. That got me to thinking of another question as to which one is better, the Ithaca 37 or the High Standard Flite King. I guess Ithaca is back into producing the Model 37 again for the time being but with so many problems starting and stopping, being bought up then going bankrupt again, I tend to see the Ithaca as as discontinued model as is the High Standard Flite King. So between these two "discontinued" models, which one do you think is the better gun?

 

[Fred Fuller]

This one's more of a fair comparison imho. Both are very similar in lots of ways. Given a good condition example of each, I can't say that I see much difference- both are excellent pumpguns from a bygone era.

Both have steel receivers. Both use the same sort of tipping bolt locking system. Both have a single action bar. A major difference is that the High Standard design has a side ejection port and loads from the bottom, while the 37 both loads and ejects from the bottom, making it a bit more friendly for the left handed shooter.

The High Standard design (prototyped in 1950, by Fred Humeston, formerly of Winchester- his name is on the basic patent covering the M1 carbine) is a little later than the 37 (1937), but both are from the same basic era of American manufacturing.

Another difference is that the 37 is a takedown gun- its barrel can be easily removed. The High Standard has a screw-in barrel that is more or less permanently affixed, save for a handful of late production Deluxe models.

IMHO a lot more people are familiar with the 37, so I will spend a bit of time discussing the High Standard. I've been working with one of the High Standard riot guns lately, just for experiment's sake. Here at hand in the position usually occupied by one of the 870 house guns is a recently acquired High Standard Flite King Riot Model K-102, a retired veteran of the Cumberland County (NC) Sheriff's Department (so my dealer told me). It has a 20" bead sighted CYL bore barrel, a six shot magazine, 14 1/4" LOP stock, and its brown plastic buttplate is mounted on plain walnut furniture. Safety is a crossbolt mounted on the front of the trigger guard, action release is on the left at the rear of the trigger guard. This one is parkerized, I don't think that finish was original on the High Standards because every other one- which is not many- I have seen was blued. I don't know, I'm no High Standard expert.

High Standard started producing factory original riot guns in 1962. Production of the Flite King ended in 1976.

Far as I can tell the two are of equal quality in design and production, some favor will accrue to the 37 from those who love the design or are southpaws.

FWIW,

lpl

http://www.histandard.info/models/shotguns/pump.html

 

[mp510]

I own a Flite King and I like it a lot. In fact, I like it alot more than many current production shotguns. While the Ithaca 37 has a reputation for long term reliability and durability (not indifferent from most pump guns) I don't think I would buy one. I don't care for it being bottom ejecting. That (AFAIK) forces you to put the shell in the magazine, as opposed to dropping one in the ejection port Nd closing the bolt- which would slowdown a quick stuff-a-shell in reload.

Here at hand in the position usually occupied by one of the 870 house guns is a recently acquired High Standard Flite King Riot Model K-102, a retired veteran of the Cumberland County (NC) Sheriff's Department (so my dealer told me). It has a 20" barrel, a six shot magazine, 14 1/4" LOP stock to its brown plastic buttplate which is mounted on plain walnut furniture. This one is parkerized, I don't think that finish was original on the High Standards because every other one- which is not many- I have seen was blued.

Are you sure you don't have a K1200 Brush. I believe that's what Cumberland County surplussed a couple years ago (they were paid $200 each for them), according to county commission minutes (IIRC).

 

[fiddleharp]

I voted for the Ithaca 37. Nothing against the Flite King, but maybe I'm a little prejudiced because I shoot left-handed and I like the bottom-eject feature on the 37.
If the 37 only had a tang safety like the Browning BPS, it would be the perfect gun for everybody.

 

[earlthegoat2]

I find the High Standard to be quite similar to the Mossberg 500 in the carrier and bolt (action area). The saftey is located differently of course. I have one that was supposedly a Detroit Police gun.

I think the Browning BPS is the perfect Ithaca 37.

 

[ArmedBear]

I think the Browning BPS is the perfect Ithaca 37.

Only in theory. Not in the field.

WRT the comparison, I've never used a High Standard. That's the one thing that's not fair: Ithaca 37's are readily available in many configurations. The HS, not so much.

The Ithaca's foreend that moves freely in almost all directions is the only thing about it that bothers me. The balance, handling, weight and durability are all quite good. But I might like the High Standard a lot, if I had one in the right configuration.