Ithaca offered...Need advice...

[drcook]

Barrel--28 3/8" of it beyond the receiver. It does have a solid rib as it should. Labelled "2 3/4" chamber" and "Full Choke." Seems to be tight to receiver.

You now need to double check the choke with a gauge to make sure it wasn't cut off. Ithacas came with 28" barrels or 30" barrels, there will be a 1/2" length of barrel threads in the receiver

The way to remove the barrel from an Ithaca is to make sure it is unloaded of course. Leave the bolt/action cycled back. Turn the magazine nut TO THE RIGHT. It is opposite of what your mind tells you which is right for tight, left for loose. On an Ithaca you are screwing the mag cap down towards the receiver, away from the barrel lug, so turn it RIGHT FOR LOOSE.

AVOID BEING BUBBA at all costs and do not use pliers on the mag cap, you will ruin the knurling.

Then the barrel will turn 90 degrees and come straight out of the receiver. There are interrupted threads and the barrel stub. Ithacas are take down guns.

Serial # is 504XXX-4, which says that it was manufactured in 1953. What is the "-4" for??

-4 means Full. -1,-2, -4 ImpCyl,Mod and Full respectively

Receiver is steel, not Aluminum.

The ONLY Ithaca 37's that have Aluminum receivers have a ULT- as part of the serial nbr and they were made after 1970

Blueing--shows a little wear & tear--You couldn't call it rust spots, just some rough-looking spots on the barrel.

0000 steel wool and gun oil NOTHING coarser, absolutely nothing

Stock--Finish is "OK". Gun has been used in the field, not cherished in a collection. 3 or so cracks starting right at the front end of stock; don't look serious.

The cracks will need stopped so they don't progress. I saw a guy trying to hunt with a wobbly stocked gun because it finished cracking and he lost the piece. You would take a straight pin and push some good grade of glue into the cracks, we can discuss that later. Lots of folks have solutions to cracked stocks that pertain to all guns.


Fore-end--Is what I think you call "corncob."

First picture belongs to my friend in New Hampshire. That is the corncob forend. He found that gun in a gunshop, hardly used. English style stock, Skeet marked barrel, isn't that cool.

AND it is 16ga which is even better. I have first dibs on that gun.

Second picture is of a pre-war style forend. It is on the gun in the 3rd picture which I built for my wife. Started life as a bare receiver I bought from Numrich Arms in NY. Got the internals off eBay for a good deal. Bought a couple parts from IthacaGun here in Ohio and I found the barrel in Iowa. It is a 24" VR with choke tubes. The buttstock is from 1951. It had been cutoff. I repurposed it for my 5'3" 115lb wife. Fits her perfect.

Ithacas are pretty easy to work on if you ask questions and take your time to understand the mechanics. They are one of JMB's better designs, just like the 1911.............

 

[Smokey Joe]

Wow!!

Dr. Cook--You covered the ground! Yes, corncob fore-end. Gosh, I have 2 perfectly good Mossberg 500's...

 

[drcook]

dr = david r, but thanks for the compliment !

just double check the choke. that barrel length seems odd...... Ithacas always came with 26,16 and 30 in barrels and in the later years, some were offered with 24 and 25 in barrels (but those are fewer and further between)

do you have a set of dial calipers you could go back and measure it with ? or call and have them measure it ?

you will really like hunting with that gun, if that is what you do and could really do worse you know or for whatever shooting you do

if by chance it is backed off to cylinder, it is not that expensive to have choke tubes put in it by Mike Orlen (who comes highly recommended on the various shotgun related forums, not just Ithacas)

 

[Smokey Joe]

Choke or not...

D. R. Cook--Have calipers. Can measure. Will take off bbl. and measure the whole thing--Mebbe I misread something. Rib does have a bead at the muzzle end, so if cut off it was a complete job, not just a Bubba. But all that may have to wait until next week--I have a "family function" coming up that I durst not skimp on.

 

[drcook]

by the way, I do the dr cook as a personal joke, when I was younger, I was supposed to end up being a dr, but I got hurt in highschool and other crap happened and I was derailed.

but still having the initials dr can be my personal joke you know

so now I have been told that I am working towards being a doctor of Ithacas

 

[Bullseye]

I posted a picture of my old model 37 on page 1 and it is kind of ironic that I came cross another a day later and have the newer one for sale in the forum in the Buy, Sell and Trade: Rifles and Shotguns section. I hope I described it correctly.

 

[Smokey Joe]

Deed is done.

Well, made an offer of $180 and then went away for the weekend. Came back and offer was accepted by the consignor. Consignee contacted me with the word. Long story short: I bounced over with $180 cash in hand and came back with a 37.

Checked bore (mirror-like) and bbl-to-receiver tightness (nice & snug) before finalizing.

Guess I'll have to sell one of my Mossberg 500's.

Am eager to get the 37 to the trap range. Yes, I know it's full choke--I'll let the clay birds get out there a ways before firing.

Thanks to all for your helpful comments and advice.

 

[Bullseye]

congrats!

 

[drcook]

bbl-to-receiver tightness (nice & snug)

you need to understand that is only part of the lockup. the other component that actually does the locking is the magazine cap/barrel yoke engagement.

that gun would have had to be taken apart a bazillion times and had lapping compound stuck on those threads to loosen them up.

the way the old guns (pre- serial nbr 855,000) were barreled, was the lug was threaded and screwed into the receiver. then when it was bottomed out (there is a dimensional relationship between the barrel shoulder and an internal web),

a witness mark was put on the bottom of the barrel. that is that line at 6:00 on every old Ithaca barrel. then from that mark, the barrel was machined in various fixtures, ie: the thread interrupts, the extractor cuts, the barrel lug, in your case the rib soldered on.

that is why the barrel is serial nbr'ed to the receiver. each and every pre- 855,000 barrel was individually fitted to the it's mating receiver.

you can have barrels refit to another receiver by a gunsmith that understands the relationship

there were of course some barrels made for the old thread pattern, after serial nbr 855,000, but they will be serial nbr'd to an old gun.

barrels after 855,000 have a different thread pattern

 

[Smokey Joe]

Tightness...

DRCook--If I understand you correctly, then, the magazine cap/barrel yoke engagement is something I don't need to worry about. The magazine cap was kinda tightly screwed out--There is a little lever that slides out of the side of the cap for extra leverage, and I did need that to get the cap to turn.

As someone stated, you have to turn the cap the "wrong way" to loosen up the barrel yoke--I got a little flak about that when screwing the cap down to take the barrel off to check the bore.

The interrupted threads were just as described, and they screwed in just exactly so far and that was that, and the barrel was just where it should be, with the yoke right at 6:00.

 

[drcook]

the magazine cap/barrel yoke engagement is something I don't need to worry about.

you misread what I said and I see I actually said the wrong word. I meant lug, not yoke, sorry

the other component that actually does the locking is the magazine cap/barrel yoke engagement.

the magazine cap/barrel lug lock the barrel into place, prevent it from backing out.

look inside that little slot that is on the barrel lug. you will see a hole drilled that the small diameter on the mag cap goes into. it is a pretty astute design

that was me that told you about turning the magazine cap right for loose. you don't need to crank the cap so tight. in later years that style mag cap (with the pin) was done away with due to cost cutting.

snugged up, yes, Hulk Hogan'ed, no...don't tighten it up with a pipe wrench. you should not need extraordinary effort to loosen it up

those magazine caps are valuable. a friend paid 50.00 for one and the old style barrel yoke (this time I got it right, the yoke is the ring around the magazine tube with wings that locate the barrel)

 

[Smokey Joe]

OK...

DRCook--Gotcha!

 

[loose noose]

Need pictures!

 

[Smokey Joe]

Pix--Finally...

Well, here she is. An ordinary 1953 12-ga 37R; nothing special in any way, except of course, that SHE'S MINE!

Posed with a box of my reloads. Closeups show cracks in stock.

 

[viking499]

Very nice. That looks just like my 1954 12 and 16 gauge. Now I just need a 1954 20 gauge.

 

[Frostbite]

Nice gun!

Could not help but notice the screws on the receiver are not timed anymore. They should be slightly tightened.

Enjoy that simply beautiful shotgun.

 

[Smokey Joe]

Huh?

Frostbite--What do you mean, "timed?" And how much to tighten?

 

[Frostbite]

Just so that the two slots in the screws align perfectly (horizontally on yours). Go slowly, this gun is not brand new, you might not want to crack anything!

 

[drcook]

Those screws were not necessarily timed. I have quite a few Ithaca 37's, starting in 1948 and ending in 1996 and not a one is timed. The 1996 is new in box, never been dis-assembled, the screws don't line up

Those scalloped head screws are pivots for the shell lifter. It the threaded part is a slight bit too long and you screw it in to try and align them, you can bind the lifter. You can bottom the screw head out, strip the threads, etc.

They are not made to crank it. They are designed to in and back off to align the locking lug cut for the smaller screw next to it.

That screw has a round end where the threads have been relieved. When screwed in, the round portion goes through a corresponding hole on the lifter. 1 on each side, thus making the pivot point.

 

[Frostbite]

Oups. I enlarged the image and saw these screws are not meant to align, as explained by drcook. I hope you did not jump on a screwdriver, Smokey Joe. Thank you drcook for mentioning my mistake.

 

[jaguarxk120]

The Ithaca Model 37 is 100% American made and designed.

John Browning and the Ithaca engineers did not care about timing screws as the English gun makers have.