In College, I went through every copy of the American Rifleman they had, which was back to 1920, to learn what was going on in that period. I saw the pictures of M37 Remington target rifles, along with the descriptions of the wins, and I just wanted to have one.
Luckily I was able to buy an all original, pre WW2 rifle.
I thought the swept back bolt handle looked great and the stock particularly graceful.
it was only after taking it out of the stock that I found that it had been hand selected at the factory by the same Frank Kahrs, who was the writer of the ads in the American Rifleman.
my rifle also shoots well. I shot in several Smallbore Prone matches, and I shot this 100 yard distance, 400-32 X, prone with a sling, at the Chief Wa Ke De range in Bristol IN.
Unfortunately, the rifle is not competitive in today's game. Consistency is key to winning, and while this rifle meets the requirements of the mid 20th century rules, it is hard to shoot consistently.. The rifle has the trigger pull of the M1903 service rifle, no less than 3.5 pounds. This trigger pull weight was maintained up to the middle 1960's, and it is too heavy. The stock closely matches the configuration of the M1903 type C stock. So, there is no adjustable butt plate or cheekpiece. Only when the US bumped up against the Soviets in Olympic Competition, and lost, were the rules relaxed so American shooters could use rifles that were competitive internationally. The Army was writing the rules for NRA competition up to the middle 1960's, and the Army wanted civilians to be shooting rifles that were similar to Army service rifles. The NRA was set up to train civilians in rifle and pistol shooting in peacetime, so they would be competent shooters in wartime . The National Matches and NRA competitions were a means to that end.
I have seen a number of M37's on aftermarket stocks, and they had Canjar triggers, which dropped the trigger weight. Canjar is out of business and used Canjar M37 triggers are overpriced. These were accurate rifles, but the owners traded them off for more advanced Anschutz and Walther rifles. The actions and barrels of the M37 were always good.
Club President shot this, with a forward rest, at a local Smallbore Prone match, with his Eric Johnson barreled M37