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Joined: 04 Jun 2009 Posts: 827 Location: N. Shore, mn

Bought a 16 ga 26" I.C. Ithaca model 37. Decent shape but a shooter only.

Didn't really need this one... But...

Dates to 1949 according to the serial #

Nice gun, "shooter only"?, what in the hell are they made for?

Congratulations!

Dale

Member Joined: 30 Nov 2011 Posts: 1696 Location: Minnesota

Looks like some nice figure in the wood. Hope you enjoy it!!

Beautiful wood on a classic design. Take good care of her. Lord knows wood like that is 10x the value of the gun to reproduce these days. Enjoy

Joined: 03 Feb 2014 Posts: 325 Location: West Texas

Very Nice Shooter Only !!

Joined: 09 Dec 2012 Posts: 691

You actually did very well for yourself.

1. It is a late 40's,early 50's gun. Only the pre-wars handle better

2. 16ga 26" I-Cyl, one of the harder combinations to find, they don't show up that often, most are Fulls, followed by Mods

3. The stock is not chipped, cracked or broken from what I see in the picture, that is a plus.

Is the knurling good on the magazine cap ? meaning it didn't fall prey to Bubba and his pliers ?

That gun would be a candidate for a restoration. You would have an extremely nice piece then. Right now it is an exemplary hunting gun, restored it would be a show off piece.

Would it be worth a ton of money restored, absolutely not. Would it be worth a ton of cool factor and pride, absolutely.

Member Joined: 15 Mar 2007 Posts: 601 Location: Virginia

Looks very nice for "just a shooter." I shoot skeet with mine to keep in shucking practice. The light weight makes it a kicker with normal loads, so I reload 3/4 oz of No. 9 for targets. It's great for hunting--very easy to carry.

Joined: 04 Jun 2009 Posts: 827 Location: N. Shore, mn

DR Cook, Dan Lee,
The bluing is a little more faded than the pics show (in spots). The wood I think would look great with the grain brought out with a proper finish. The mag tube knob is pristine in the knurling. The checkering is still crisp.

Just for grins what would a restoration cost (approx) from wherever? & Where & who for that matter?

I've got another 37 that's in flawless cond. EXCEPT the bluing is much more worn (almost bare).

If I had that gun, I'd leave it as is. As noted, IC 26" is the scarcest of the field chokes and is a versatile gun. I shot my 26" IC 16 ga. M37 this year on most dove hunts and a few woodcock hunts. It's a '63 and not nearly as nice as yours. That's a good find.

What a find! 1) IC -- rare on older M37s. My dad's 1948 16 was also IC and has busted thousands of quail over the years, but impertinent teenagers (myself and brother) added a Herter's variable choke to it around 1970 (aaaaarrggh). 2) The nicest wood I've seen on a field grade M37. 3) What appears to be a very solid butt stock with sharp checkering. Many old M37s have oil-soaked stock/receiver junctions due to the openness of the rear of the receiver. My 37 had a ruined stock on it when I bought it in 1976, so I had to replace it with Bishop or Fajen (can't remember) wood. Congratulations!

Joined: 19 Jun 2004 Posts: 1480 Location: Mpls, MN.

We are getting to a point where finding an Ithaca 37 that is pretty much as it left the factory is hard to do. Ugly, white line recoil pads, and big, adjustable, choke blobs hanging off the barrel seem to be the most common modifications, along with $18 reblues, and extra coats of varnish, usually, on top of what was already there.
Just doing a decent reblue, say, polishing the parts yourself and shipping them to Glenrock blue, would entail more money than the gun is worth. I've done it, but, the gun has to be pretty far gone, and have a connection to me, for me to consider doing it. Glenrock did my first year model 12 that way, but, my hands would literally get rusty when I handled it, before I sent it to them. That is what I mean by "pretty far gone". Here is how that went down.
It belonged to an uncle who farmed, who kept it in his barn from the mid 1930s until the mid 1990s. Cost, was a new $50 bill to a cousin that wanted to throw it out. Rusty, broken wood front and back, worked well, after a shot of WD-40. I fixed it as it had a family connection, but, tried to keep it cheap. The stock was a used, Italian reproduction (Sile?) that had a thin pad on it, that I bought from a guy who used to post over on Shooting Sportsman, and I replaced the pad with the Winchester buttplate off a Cooey single shot 20 gauge. The front wood came from a guy in Iowa who reproduced them. Less that $100 in all that. I polished the metal, to the extent that I could, it was rough and a few pits remain, but, my hands don't get rusty anymore when I handle it, and Glenrock hot blued it for $125 or so. I did find a lefty safety for it, a Williams "Big Button" for a few bucks. I jeweled the bolt, after buying the kit from Brownell's.
Not sure what it is worth, have sold/traded it a few times to friends I hunt with, but, it ended up coming back to me in other trades! Not sure I would do it (major clean up on an old gun) again. Function is perfect, by the way, a nice old gun to shoot. Measured choke is right in between IC and MOD, barrel is marked FULL.
The model 37 you showed a picture of was in really nice shape, I wouldn't touch it.
Good luck with it, let us know what you decide, but, I bet it is a great old gun as is.
Pic of the model 12. Wish I had a before pic, but, I was a little embarassed I paid money for it when I started!

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Best,
Ted

Joined: 04 Jun 2009 Posts: 827 Location: N. Shore, mn

No rush to change it. Think we will build some memories with it & re-evaluate a yr. from now. Will probably have it in tow in May in S. ST. Paul.

Joined: 09 Dec 2012 Posts: 691

As far as cost, so you will know in the future, I will ask my friend. He just had a pre-war M37 16ga 26" I-Cyl that I found him restored. He had Les Hovencamp at www.diamondgunsmithing.com do the work. As most know, Les was Ithacas head tech/gunsmith when they were still in New York.

Les has access to the original bluing tanks. Another company bought the tanks when Ithaca went under. They use the original bluing formula so the guns come out looking just like they left the factory.

I will try to get pics to post so folks can see what the end result looks like. He also had a 37T done at the same time.

Does the cost outweigh the value. Yes, of course.

At a minimum, the gun needs a good cleaning.

Everyone has their own opinion of leave it alone, restore it etc. It comes down to the person's own end desires. While it is an uncommon combination, even in the great shape it is in, it will never escalate in price to a point where a person would have wished they had never had it worked on.

The one thing that needs to be addressed before this gun is shot much is stock shrinkage. 37ns often crack at defined points around the receiver. I think it is from the walnut continuing to age and over the decades a minute gap between the wood and the receiver forms allowing the receiver to bang into the head of the stock. these cracks and splits are very common on guns that are 30 years or older. If you know a competent gunsmith have him add some torque to the stock screw. I have found that this will prevent the problem. Your find is a wonderful example of this classic firearm.

Joined: 09 Mar 2016 Posts: 753 Location: Mn.

I contacted Les Hovencamp about current pricing as he is the first person I would go to for 37 work. He said the pricing on the website is the old website. Because of the rib it has to be cold blued and cost is $245. Wood refinishing starts at $175 and add at least $100 to recut the checkering. I asked what the turnaround time was, if it was sent in now would it be back by the end of May for the Sweet 16 shoot. He said with his current backlog it would be better to wait until after the shoot.

fourtrax I still have some Waterlox and Benmatte from finishing my 686 Ultralight project. I use the Mike Campbell & Bosco Mctavitch stock refinishing method. I think that gun has a lot of promise to it. And that it is a perfect ruff grouse killing machine. Hmmm... Very Happy