Ithaca 37 Problem?

G

grousechaser

New member
When I visited the ithaca Gun website I saw a comment that one subscriber had submitted. He said that the 37 will fire even though the bolt is not completely forward. He said that he investigated an accident where the bolt was not forward and the gun discharged driving the brass into the shooter's forearm. He inferred this was a design problem. I never heard of this before.
 
Never! On the older Model 37's the hammer can drop as the bolt goe's into battery/lockup if the trigger is held back.

On the newer 37's that feature has been removed and if trigger is held back the hammer will follow the bolt as it goe's forward.

This sounds like a urban myth as the gun would have to have a catastrophic failure for brass to be driven into the shooters arm. Don't forget the Model 37 has a solid steel reciever and ejects out the bottom.

By the way what web site had this posted, I think others would like to read that post.
 
From here:
http://www.shotgunlife.com/shotguns/guns/ithaca-28-gauge-pump-takes-on-3-bird-sporting-clays.html
which is linked to from Ithaca Gun Company's website.

Timothy C. Flanigan said:
The Ithaca Model 37 has always been a sweet, fast-handing gun, but is has an important flaw: The action will fire even though the bolt is not locked forward. This is easy to test by releasing the action and sliding the bolt to the rear about one quarter of an inch. Release the safety and pull the trigger and watch the hammer push the action forward. I once investgated a hunting accident in which the model 37 discharged with the brass of a high velocity shell still exposed to the bottem ejection port. The brass was driven into the hunter's forearm. I sold my 37 shortly there after.
Click to expand...

So, he appears to be claiming that the Ithaca will fire out of battery.

This isn't a real problem. The Ithaca is a well designed shotgun. The older models shouldn't fire unless they are locked into battery, and the newer ones have a hammer designed to ride the bolt forward. I've never heard of an Ithaca blowing up either.

I'm also rather curious as to how brass could end up in the shooter's forearm. If you hold the shotgun correctly, your forearm should be out of the way.
 
37

OK. Go to the ithaca Gun website...ithacagun.com. Look at the 28 gauge article and then at the bottom check out reader comments. it's right there in black and white. I am not saying there is any truth to this but I find it unusual that such a comment can be seen on the official website. There is no feedback from the company.
 
The comment is NOT on the Ithaca web site but rather on www.shotgunlife.com, what this guy is saying is verrrry hard to take.
Get your stories straight!

If the action is open 1/4 inch the falling hammer hits the slide and cannot hit the firing pin in the bolt. On opening the action the slide moves to the rear moving the hammer away from the bolt, and then slide pulls the bolt from battery(downward).

If the trigger is pulled while the bolt is retracted 1/4 inch the hammr hits the slide and that force will cause the action to close, not enough force to fire a shell.
 
I'm callin BS on it - I just took my older M37 outside, with a cutoff live shell head (no powder or shot - just primer) chambered and tried to induce it to fire out of battery.

No dice / no discharge - 5 tries; but the 1st slamfire ignited, as expected.


.
 
It seems that Mr. Flanigan is a retired conservation officer, he may have investgated a gun accident, this does not make him a firearms expert.

What was reported to him and what actually took place are TWO different events.

Unless Mr. Flanigan is a qualified gunsmith, gun maker, gun designer, he is in no position to say if a gun is safe or unsafe.

Just as PetahW said BS
 
Love the Model 37

While I don't dispute that the accident may have happened as claimed, I also know that Model 37s were widely used by police departments in addition to the Remington 870. If a significant risk existed of guns firing out of battery, they would not have been adopted for duty use.

Unfortunately, there are some people who will attempt to blame the armsmaker for their own stupidity. Admitting responsibility is embarrassing and also denies us a possible civil settlement.

I have an Ithaca deerslayer II and it will probably be the last firearm to leave my modest hunting battery.
 
Not buying this one for a minute, My 37 never has had anything like this happen unless you literally hold the trigger and slam the pump. But how could it hit your forearm, that tells me they made it up since the 37 is a bottom ejector
 
I have shot thousands of rounds thru my Ithaca 37’s and never had the first problem..... But I, like PetahW, went out and tried it with 3 different 37's on the odd chance that it might be true. I got tired of trying. Neither would go off until the bolt was locked or I operated them in slam fire mode.

Can’t believe everything you read, especially about guns and kabooms.
 
The real problem is not the gun but the people posting half-truths on the internet.

All of those miss reported and half-truth stories do nothing but hurt everyone involved in any form of shooting.
 
As a gunsmith I see guns that have problems all the time.
Guess how many Ithaca 37 shotguns I have had to repair in all my carrier? (about 40 years)
That would be .......... ZERO!

NONE!

Not One!

Now I am not talking about dents and cracked wood here. I am speaking about having to fix a malfunctioning action. I have lost count of the repairs I have done on most other shotguns by replacing or repairing old broken or worn parts. I have not lived long enough yet to see it on a 37, and some of the 37s are a lot older then me.

I think the 37 is the finest pump action out there. The old M-12 Winchester is a very good one too, but I have had to repair some of them. Remington 870s have come in for repairs by the dozens. So have Win 1200s, a good handfull of Mossburgs and all manor of other guns since 1971 when I started doing this business.

NO M37 yet.
 
37

The real problem is not the gun but the people posting half-truths on the internet.


Sounds like it was not only a half truth but no truth at all. It's good to know that my 37 has such a great reputation.
 
As a gunsmith I see guns that have problems all the time.
Guess how many Ithaca 37 shotguns I have had to repair in all my carrier? (about 40 years)
That would be .......... ZERO!
Click to expand...

30 plus years ago when I was buying my first shotgun an old gunsmith that lived down the road told me the same thing. There are 5 Ithacas in my safe now, no mechanical problems with any of them.
 
The only problem I ever had with my 37 was I had the action freeze up on one........literally. I was duck hunting, and the damn gun froze!

I am now older and wiser, frozen guns will not be a problem anymore.
 
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