$4 a shell? Holy cow!

[tod osier]

My 16ga. is the plain standard stock with no rib and corn cob forend. It shoots like a Dream. If ya can try to find a Mod. barrel for that one. If not have Briley or another good shop open it up. Once you use it you will find you use it the most of all the shotguns you have. They are that Good.

Started shooting with an Ithaca 37 in 16 gauge. Shot that gun a lot and sure missed a lot, sometimes I felt like it was just good for announcing to the birds that I was there. That gun was a slam hammer gun, which I understand the model 12 is too - made for some surprises when I was green and sloppy.

 

[roy brewington]

Started shooting with an Ithaca 37 in 16 gauge. Shot that gun a lot and sure missed a lot, sometimes I felt like it was just good for announcing to the birds that I was there. That gun was a slam hammer gun, which I understand the model 12 is too - made for some surprises when I was green and sloppy.

Ones i,ve shot I thought kicked pretty hard even with target loads compared to say an 870 or BPS. Probably because stock was way to straight for me and the lightness their famous for. They are a smooth operating pump though, no doubt.

 

[Vince Pagliaroli]

Started shooting with an Ithaca 37 in 16 gauge. Shot that gun a lot and sure missed a lot, sometimes I felt like it was just good for announcing to the birds that I was there. That gun was a slam hammer gun, which I understand the model 12 is too - made for some surprises when I was green and sloppy.

Tod,

The very first new shotgun I saved for and owned at age 15 was a Ithaca 16 ga. Mod. model 37 Featherweight. My goodness what a Poor Choice I made with that shotgun. It beat the hell outta me causing a God Awful flinch that lasted until I got rid of the damn thing. The Ray Bar front bead was more a hinderance than a help for shot gunning. The gun constantly ejected full rounds out of the bottom even after being sent back to the factory 2 times. If I had to shoot a Ithaca model 37 or nothing else I'd stop shooting. I despise them That Much. When I traded it for a Remington 12ga. 1100 skeet barrel years later the owner of the gun shop said. "Where you buy this piece of junk?" Right here Off of You! He replied "That is good gun."

The 16ga. Model 12 I now have is a world apart from that Ithaca. Superior in every way. The model 12's are Quality pump guns the Ithaca is not. The model 12 has adjustments that can be made as the gun wears built into the gun. Machined Parts not stamped. Keep yer finger on the trigger of a model 12 and pump fast and it will shoot faster than a Auto. They were used as Trench Guns in War for a reason. They Work.

 

[tod osier]

Tod,

The very first new shotgun I saved for and owned at age 15 was a Ithaca 16 ga. Mod. model 37 Featherweight. My goodness what a Poor Choice I made with that shotgun. It beat the hell outta me causing a God Awful flinch that lasted until I got rid of the damn thing. The Ray Bar front bead was more a hinderance than a help for shot gunning. The gun constantly ejected full rounds out of the bottom even after being sent back to the factory 2 times. If I had to shoot a Ithaca model 37 or nothing else I'd stop shooting. I despise them That Much. When I traded it for a Remington 12ga. 1100 skeet barrel years later the owner of the gun shop said. "Where you buy this piece of junk?" Right here Off of You! He replied "That is good gun."

The 16ga. Model 12 I now have is a world apart from that Ithaca. Superior in every way. The model 12's are Quality pump guns the Ithaca is not. The model 12 has adjustments that can be made as the gun wears built into the gun. Machined Parts not stamped. Keep yer finger on the trigger of a model 12 and pump fast and it will shoot faster than a Auto. They were used as Trench Guns in War for a reason. They Work.

Good stuff, funny on the shared 16 gauge model 37 experience.

I grew up near the Ithaca factory (travel to the folks cottage was on the way through Ithaca and Kings Ferry, so both factories). A lot of family members had Ithacas (especially deerslayers since it was slug gun territory). I bought a 12 gauge Ithaca 87 combo as my first new shotgun. I broke the birch stock shooting slugs and stopped by the factory in Kings Ferry and they upgraded the birch stock and forend with about the prettiest piece of walnut I've ever seen on a standard level shotgun. The crazy thing was that they pulled the stock and forend off a riot gun from a shipment bound for somewhere in California while I waited. Crazy to think that pretty piece of wood would have sit on a rack somewhere in Commiefornia to be drug out during some protest.

 

[Vince Pagliaroli]

Some of the very old model 37's I've seen are well made and have some very good wood on them. The only Ithaca I owned after the 16ga. was the Mag 10 that needed tweaked to work correctly. If ya get a chance watch the old films of Herb Parsons shooting the Model 12's and 42's for Winchester. Amazing stuff what that man could do with those "Shootguns".