New house gun-failing to cycle

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David LaPell

Blackhawk
Joined
Sep 14, 2008
Messages
979
Location
Upstate NY
I picked up this older Ithaca 37 12 gauge about 2 weeks ago, its clean but not worth a great deal because there are just so darned many of them around here, so I had the barrel cropped back to 20 inches and kept the raybar front sight. It has one of the smoothest actions of any pump, even better than some of my other Ithaca 37' I have owned over the years.

Picture744.jpg
 

luvmyruger

Blackhawk
Joined
Sep 12, 2007
Messages
669
Location
Upstate NY
lots and lots and lots of police depts and prisons trusted those perfect model 37's for years. Yours appears to be in great shape and for a house gun. Plus, at that length it could be used as a nice slug gun also.
 

oregon73

Blackhawk
Joined
Mar 24, 2005
Messages
618
Location
Portland, Oregon
That is sweet! I have a couple Winchester Defenders to cover the 12-ga. pump role but now I want one of those. Did they ever make them with a 20'' barrel from the factory?

Nice gun!

Rob
 

David LaPell

Blackhawk
Joined
Sep 14, 2008
Messages
979
Location
Upstate NY
I took the Ithaca out today with some Remington 2 3/4 inch OO buck and noticed that the gun is having a very hard time cycling shells after firing. They do cycle but it takes some work. I am seeing no scratch marks on the rim of the shell or damage there, and I did not see any shiny fresh scratches inside the receiver where anything is hanging up. Any ideas? I already cleaned the gun when I got it and the slide is like glass, (typical Ithaca) when the gun is empty or when the slide release is used.
 
Joined
Mar 8, 2004
Messages
617
Location
Illinois - but I'm an Ohio Buckeye
Check the barrel to see if it's installed correctly. Check for a small gap between the frame and barrel shoulder. It's possible to be one thread off when seating them and they will fire but are hard to cycle fired shells.
Try removing the barrel and re-seating it making sure it's fully seated before giving it the 1/2 turn.
 

David LaPell

Blackhawk
Joined
Sep 14, 2008
Messages
979
Location
Upstate NY
I talked to my local gunsmith, and we decided to give the Ithaca another try before I brought it to him. I picked up another box of Remington 2 3/4 inch OO buck, same box of ammo as before. I took it out this morning, and what followed were five quick shots with no problems what so ever. Apparently it was the ammo and not the gun, since there was nothing done to it between yesterday and today. So now it's all good and working just fine.
 

Tommy F

Single-Sixer
Joined
Jun 23, 2008
Messages
148
Location
Northern cincinnati
I have a 37 12 featherweight I considered cutting back to 19. Interested in grouping after cutting barrel. Please email me an answer.
Thanks
Tommy
 

tek4260

Buckeye
Joined
May 31, 2008
Messages
1,886
Location
carroll county ms
Guess I am the only one in the world that gets the duds when it comes to M37's. I have literally owned 15-20 of them from nib to dogs. Every one I had would drop a live round when I pumped it. The shell stop would release before the carrier was low enough and would drop the empty and the live round. If I fired it 20 rounds, it would drop about 5. I finally had to remove a bit from the end of the shell stop where the bolt pulled it open, to slow down the release of the shell a bit on every single one of them. Could it have been the way I pump one? :?
 
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