Ithaca 37 trench gun !

[docnyt]

I usually grimace at "How did I do price-wise?" threads but here is mine.

Local gun show find. Supposedly a WW2 trench gun, but the serial number traces it to 1949 manufacture. Has the heat shield and bayonet attachment. Came with a 1917 style bayonet with OD green sheath too.



There's a stamp on the receiver, "W B". Not sure what if it was the inspector.



There is an inscription partially hidden by the heat shield:



And no, I didn't "bubba" it. The AR grip bipod is just there to support it.



Serial number is 2563XX. Probably not used in any war, but who knows. The guy I bought it from didn't know anything about its history. The price was OK I guess - $750 - with the bayonet, leather sling and cheap NCStar soft case.

 

[AcceptableUserName]

looks beastly. do you plan to shoot it?


people talk about the rack noise scaring an intruder, well too bad they cant just SEE that thing prior to coming in somewhere they shouldnt, cause i believe that beast would do the trick.

 

[solvability]

I would be glad to buy the heat shield and bayo lug - how about 75.00.
You would have a fine rabbit gun then.

I like the Ithaca 37 - I have a friend that carried one in Vietnam in a tank.

I wish I knew more about values, I have never seen those marks on an Ithaca before - I bet you got a good one.

 

[Tom D]

It's not a WW2 trench gun. They were in a much lower serial number range. And they did not have the game scene on the receiver. It also has the wrong type of bayo adaptor and heat shield. The WB mark on the receiver is incorrect too.

It appears to be someone's fantasy trench gun.

 

[docnyt]

@ AcceptableUserName: it looks even beastlier with the bayonet attached! I realize the racking sound has a legendary but perhaps fallacious BG effect, but even my wife approves of it as an HD weapon. I haven't cleaned it yet (still researching how to disassembly) but I do plan on shooting it soon.

@ solvability: I wouldn't even know how to take the darn thing off! Where is HSV? I'm in Montgomery.

@ Tom D: I suspected as much. But it's going to take it's place as an HD gun anyway, not an antique dust collector.

 

[solvability]

Huntsville is due north up 65 - we are right on the TN River. We make missiles.
I shoot down at your Range at Central AL Gun Club about once a year for IDPA.
I was really kidding about the heat shield it is likely more valuable than 75.00.

I have a 37 that I made into a HD gun - it is really slick.

 

[Fred Fuller]

There were Vietnam era Ithaca trench guns too, but they were in the high 900,000 serial number range. They also had plain receivers and different markings from the gun you have.

#1 guess is that it was a post WW2 training or recreation gun that got military markings that way, and later got made over into a replica trench gun.

#2 guess is that someone had access to armory stamps and did their own markings on their own gun, and did a trench gun conversion on it.

Is there any choke marking on the left rear of the barrel over the chamber? If it's choke marked anything other than CYL it's likely a cut-down.

fwiw,

lpl

 

[Tom D]

Lee, WB is the mark of Col. Waldamar Broberg who headed the Springfield Ordnance District from June 1941 to June 1942. Ithaca is in the Rochester Ordnance District that was headed by Col. Roy L. Bowlin (RLB) and later by Col. Frank J. Atwood (FJA). Most WWII Ithaca shotguns were RLB marked, none were WB marked like the gun in question.

I don't even think the ordnance bomb marking on the receiver is the correct one.

 

[Fred Fuller]

Thanks, Tom. I don't have anything easily at hand that covers all the various arsenal stamps, and I'm no kind of collector at all. I have Canfield's book on combat shotguns, Swearengen etc. but my 'shotgun library' is pretty generalist and not collector oriented at all.

Would you care to speculate on how that particular gun came by its current condition? It would be interesting to hear more guesses...

lpl

 

[Leadhead]

Looking at the screw head I'd say if bubba didn't own it at one point he did some work on it....Looks like a fun restoration project if it has no historical value.

I'd remove the duck scene and WB and leave the bomb and re-parkerize.

 

[docnyt]

@ solvability: I didn't realize HSV stood for Huntsville. Yeah, I've taken the family for the requisite Space and Rocket Center trip. The nearby Botanical Garden was a treat for the kids.

@ lpl: I'll look at the choke marking later. Have the gun stored away for now.

@ Tom D: Wow lots of good info. Are you the resident Ithaca expert here? I used to read Black Talon's posts. There's another internet board where I think Canfield is an active participant but I can't remember which one. What would be the proper heat shield? I've read on some sites that there should be six holes on each side. I wonder this was a 1949 gun that somehow got remilitarized in some way. But I do agree that this is likely somebody's fantasy trench gun.

@ Leadhead: There's a good chance Bubba may have had a hand in this, as I live in Bubba country I don't have any immediate plans for this gun.

 

[docnyt]

Some more pics.

You can see some more "W B" stamps. Somebody must have been a Waldamar Broberg fanboy.







This is more representative of the gun's actual color in person. The earlier pics look washed out by the flash.




This is not something you would want to be looking down at if you're a BG.

 

[sall]

Perhaps the electrical method for rust removal would be appropriate here.

 

[Tom D]

docnyt, no I'm not the resident Ithaca expert. Black Talon probably knows a lot more about Ithaca's than I do. But I have been collecting US Military shotgun for quite some time.

The proper bayonet adaptor/heat shield would be one made for the Ithaca trench guns. The adaptors have a rough surface unlike the other markers adaptors. The heat sheild would be the 6 hole type.

Finding a WW2 Ithaca bayo adaptor/heat sheild will be next to impossible, and very expensive if you do. Ithaca only produced about 1400 WW2 trench guns. But you might be able to use one of the 1960s Ithaca bayo adaptor/heat sheilds. Ithaca made a bunch of trench guns in the 60s both for the Military and for the commercial market. These have a parkerized finish and can likely be had for a much more reasonable price than a WW2 one. The Ithaca adaptors have a shape unlike the Winchester adaptors. They are more like the WW2 Stevens adaptors, but with a different finish.

 

[docnyt]

Can somebody confirm the manufacture date? When I looked it up online, I thought it was 1949, but a member from another board said it is between 1939 and 1940.

 

[Southpaw 02]

docnyt,

The serial number is in the 1948 to 1949 range.

 

[docnyt]

OK thanks.

 

[Black_Talon]

FWIW, the heat-shield isn't the correct version either. The originals have 6 rows of holes.

 

[Leadhead]

I wonder if a Norinco Heatshield/bayonet mount from their M97 clone would fit an Ithaca 37?

 

[rcmodel]

Perhaps the electrical method for rust removal would be appropriate here.

Not unless you want a mat silver shotgun with no remaining finish.

Bluing is rust too.
If you use electrolysis to remove the rust, it will also take all the bluing off.

The only proper way to remove the rust without destroying the remaining finish is 0000 Extra Fine steel wool & oil.

rc

 

[docnyt]

Just an update. I shot some game loads today and boy, my shoulder is sore! There are a couple of bruises to reward my efforts.

Lots of fun though!

 

[1KPerDay]

Now try some buckshot.

Cool boomstick you got there.