Ithaca Model 37 English Ultralight

[jaguarxk120]

Looking for information on the Ithaca Ultralight series of shotguns.
Anyone know anything about them?

 

[MachIVshooter]

What do you want to know? They're excellent field guns, though they'll beat you up shooting trap for long periods.

 

[jaguarxk120]

I just picked up a English Ultrafeatherweight. This gun has the alloy receiver and straight grip stock. The finish is satin
and the checkering is the flat style. Barrel is 25 inches long with Imp. Cyl. choke.
I'm looking for some history and what type of finish on the stocks.

 

[PapaG]

Had one, briefly. Thought skeet might be fun. Wasn't. Might have been if it was a 28 or 410. Oil finish on a pretty nice hunk of walnut.

 

[jaguarxk120]

I know it is the lightest pump shotgun made. The one I bought comes in at 5 pounds 2 1/2 ounces.
I know the density of the walnut will make differences in over all weight.
And it is not a skeet or trap gun, more for upland birds where there is a lot of walking.

 

[Gordon]

I have a 20 gauge one. It takes 3" shells , but no thanks. Mine has Imp. cylinder too but a pistol grip type stock (no NOT a vertical pistol grip) . The finish is a synthetic flat oil of some sort but takes a rub of tung oil ok if you wipe extra off soon. I think it would be a great upland quail or grouse gun for you if you stick with 2 3/4 field loads, mine is for my daughter in law.

 

[jaguarxk120]

I don't shoot any of those magnum loading in any shotgun I own.
I'm just shooting casual clays so 3/4 ounce in 20 gauge and a light 7/8 ounce in 12 gauge.
Light 12 gauge because my MEC 7/8 bar drops about 13/16 ounce and I'm happy with that.

 

[skeeterfogger]

I've had one for over 40 years. 12g. Love it. Can shoot it all day. Best part is noone wants to borrow it. That alone makes it one of the best shotguns I have.

 

[bannockburn]

First shotgun I hunted upland game with was an Ithaca Model 37 in 20 gauge with a plain, Improved Cylinder choked 26" barrel. The gun was fairly well used when I had it and that slide action was slicker than any other pump shotgun I have ever tried. Mainly because of it's light weight it was great for carrying all those miles while hunting for grouse and pheasant.

 

[Kingcreek]

I carried a 37 deluxe featherweight for many miles and shot a truckload of pheasants, quail, rabbits, and squirrels with it. I got it around 1969. Still have it. The english version would be a joy to carry but I've never shot one. I had an english stock 20g 1187 for awhile but I didnt shoot it as well.

 

[SwampWolf]

Even the Model 37s with steel receivers (as almost all were/are) merited the monikers "Featherlight" and "Featherweight".

 

[jaguarxk120]

I do know this, the Model 37 is one of John Browning timeless designs that
Ithaca Gun Co. improved upon and will last forever.

 

[cold iron]

When the Ithaca 37 UL came out in 1978 it was offered in 20 ga. with special fixed choked barrels 25" long in IC, Mod, and Full. And a deerslayer model with 20" bbl. They all had pistol grips and Sid Bell caps with a grouse or pheasant on the 25" guns and a deer head on the Deerslayer.



Just dropped the UL deerslayer off at the post office this morning it is going to someone in Ohio. I just never felt the need for the pain to shoot a slug out of a 5 lb. gun, 20 ga. or not. And I buy them to shoot, which is why I eventually decided to sell it to someone that may. It was an early first year gun with aluminum trigger housing. It didn't take Ithaca long to figure out aluminum didn't wear well so switched back to steel trigger housings after the first year.

Later 37 Ultralights were offered in other gauges and some with English straight grip stocks including the 20 ga. After they moved to King Ferry some of the barrels on the 20 ga. Ultralights were 26" and had choke tubes.

King Ferry made a limited run of 500 Ultralight English Deluxe in 16 ga. Mine was made in 1999 with a 26" choke tubed bbl.



Bought it new in the box, and only has 2 shots fired through it. Seems to work for me though.



Upper Sandusky also sold a few 37 Ultralights, but not many. I picked up a 12 ga. UL made there with the new style Ohio wood on it and 26" bbl. Must be the only section of land in SD without a fence post to set it on, so not a great picture of it.



The 12 ga. and 16 ga. Ultralights both weigh in at 6 lbs. And my 1949 16 ga. field with 26" plain bbl. does too.



You start adding a rib and thicker steel for choke tubes the weight goes up in a hurry.

 

[jaguarxk120]

Thanks for the info, that 16 gauge is outstanding.
What bothers me is my gun's stock is very drab.
When I cleaned it the grain popped right up and looked great.
After it dried it is back to just plain matt finish.
I'm thinking of putting on a very good oil finish on it.

 

[Random 8]

I cleaned up an old Ithaca, 1950s oil finished stock very nicely. The base oil is solid, but they didn't take a lot of time to get a high polish. I use about 25% art grade turpentine, 75% boiled linseed oil. Rub in a light coat with clean cotton...you need to rub vigorously enough to generate some warmth.., let dry, and buff with very fine steel wool after 1 day dry time. I then take a swatch of burlap, very lightly oiled with the mix, and vigorously buff the wood, once again until some warmth is generated. I then repeat this process with cotton muslin very lightly oiled, followed by dry muslin to a nice sheen and good presentation of grain. I then protect the finish with a very light coat of beeswax dissolved in turpentine well buffed. You can use birchwood gunstock wax, basically the same product.

This is virgin walnut finished in the same manner. The Ithaca I did looks very similar, but with more use marks and less figure. The lighting sucked when I took the picture, but you can see the figure and sheen nicely.

 

[Bob Coltwell]

Just now re-joined this forum after a several year break. Here's the deal. I grew up under the influence of my Ozark raised and dedicated quail hunter father from that part of the woods. You may consider it very opinionated of him but he (and all of his hunting cohorts) considered it blasphomy to even consider the ownership of anything other than 20 ga. in the field. "You don't need a 12 ga. ..... you need practice" he once told me. So, son like father, I am a 20 ga. guy. I enjoy taking my hand remote controlled trap to the field and walking about while simulating various imagined covey rises and the challenge of breaking birds with my several 20's from random positions. I don't shoot organized trap. Next month I will order a Model 37 FL (AA wood) for no other reason than I just admire that classic. ( I have more guns than I need .... but less than I want.) My "in the field" days are over. Just the clay bird game that I like to play along with an occassional informal sporting clays. Question ...... would you order a 30" barrel given my purposes? Or does 28" seem to make for better balance with little affect on performance?

 

[jaguarxk120]

Remember all of the new Ithaca's are built on a 3 inch receiver now.
The best balance will be with a 28 inch barrel, it is just what you like.
I shoot a O/U that has 32 inch barrels and do not see any difference
switching from it to shorter barrel.

 

[Milkmaster]

I love my Ithaca 37 guns. For clay shooting from a pump or a semiauto I use the 28" barrel with an extended choke. Makes the overall gun not so much longer than my 30" O/U scatterguns. The extended chokes for me is more for convenience than necessity. Just makes life easier in my mind.

 

[Grousefeather]

I had the straight grip for a while and foolishly let it go. I still have a 12ga field model, made in 1941 with adjustable choke. Great brush gun for small game.

 

[SwampWolf]

They all had pistol grips and Sid Bell caps with a grouse or pheasant on the 25" guns

I bought a new ("standard model") Ithaca Model 37 shotgun in the late seventies, with a 12 gauge, 3" chamber, 28" long barrel and a Sid Bell pistol grip cap with a pheasant depiction. I liked the shotgun but hated the impressed "checkering".

King Ferry made a limited run of 500 Ultralight English Deluxe in 16 ga. Mine was made in 1999 with a 26" choke tubed bbl.

Love the looks of this shotgun and I can imagine it handling well in grouse and woodcock coverts.