Ithaca Model-37 Slam Fire

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Ky Larry

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I have an ol Ithaca Model-37 made in 1947. My cousin/shooting buddy/BFF has a newer Model-37 made,IIRC, in the late '80's. Mine has the slam fire feature, his doesn't. Does anybody know what year this was discontinued? Just curious. Thanks.

My -37 is smoother than his and is very tight. It doesn't have any blue left on it but it works perfect.
 
"Slam fire" wasn't a feature. The early models didn't have a disconnected so you could do this. Other old models such as the Winchester M1912 could do it. While some say it's ok many say it's not and I'm with that group. Your bolt may not be locked fully into battery causing wear and stress over a smaller area. They can get worn enough that the bolt won't lock.
 
I have a Winchester Model 1912 shotgun of the pumping actions.

VERY fun to slam fire! Seven rounds of 00 buck as fast as you can shuck 'em! The thing rises like a full auto! Lot's of firepower. The boys on Iwo and Tarawa used them to put up a wall of lead when firing into dark caves and stuff. Devastating.
 
Slamfire isn't for everyone, just like the Slide fire stocks for ARs and AKs aren't for everyone. No need for sarcasm because that's not the way you do things. Not very High Road.

Personally, I have no desire for a slamfire or a slide fire, but don't disparage those who do.
 
But, but, but?

I can't hold down a semi-auto and get it back on target as fast as I can pull the trigger.

rc
 
rcmodel said:
But, but, but?

I can't hold down a semi-auto and get it back on target as fast as I can pull the trigger.

rc
Click to expand...
I thought the point of shooting was to see how many bullets or shells you can fire in as short a time as possible to emulate the way actors do it on TV and in the movies. What are these "targets" you speak of?
 
I thought the point of shooting was to see how many bullets or shells you can fire in as short a time as possible to emulate the way actors do it on TV and in the movies. What are these "targets" you speak of?
Click to expand...
Good one.
During the Revolutionary War there were something like 500 rounds fired per enemy casualty. The weapons obviously got much more capable. But, by the end of Vietnam it was something like 4,500,000 rounds fired per enemy casualty. Spray and pray is the order of the day.
 
Slam-firing the 37 will eventually result in the same problem as the Win Model-12: the bolt-stop
recess in the receiver will get battered all to [heck] and headspace will grow uncontrollably.
(Ask me how I know :barf: )

This is an expensive problem to fix and involves rewelding/heat-treating the receiver top....
(Ask me again how I know :barf: :barf: )
 
Please explain about the bolt stop recess in the Ithaca Model 37.

The Ithaca has a slide stop (part no.27), but I have never heard of a "bolt stop".

Also please note the Ithaca does not "slam fire", the hammer is released by the second sear after the breach is in fully locked!
 
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Like the M-12, Model 37 bolts lock by [the rear] tipping up into a recess in the rear and locking directly into the [top of the] receiver.

This can produce "... set back in the locking area of the receiver. Over the years, this recess gets hammered back a few thousands and pushed up a burr at the back of the recess. You can [actually] feel the burr from inside the receiver when open.

Incidentally, this is exactly what happens in the Model-12 as well
 
I have just checked my Ithaca's and there is no "burr" at the bolt locking recess in the reciever.

Please also note the hammer cannot reach the firing pin untill the slide (part no.14) is fully forward in the reciever locking the bolt into battery.

The guns are well used and have fired many rounds in thier lifetimes.
 
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Scroll down to post #13 on the linked thread for a description of a faulty condition often seen on old M12 shotguns. There may be a thread on this forums somewhere describing this problem. My father collected M12's and had a couple that would do this, I have no idea whether it applies to the Ithaca's. I haven't seen one slam fire, but what would happen would be that the gun wouldn't be fully returned to battery and the trigger was pulled, resulting in nothing but a "click"...then when the bolt was fully closed the gun would fire. I have seen this happen personally more than once and was very nearly shot by someone while skeet shooting many years ago under these circumstances, he had the gun pointed towards the ground but the shot load hit so close that it blew dirt onto my leg.

http://www.trapshooters.com/threads/model-12-out-of-time.62217/
 
Well they are not as old as some out there but...

The 20 gauge was made in 1939
The 12 gauge was made in 1940
The 16 gauge was made in 1941

Is that old enough.

And there's the 1965 12 gauge that was used for trap, full choke, vent rib with mid bead.
 
Until you slam fire one of these, you won't appreciate how fast you can empty a tube of ammo. Extremely fast, faster than a semi-auto.
Click to expand...

I have no need to spray and pray....ans my current semi can do 4/second....no need for any mall ninja faster speed.......speed without accuracy is nothing more than a tragic waste of resources
 
Virginian said:
Good one.
During the Revolutionary War there were something like 500 rounds fired per enemy casualty. The weapons obviously got much more capable. But, by the end of Vietnam it was something like 4,500,000 rounds fired per enemy casualty. Spray and pray is the order of the day.
Click to expand...
I hate when someone trots out that old turkey. Supressive fire wasn't used in the Revolutionary War, nor was recon by fire. They were used in Vietnam. When all your target is is a fast moving series of muzzle flashes in heavy brush, I don't care who you are, you're not going to hit with your first round.

I suppose if the Minutemen had M16's, and fired from cover, the round ratio there could have been way under 500:1, since their opponents stood lined up all nice and straight in their fancy red coats in the middle of a field, But I doubt it; I bet they'd have hit 'da switch' and hosed the redcoat lines down. It's as American as JMB and Eugene Stoner.

That 4.5 million rounds per casualty in VN also includes CAS, gun birds hosing down LZ's before insertions, rounds expended in familiarity and zeroing, and lots & lots of supressive fire.
 
I hate it when someone tries to downplay inefficiency. And it still seems to me that 4,500,000 rounds per enemy casualty is a terrible hit rate. If you take out all the one shot one kill sniper kills heaven knows what it would be.
I hate everything about Vietnam, except the fine American military men who served there. The U.S. set out not to "win", and guess what, they didn't. Almost 60,000 Americans killed so we could end up with a favored nation trading partner. An American travesty. They should have hung all the politicians involved.
 
rounds per casualty

There is a sign at the USMC sniper school that reads: The average rounds expended per kill with the M16 in Vietnam was 50,000. Snipers averaged 1.3 rounds. The cost difference was $2300 v. 27 cents."

"The best estimate as to the average amount of rounds expended per kill in the Vietnam Conflict (For U.S. Army Soldiers) is 200,000. The average rounds expended per kill by U.S. Army snipers in Vietnam was 1.3"
Click to expand...

Take your pick of statistics. Either one is quite a bit fewer than 4.5 million.
Pete
 
speed without accuracy is nothing more than a tragic waste of resources
Click to expand...
Tragic? Really?

I understand that some folks' ideas about shooting are not always shared by others, but this protest seems a bit over the top...
 
Getting back to the original question. It was in the early 70's that Ithaca removed the second sear that allowed pump fireing of the gun.

That second sear was a stud on the side of the hammer and a hook/catch machined into the slide stop.
If the trigger was held back and the gun pumped the second sear would release the hammer just as the slide pushed the bolt up into lock up.
The slide went completely forward (locked the bolt) and let the slide lock move to lock the slide into place, that action also released the hammer.

On the newer guns that sear is not there, if the shooter holds the trigger back the hammer will just follow the bolt home and the gun will not shoot.
 
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