New production Ithacas? Questions

[Aftermath]

I may be interested in buying a new Ithaca shotgun. The problem is their company seems to change hands quite often and I don't know of what manufacturing changes they make each time. Do they currently make a good quality shotgun?

Usually when researching a gun I may buy I will look for online dealers and see what kind of prices I can find. ( budsgunshop, impactguns, ableammo etc etc) these kind of places seem better than auction sites for determining retail value.

To the point: I think the Ithaca Model 37 defense is cool, has great looks and history. They list them on their site for 550.00 however I don't see new ones for sale online! Just used models for sale. Are they not in production again yet?

Is this a made-to-order gun or something? I think it would be very cool to get the Model 37 Defense, 8 round tube and wood stock.

Does anyone make a good aftermarket replica heat shield?

I appreciate any comments on the matter, I know there was another thread about this gun but it seemed more geared towards identifying year of manufacture from serial number. Thanks!

 

[Omaha-BeenGlockin]

The new ones are made with modern machinery---so more consistant than the older ones.

Just didn't like that you can't remove the barrel on the defence models.

Going street price seems to be $350 to $450 depending on the model and how long its sat on the dealer's shelf. The wood 8-shot is considerably more than the plastic 5-shot.

 

[Youngster]

The new '37s seem to be up there quality wise with the ones made in the '50s.

Defense models are out there but as mentioned the barrel isn't removable, which is a real deal killer as far as I'm concerned because you lose that classic Ithaca lugged look and it would make cleaning a major hassle.

 

[JohnM]

One thing I noticed was how high the Model 37 Featherweights have gone.
I wanted another barrel for mine, whew!
More than I paid for the gun when I bought it.