Can anyone help identify this Ithaca?

[Engine49guy]

Hello all, I am a new member and so glad to have found a website dedicated to my favorite hobby, As a newb I am learning alot and appreciate any help.

I recently came accross this Ithaca 37 trench and am pretty sure it is a fake.
The thing that really bothers me is the way the barrel joins the magazine.
The price isnt bad and would make an interesting shooter.
Im just really afraid that someone has hacked an extended magazine tube and ground down the barrel lug to make the bayo adapter fit.
The serial number is in the 51xxx range on receiver and 57xxx on the barrel.

I am waiting for better pictures but it appears to have a flaming bomb on the left receiver and top of barrel, Also has P+ . says United States Property on right side of receiver and has the letters "TE" on the stock.
I am suspicious that this was an army base skeet gun for aerial target practice that someone has modified. the magazine to barrel mount worries me.
Thanks
Any help would be greatly appreciated

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Bruce Collector]

OK, I will tell you what I KNOW:
In the 51xxx range, it could very well be a Military long barrel gun. It CAN NOT be a trench gun. They are in a small defined range and we have all the records to verify real guns. This is NOT.
The correct markings for this gun would be:
RLB
Flaming bomb
(on the Left side of the receiver near the barrel)
P on the barrel adjacent to the RLB
POSSIBLU United States Property ON THE LEFT UPPER SIDE OF THE RECEIVER, NEVER THE RIGHT AS IN THE PHOTO
The adaptor in the photo is Winchester style NOT Ithaca
The barrel marks are TOTALLY FAKE
That being said, the gun is a total fake, built on what could have been a military gun at one time.
It is worth $200 if you want to hang it on your wall.
Beyond that, run away as fast as you can.

[Bruce Collector]

From the pictures, it does appear to have the RLB and bomb on the receiver, that part is correct.
The United States Property markings on the receiver actually look like the correct style of markings, but I have never seen that on the right side of the receiver, only the left.
Be aware that the proper finish for the gun is commercial blued, never parked. The hardgaurd portion of the adaptor is some kind of a commercial replacement. The TE mark on the stock is BS intended to fool a buyer into thinking the gun is an arsenal conversion. Be assured, it is NOT.
Is this gun being offered for sale in Kalifornia?

[Bruce Collector]

Oh by the way the stock is a modern replacement. Guns in the 51k serial range always had a commercial cut checkered stock.

[Bruce Collector]

This si what it would have looked like as issued.



ftp://24.184.37.116/M37long.jpg

[Bruce Collector]

Yes, you are quite correct about the barrel attachment. It should have the take down attachment on the barrel and tube. This is a total butcher job. It is not worth anything IMHO, and is very unsafe to shoot,as it is mis-matched and can potnetially blow up due to excessive headspace.

[Engine49guy]

Yes it is in Kalifornia.
I knew it was bogus but had found it to be "Interesting" as a curio.
I was considering buying it because it would have made a neat shooter.

My greatest fear was that the barrel lug was hacked off and that the gun was unsafe to shoot, You have confirmed my fears.

This is exactly why this site is so very useful!

It would have been fun to shoot as a cool looking fake, Kinda like the Chicom Winchester copy, But,
As I see it the barrel and magazine are no good and the only value it has is in the receiver, Pump handle, Stocks and bayonet mount parts to build a safe fake M44 out of it.


Thank you for your help guys.

[Capt Quahog]

Have a 1960s era former police M37 riot gun with 19' barrel. It's one of the "bump in the night" house guns. My Ithaca is parkerized. The gun in the pictures looks pretty good actually. Was it made in China? If doesn't blow up when you shoot the thing might guess that it's worth two-hundred bucks.