Ithaca 37 "Trench Gun" - Opinions Requested

[Bruce_in_Oz]

I was once party to an expedition to "recover" military shotguns from Viet Nam.

We trawled through literally HUNDREDS of guns in every possible grade of repair.

There were LOT of Ithaca 37s in the mix, along with Rem 870s, Win 97s and 12s. Stevens 77E, a few Stevens 520 and 620, etc, etc. This was all to be expected. The wild card was the swag of Winchester Mod 25 riot guns. As near as anybody seems to know, these do not exist, but I inspected and catalogued a LOT of them. For those who have never seen one, a Model 25 is essentially a SOLID frame Win 12. Interestingly, the 25 was "officially" only ever made as a long-barrelled "sporting" gun.

Back to the Ithacas: MOST were basic "riot" guns, but there were "trench" versions in there as well. NONE had the commecial "wildlife" engraving.

I can't find my notebook at the moment, but from memory, many seem to have been made in the early 1960s.

Sadly, I cannot supply any photos. Shortly after the first (and only) shipment arrived in Australia, the government decided that they were really "naughty" guns and should be destroyed. A tiny handful of each model escaped the crusher to become restricted collector's pieces.

[browningautorifle]

a Model 25 is essentially a SOLID frame Win 12.

Thanks Bruce, I had one that I believe was a prison service gun. No finish left and loose as a goose...that was about 1975...wonder where it is now?

[sn@abrc]

But thought I might fill in a little detail.

Bruce [I guess you were with Tarra' gun shop??]

I purchased one of these "Vietnam rescue" Ithica '37's back when we were allowed to have them.
Best $200 I ever spent!!
In the short time I owned her, she did sterling service on feral pigs, cats, emus, ducks, rabbits and the occasional roo.

Mine had a "bantam" length buttstock - possibly cut down to suit underfed [and undersized] ARVN conscripts?

The barrel had similar markings as described in the post above - cylinder bore, with over-stamping designating full choke.
I was told by a retired Vietnam era USA military armourer that originally these shotguns were fed practically nothing but 00buck, until lead shot was deemed unethical, and then steel fletchette shells were adopted.

Unfortunately, the fletchettes spread faster than the 00buck, so the barrels were swaged down to full choke, giving a tighter pattern which was very close to that of the 00buck out of a cylinder bore barrel.
I still cant work out how 40 odd fletchettes would be any more ethical than 9 lumps of 00buck!!

I still miss my sweet little '37........damn that JWH.