"Stuff is eaten by dogs, broken by family and friends, sanded down by the wind, frozen by the mountains, lost by the prairie, burnt off by the sun, washed away by the rain. So you are left with dogs, family, friends, sun, rain, wind, prairie and mountains. What more do you want?"
Federico Calboli
I was lucky to find a 1939 M17 in excellent condition and a ragged out one, same year of mfg. Coding indicates year of mfg., despite reported date of mfg. for the 17 ceasing before '39. These predecessors of the Ithaca M37 are lightweights. Gil
I'm going to go way out on a limb here and say that I like the Remington 17 / Ithaca 37 more than the venerable Winchester model 12. True, the 17 / 37 doesn't have the great lines that the Winchester does, but it's simpler, lighter, easier and quicker to take down for cleaning, and a good bit cheaper on the used market. They're incredibly durable, as demonstrated over the long service career the model 37 had with both the NYPD and LAPD. I think the 17's and early 37's (corncob for end, light barrel contour) have the most dynamic balance of any repeater, they're very quick on target, almost like a fine double - almost.
James, I don't think you and my tenth of ton can fit on the same limb, but you are preaching to the choir. What other gun, well maybe the 1911, has been in print for almost a 100 years other than the M17/37? The delicate lines of the forend of the pre-war M37 and Deluxe M17 have been re-incarnated in the currently made M37. My 20 gauges, in M17 and M37, plain barrel, all weigh under 6 lbs. They are splendid splinters, indeed.
While on the topic of Russell Chathama and pumpguns, in Chatham's The Great Duck Misunderstanding, my favorite hook and bullet short story, the story opens with his downing of a duck with his high grade M12 which he obtained in a swap for one of his paintings.
4 comments:
I was lucky to find a 1939 M17 in excellent condition and a ragged out one, same year of mfg. Coding indicates year of mfg., despite reported date of mfg. for the 17 ceasing before '39. These predecessors of the Ithaca M37 are lightweights. Gil
I'm going to go way out on a limb here and say that I like the Remington 17 / Ithaca 37 more than the venerable Winchester model 12. True, the 17 / 37 doesn't have the great lines that the Winchester does, but it's simpler, lighter, easier and quicker to take down for cleaning, and a good bit cheaper on the used market. They're incredibly durable, as demonstrated over the long service career the model 37 had with both the NYPD and LAPD. I think the 17's and early 37's (corncob for end, light barrel contour) have the most dynamic balance of any repeater, they're very quick on target, almost like a fine double - almost.
James Sandoval
James, I don't think you and my tenth of ton can fit on the same limb, but you are preaching to the choir. What other gun, well maybe the 1911, has been in print for almost a 100 years other than the M17/37? The delicate lines of the forend of the pre-war M37 and Deluxe M17 have been re-incarnated in the currently made M37. My 20 gauges, in M17 and M37, plain barrel, all weigh under 6 lbs. They are splendid splinters, indeed.
While on the topic of Russell Chathama and pumpguns, in Chatham's The Great Duck Misunderstanding, my favorite hook and bullet short story, the story opens with his downing of a duck with his high grade M12 which he obtained in a swap for one of his paintings.
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