Andy the Aussie
03-14-2011, 06:27
As a matter of some history you all may or may not be aware that in the mid 1990s a significant number (100s of not 1000s) of 12ga "riot guns" were imported to Australia from Vietnam (in the same buy were a quantity of arsenal refurbed (in the US then stored in Vietnam) 1911s). The shotguns consisted of a mix of Remington 870s, Stevens M77s Ithaca M37s and Winchester M25s (on that I am not 100%). In early 1996 I bought one each of the M37s and M77s. In mid 1996 (thanks to a mass shooting incident in Tasmania pump shotguns were essentially banned out here. I did not get long with either gun before that were lost to history. I did however make some notes about each and photograph them before they went.
Fast forward to last week and a close friend of mine reminded me I had a box of "junk" at his place. I was going through it and found the negatives (among 1000s) of the 35mm I shot of the M37 and some of the notes I made. I still have not found the stuff on the Stevens.
I am working to scan/print and post some of the pics but I thought the details I do have at hand may of been of some interest to the history buffs in the US. Anyway "SPEEDGUNNER" recommended I post my ramblings about the M37 up here.
The gun was pretty much a stock standard 18inch M37 Featherweight. I had a factory fitted and "Ithaca" embossed tan/red recoil pad (interestingly when removed it was in fact a Pachmayer made "Whiteline" pad with all the usual marking underneath).
As was the case I believe with all the "Vietnam Contract" guns it had two serial numbers #708** on the right side of the receiver just above the trigger and # S220** on the barrel and front edge of the receiver (I hear it was unusual that the barrel number and receiver number still matched as there was some "mix and match" going on in Vietnam. It was marked "U.S." at the front right of the receiver.
The gun had not at all been refinished and showed 30 years worth of accumulated "crud" and crap in all the hard to reach places. Much of the parkerizing was worn smooth/through all over. It had been disassembled at some point based upon the condition of the screw heads. It was not a "gunsmith" that did this believe me.
The gun would not extract a spent case in some fiddling I did but after a clean with "Crud Buster" and a tooth brush it would happily cycle spent rounds. I never had a chance to fire it after I got it functioning. I did however have a sense that it was going to kick like a mule.
The butt seemed short to me (but I am six one and have money arms). I don't know if the butt was short or not, I had another commercial M37 "Deerslayer" at the time but I don't think I ever got around to comparing the butts. It had swivels fitted front and back.
Once I get the negatives/photos sorted out I will post them up.
I am also happy to try and answer any questions from memory or my notes.
Andy
Fast forward to last week and a close friend of mine reminded me I had a box of "junk" at his place. I was going through it and found the negatives (among 1000s) of the 35mm I shot of the M37 and some of the notes I made. I still have not found the stuff on the Stevens.
I am working to scan/print and post some of the pics but I thought the details I do have at hand may of been of some interest to the history buffs in the US. Anyway "SPEEDGUNNER" recommended I post my ramblings about the M37 up here.
The gun was pretty much a stock standard 18inch M37 Featherweight. I had a factory fitted and "Ithaca" embossed tan/red recoil pad (interestingly when removed it was in fact a Pachmayer made "Whiteline" pad with all the usual marking underneath).
As was the case I believe with all the "Vietnam Contract" guns it had two serial numbers #708** on the right side of the receiver just above the trigger and # S220** on the barrel and front edge of the receiver (I hear it was unusual that the barrel number and receiver number still matched as there was some "mix and match" going on in Vietnam. It was marked "U.S." at the front right of the receiver.
The gun had not at all been refinished and showed 30 years worth of accumulated "crud" and crap in all the hard to reach places. Much of the parkerizing was worn smooth/through all over. It had been disassembled at some point based upon the condition of the screw heads. It was not a "gunsmith" that did this believe me.
The gun would not extract a spent case in some fiddling I did but after a clean with "Crud Buster" and a tooth brush it would happily cycle spent rounds. I never had a chance to fire it after I got it functioning. I did however have a sense that it was going to kick like a mule.
The butt seemed short to me (but I am six one and have money arms). I don't know if the butt was short or not, I had another commercial M37 "Deerslayer" at the time but I don't think I ever got around to comparing the butts. It had swivels fitted front and back.
Once I get the negatives/photos sorted out I will post them up.
I am also happy to try and answer any questions from memory or my notes.
Andy