Duckbill Ithaca 37

This past summer I visited the UDT SEAL Museum in Ft. Pierce and finally got a good look at the duckbill Ithaca 37 they have there.

I came home inspired....found a early 1950's slam fire 37 at a pawn shop and went to work.....

Here is a before and after

http://i65.tinypic.com/atpt1g.jpg

And after with a tube extension, military refinish, and a functional duckbill

http://i63.tinypic.com/1z38hfn.jpg

I'd love to see the pattern on that 5-30 yards.

Looks great!

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Originally Posted by 03RN

I'd love to see the pattern on that 5-30 yards.

Looks great!

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I haven't patterned it yet...but with #4 buck it's devastating.

Very cool. I picked up a 37 a while back that someone had trimmed the barrel back to 18", it also lacks a disconector. What's involved in the tube extension? Obviously you had to remove the lug on the barrel, is there an extension that threads on or did you have to rethread it?

Looking forward to hearing of a "duckbill shot spreader" that actually spreads the shot horizontally.

Edit to add: The SEAL/UDT Museum is awesome, got up there on my one day off from rasslin' gators in Miami during the Irma clean up last fall. Have they reopened the WWII/Korea exhibits yet?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bigghoss

Very cool. I picked up a 37 a while back that someone had trimmed the barrel back to 18", it also lacks a disconector. What's involved in the tube extension? Obviously you had to remove the lug on the barrel, is there an extension that threads on or did you have to rethread it?

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The first step was to grind off the lug, which is exactly what they did for the SEAL 37's. I then added an extension. Luckily a standard tube extender for the Remington 870 fits the existing tube thread perfectly. I think the brand was TacStar

http://i68.tinypic.com/xbh2iu.jpg

The original duckbill was prone to cracking under use. Later they would add a ring around the end of the bill to prevent this. Originals do not exist nor was there anything to go by to machine one. I found a company that produces the Gator Spreader based on the original design. Theirs is beefed up a bit, and later I found that they are actually made by Brenneke for the company. Most of their models are for an internally threaded choke and unfortunately none of them would work with a thread you would have to use for the Ithaca...which has a thinner walled barrel at the 18" or 20" mark. Luckily, Gator had an adapter version for the Saiga 12, but this pitch just "barely" threaded the barrel....but just enough that I could get the adapter set and I silver soldered it in place.

http://i64.tinypic.com/24gvvph.jpg

http://i65.tinypic.com/143lrv7.jpg

The barrel stays center by the use of the extension tube to barrel clamp as did the originals.

I filled the existing engraved hunting scene with Duracoat's DURAFIL, after had bead blasted the entire weapon. The final finish was Dura Park Gray Green. The buttstock was new since the first was roached. The forearm was lightly sanded and oiled.

A few short weeks after completing this one I found locally a really beat up and broken 1951 model 37 and did the same refinish without the duckbill and it has become my favorite all around shotgun....and tempted to sell my M1 Super 90 because of that.

That's really cool. I'm just gonna put an extension on mine for maximum slam-fire fun. :cool: I found a 20" barrel and 8 shot tube and spring but all the parts would cost almost $250 which is more than I paid for the gun in the first place.