Oh the things our dreams are made of. Imagine just about everybody would love to have some kind of Trench Gun, myself included.

I spend way too much time pouring over every bit of information I can get my hands on regarding martial shotguns and they are in my dreams. I'd love to have any number of said shotguns, but am poor and can't seem to see myself spending thousands of dollars on something that should be in a museum. I do find myself gathering guns and parts to assemble into a fake or reproduction/clone Trench Gun. At the moment I'm working on a 1970 vintage M37. There is also hope on the horizon for some Winchester pumps too.

I was wondering if anyone knew the Serial number range of WWII issued Ithaca Model 37 Trench guns? I've been offered one that is serial. There were a good many commercial riot guns made by Ithaca- some non-US marked 'commercial' trench guns too, though those usually have 7-digit serial numbers. There were 'S prefix' riot guns made for both the US military and the South Vietnamese during the war. There was even a tiny handful of 'S prefix' trench guns.

As for the WWII Ithaca M37 Trench Gun, depending on who you read (Canfield, Poyer, etc.) there were between 1420 and 1422 Ithaca Trench Guns built during the war. As the M37 was not part of what was kept by the military after the war their numbers dwindled accordingly. I do not know if anyone knows the exact number of WWII M37 Trench Guns left in existence, but the number must be small. According to Canfield the WWII M37 Trench Gun is one of the most sought after martial shotguns only challenged by the Remington Model 10 Trench Gun. Gotta love the Winnies too.

Winchester built truckloads of '97s for the first World War as well as a couple M12 that the military never bit the hook on for in 1918. There were Winchester trench Guns built during the inter-war years and again thousands of M97s and M12s built for WWII. I also read (Canfield) there were a few M12s built up into the early 1960s (around about SN 1961xxx IIRC). Farming simulator 2009 gold edition download completo gratis.

The Winchester Trenchies are much more common and well known; I'd like to have a couple too. As things are, my little project just took a drastic turn. I emptied my little piggy bank on a real 1969 vintage M37 Trench Gun.

Seller reports he does not think its ever left our shores for action abroad, rather it was used in a prison back east somewhere. Either way, its is an authentic M37 Trenchie. Now I'm thinking I'll need to sell the East Taylor built reproduction bayonet mount/heat shield and will probably register the Riot Gun as an SBS and have the snout end of the barrel cut off. [/evil laugh]. G.g.ands wrote:Can anybody tell me what the buttplate design was on the WWII version of the M37 Trenchgun? There was only a handfull of M37 trench guns made for WWII (1422 of em IIRC) and after the war the military said they were only going to support the Winchester Model 12, Stevens 520 and 620. I imagine the number of those WWII M37 trench guns still alive is very low.

Point being, there are not a lot of pics out there of them let alone of the butt plate. One might think that the 'normal' Ithaca M37 butt plate used in 1942-43 would be the same used on their WWII trenchies. I couldn't tell you for sure though, my 1943 gun has a recoil pad. The only couple pics I have been able to find of what appears to be a WWII Ithaca M37 trench gun show only a side profile of the butt plate.

Of note, the stock and forend are smooth and 'ring-tail' as opposed to checkered like other M37 of the era. These are just pics gleaned off the internet. Mike263 wrote:Does anyone in the industry make a copy of the heat shield/ bayonet mount? Builds a great one if not a tad expensive. I got one a couple years back for a project and sadly the entire project still sits in a small pile of parts unfinished. Their bayonet mount and heat shield is a good one though, it is pretty much exactly the same as the 'real' trench gun mentioned above; a very good piece.

Problem is (as I see it anyway) they also build repro mounts for Winchesters and now the Remington Model 10. I see more projects in the future. This is my East Taylor mount.

Pictured above is the Ithaca Trench Gun as issued in Viet Nam. 20' barrel, no heat shield attachment. I remember seeing a few, (damn few!) trench guns in Viet Nam in '69-'70, maybe two, and I don't remember what they were. Neither had heat shields, both were pump guns with 20' barrels and slings like the Ithaca pictured above. Ithaca Model 37, trench gun, riot gun, Ithaca, shotgun Ithaca Model 37 Trench and Riot Gun Though not nearly as famous as the Winchester Model 1897, Ithaca’s Model 37 served with distinction in multiple conflicts. By Rick Hacker (RSS) April 18, 2011 The United States Army had been using smoothbore shotguns since the Revolutionary War, although the formidable weapon didn’t come into its own until World War I with the introduction of the Winchester Model 1897 “trench sweeper,” a 12 gauge, 20-inch-barreled pump-action scattergun.