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Auction # 1031744594
4205raymond
Member Posts: 3,316 ✭✭✭✭
Chamber size 2 7/8 looks like a restrike after polishing. Gauge size looks pretty good unless barrel was roll died again. Any comments? ---------------------------------Ray
Comments
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1031744594
$1,875 with 10 days left?!? I had no idea those ol' shotguns would draw that kind of money.
She has 7 of the 37's up for auction but only the 28 gauge is crazy expensive.
https://www.gunbroker.com/All/search?Keywords=model%2037&Sort=13&IncludeSellers=2830630&PageSize=24
I sold a win 37 28g that had gone grey some years ago for crazy money
Do you all think barrel was chalked in 2 7/8 area or polished?
If I told you how many '37's I have or how many have passed thru my hands in my 81 years no one would probably believe me.
I turned up a 28ga a few years back that was a real humdinger. The chamber was struck as 2 3/4 and the gauge that was struck was a perfect 28. The chamber and bore to crown were 28ga. Only problem is the OD on the barrel reeked of 20ga.
All the experts Bert, Winchester Dave, everyone, even myself say must be a fake because not struck as 2 7/8. I do all my own polishing so i took it to my Gunsmith who does my bluing. He is very, very good. He used a instrument to check barrel and neither of us can detect a sleeve in chamber or bore.
I called the seller on the gun but kept the gun anyway. I have a theory on the gun. It started it's life as a 20ga blank barrel and became a 28ga. The chamber size was not stamped as 2 7/8 but 2 3/4. I think I only paid $700 for the gun which was a tad too much for a '37 but not nearly enough for a 28ga.
Another reason i kept the gun was the Good old Boys in New Haven did not believe in wasting parts. Never say Never with Winchester. A really, really nice 28ga that is authentic can go for as high as $4,000. You just never know. This one i have could be the rarest of the rare. --------------------------------------Ray
A very pretty little gun Ray...
"Independence Now, Independence Forever."
John Adams
My very first gun was/ is a model 37 in 16 gauge . Not a red letter or pigtail but still priceless to me Received it from my grandfather at age 10. That and a 20 gauge j.c.higgins from my dad will never leave my possession.
Some '37 Win trivia. ------------ I have a handful of 28ga. '37's but consider the 20ga with a 32" barrel harder to come by. In my whole life have run across less than 10 and I have three of them. If you see one expect to pay $2,000+. About 10 years ago saw a 20ga 32" barrel (just the barrel) on Fleabay that went for $500 and it was painted black. Lord knows what was under all that black paint.
Stoeger's list a 28ga with a 32" barrel in the old catalogues. Have never seen one or know anyone who has. I keep hoping but at my age I almost believe it does not exist.
One thing I never could figure out. On some of the Red Letter receivers there is a large "A" on the belly between the word Winchester in red and the fore end stock. Don't know what that "A" stands for and all the old timers from New Haven are long gone. They don't know at the Cody museum either. -----------------------------Ray
PS: usually the inspector puts his mark below the trigger guard on the lower tang.
1/28/24, 39 bids at $1,925 I will pass on this one but watch what happens a hour before close. -----------------Ray
2/1/24, 42 bids at $2,325 ---------------------Ray
2/2/24, 44 bids at $2,600 -------------------Ray
2/2/24 PM, 47 bids at $2,825 -------------------Ray
2/4/24 AM, 50 bids at $3,026 I don't have the 1936 Stoegers but my 1940 list this shotgun at $8.45 on page 78. ---------------------------Ray
2/4/24 PM, 54 bids at $3,625. Folks use to ask me all the time. "Why do you waste your time and money on those old 37 Winchesters"? I don't know, it must be a sickness. Heck i could buy a real nice Pre64 Model 70 Winchester for that kind of loot.😉-----Ray
2/5/24 AM, 59 bids at $4,225. -------------------Ray
Definitely a bidding war between those two.
2/5/24 PM, 60 bids at $4,325. Yep a late bidding war at this point. Can't wait for the last hour. Never thought it would break $4,000 but was not surprised that it broke $3,000. I have a much nicer First Year but with a added feature. It has a 30" barrel. Madis and many of the so called Experts claim Winchester only made a little over 500 of these 30 inchers out of around 1.5 million '37's. and of course most of those have suffered the ravages of use/abuse and time.
37 Winchester kinda like the 94 Winchester and 99 savage caught a lot of heavy use over the years. It put meat on the table, kept the foxes/hawks away from the farmer's chickens, and protected his family. It was a big piece of Rural America. -------------------------Ray
2/5/24 PM, SOLD, 81 bids at $5,850. Did not end the way I expected. I passed for two reasons but don't want to get in trouble here. Still, even without the bidding war, I think it would have broke $4,000. Had to go p/u my meds and missed the end.-------------Ray
Wow.........a 3 grand bidding war......between 2 deep pockets.....across 3 days!!🤑🤯
Although.........I'll admit to being in one a few years ago.😇
Yeah........they were 17 caliber rifles.😎