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The receiver of most modern-design shotguns are excessively long for the shell length. One of the hallmarks of J.M.B.'s genius is COMPACTNESS.
A look at the 1897 pump, Auto-5, Stevens 520/620, and Remington 17 (and its heir, the Ithaca 37) receivers show quite short receivers. It's actually amazing, considering the size of the behemoth-class tube (shell) moving around in there!
On a side note, the 1911 is another example; it's practically shrink-wrapped steel around the .45 ACP cartridge form. Or the 1894 lever...despite having compound leverage via an extra lever (the link) compared to the modern Marlin 336, it's more compact in every dimension than the aforesaid Marlin!
As dludwig noted, the BPS and 37 only share having bottom ejection.
New 37s are 3" chambered. And, they're still in production via the Ohio-based new Ithaca.
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