IMHO, '37's have great ergonomics and handling. I hunted with one that a friend owned back in the '80's and they always seemed to be a better-than-average wingshooter. The light weight is nice too. I have one that I'm going to make into an "all-arounder" that will work for hunting OR home defense.
Practical considerations: Being a bottom-ejecting design you should be very, VERY aware of the chamber, and whether it's loaded or not.
It probably will fire if you hold the trigger down and continue to cycle the action, as did many other shotguns of the era. Try it out when you get to shoot it. I never found this feature to make me any faster or more accurate, but it IS fun...
When I was gunsmithing, quite a few 37's came through the door, but rarely with problems. I shortened barrels, installed recoil pads, different beads, but that's about it. I never had a 37 in for a reliability issue.
|