I have seen in reviews of Rem 870 and Mossberg 500 the twin action bars cited as eliminating "binding" problems.Two shotguns that have single arms are Ithaca 37 and Win mod 12's,and I have never had a problem with my old Ithaca.I have never shot a model 12 but it has a very good reputation.After my problems with stuck shells in a couple of 870's,and the Maverick 88,and how hard we were pulling the forearm back to get the shells out,including yanking the forearm and hitting the butt on the ground,I wonder if having only one action bar might have caused any problems in a situation like this.Has anyone ever experienced a problem with a pump gun that had only a single action bar?
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Dual action bars
- Thread starter xm21
- Start date
I've seen a Stevens 520-30 break the tip off of it's single action bar, essentially sidelining the 50 year-old gun. Other than that I think it's a bit of advertising hype. Model 12's, 97's, 37's, and even early Mossberg 500's with the single action bar could be relatively smooth.
That being said The 870 is incredibly tough, and I like them a lot. From the sound of things you had an ammo problem.
Model 12's are incredibly nice guns, and if you get the chance, grab one. A touch heavy, but very nicely made.
That being said The 870 is incredibly tough, and I like them a lot. From the sound of things you had an ammo problem.
Model 12's are incredibly nice guns, and if you get the chance, grab one. A touch heavy, but very nicely made.
Slopemeno after polishing the chambers the guns mentioned no longer have extraction problems with the ammo that caused it before.In my own 870 you could see rings in the chamber when looking at it with a light,i guess from the chamber reamer.It still fired more expensive rounds just fine,even as many as 200 in one shooting session,but put the Rem's with black hulls,or the bulk 100 packs in it and stuck shells were the result.Skeet shooting with expensive shells was too costly so I polished the tool marks out.Thanks for your response.
rem870hunter
New member
my dad has 2 ithaca 37 both in 12 ga. one he bought when i was a child, the other was bought from his brother-in-law a few years ago. the one he bought when i was a child has no problems. the one he bought from his brother-in-law binds when pumping. if i recall right it was when pulling back it would move halfway then get tight. pushing forward was fine. not 100% positive if the single bar is bent. i strongly believe it is. the shotgun was made in the late 60's. i haven't tried to slam fire either one. i might out of curiosity.
Thanks for the info rem870 hunter,I was looking at the wear marks on the mag tube of my 66 years old 37 20 ga. when I had the forend off and the tube shows very deep marks in some places and very light ones in other spots,where the fore grip is twisted in the hand as pumped.Hate to hear about the damage on the one,but If you ever break something on the other one you already have the spare on the other.
A couple of years ago I went on a tour of the King Ferry Ithaca plant. I was chatting with the shop forman and he showed me a twin action bar Ithaca 37 they had played with. Their opinion was it added nothing to their gun and it never went into production. Other than bending or somehow messing up the single bar, one works just fine.