krag96 wrote:Haven't had any problem with the sights moving myself, they seem solidly mounted to me, at least neither of mine are loose.
I suppose using it for PSG *is* a little harsh on a thirty-year-old gun. I haven't considered the moving sights a problem until now because the feed issues have been the main problem.
I see no problem using a grub screw to secure the sight, I've seen some factory sights with them, (a small screw set center to put pressure on the sight to prevent it's movement).
I figured that the normal "thread lock" approach wouldn't work because, of course, the barrel gets so hot during "enthusiastic" periods of use. (Also, I'd still like to be able to sight them in.)
I haven't had any problems contacting Ithaca, and in particular Zak. Here's his e-mail on his business card,
zamert@ithacagun.com
I have to admit that I usually use the service@ address. The contact@ address, however, worked just fine. Perhaps I should give the zamert@ address a go. For now, I'll let Patty pass my messages on. (Oh, thanks for the info.)
phone, 419-294-4113, fax, 419-294-3230. I don't know about international, but here in the states we would dial a 1 prefix before the number if long distance.
I normally wouldn't even *consider* 'phoning abroad from the UK because the charges seem high compared to many other countries. However...
In (I think) 2012, I had to 'phone Ithaca to pay for an order. Before I did so, I asked our phone company how much it'd cost. The chap said that it'd be either a penny a minute or *eight* pence a minute. I was happy with that and went ahead, 'phoned Zak and, in due course (after crossing HMRC's palm with more silver) the package arrived. In the event, the call turned out to be *free*. Now *that*, I wasn't expecting...
I just called Ithaca between paragraphs Zak will be in his office Tuesday, Sept. 2. As for ordering the part, they said they do ship international and you can order the part you need on line. Go to their web site, Online Store Home, create an account, find what you need and order. Sounds too simple to me, but that's what she said, you may have to provide permits on your end, I don't know.
As I say, I *have* ordered from them before. And I was very thankful that they'll supply me for, of course, there are no Ithaca dealers over here.
As for using the web site, I've found lately that many web sites are a bit unreliable when one tries to use an Android tablet or 'phone to do transactions. In any case, two of the bits that I wanted were not *on* the web site as far as I could tell.
The rear sight, I've already mentioned. I did, though, also want a butt pad. Zak offered me an modern type rubbery thing but all I wanted was what was already *on* the gun. Viz, a plain thin, plastic one. (In the email that Patty passed on for me, I ask Zak whether these are still available.)
The reason I wanted the old type was that I wanted to somehow extend the stock bolt until it was just short of the underside of the butt pad and change it to a hex headed bolt. Then, I'd drill medium-sized hole in the butt pad and use, say, an allen key to do it up and undo it. The idea, of course, is to avoid having to faff around unscrewing the butt pad when cleaning the gun or just tightening the stock.
On this subject, by the way, I have acquired a Choate replacement butt pad for the M37. I was *very* disappointed in it. They even changed the size of the stock bolt head so that my specially-made tool wouldn't fit and I had to make another. (Length of bent mild steel bar with a socket fitted to the end.)
Mark, the slide pin lists at $6.00 (USD) from Ithaca, (pn-370015) if you have problems ordering it, could you have it made locally at a machine shop? Looks like a simple lathe operation to me.
I actually *have* a lathe, although I don't use it much.
I wanted to order a bunch of other stuff so I merely added it onto the list. In fact, the gun still *works*, but I've elected not to use it incase the severed end of the pin scores or otherwise damaged the inside of the receiver.
To be honest, I've really enjoyed using the Chiappa 1887 over the last few months - it doesn't suffer from most of the annoying little problems that I've had with the M37.
There are a couple of other M37 enthusiasts over here and at least one is getting the main niggle that *I* am: hard extractions of fired hulls. In fact, I even get this on the Chiappa... (Must be our crappy ammo that we use. As far as I'm aware, I've *never* handled a shotgun shell that had a real *brass* base...)
Thanks for your help and info.
Regards,
Mark.