ANY IVER JOHNSON EXPERTS OUT THERE?

semperfi68to70 · Dec 20, 2012

The lady who lives across the street from me brought an old pistol to my house that she said belonged to her father. It is an Iver Johnson .32 Hammerless Revolver. From the looks of the pistol, I
doubt it has ever been fired. If it has, it couldn't have been more than a couple of times. There is no rust, pitting or any damage of any type and I would rate the nickel plated finish at 90%. The
trigger guard is blue and the grips look to be black plastic. Once again both are perfect.

On the top of the barrel it reads: "IVER JOHNSON ARMS AND CYCLE WORKSx" Beneath that it says "FITCHBURG, MASS. U.S.A." on the trigger guard there is what appears to be a four digit number
76XX.

Can anyone shed some light on this for me such as the year of manufacture and the approximate value? This type of firearm isn't really my interest and I have learned about all I can from the
Internet.

Thanks.

Toxic6 · Dec 20, 2012

I'll tell you what i can remember from asking a similar question on the Gunbroker forums (which is where you might try asking......they have some collectors that hang out there). I think there is a whole section devoted to old antique revolvers.

What I can remember of the top of my head for date of manufacture......if it has patent dates on the top, manufacture date will fall after the last one (mine was '97 which stood for 1897). If the cylinder will free spin, it is pre smokeless powder so at least early 1900's. And there was something about the inspector/assembler putting marks under the grips iirc. Sorry, that's the only tidbits i can remember about them.

For value, try putting it on an auction site. I am pretty sure those count as antiques by this point, mine did (ended up being 112 years old).

Oh, and I believe the ammo was supposed to be .32 s&w or short and black powder propelled. I think those old revolvers got the reputation of sns by idiots putting modern ammo in them and then wondering why they fell/blew apart.

semperfi68to70 · Dec 20, 2012

Thank you so much. I suspect that this is the third generation of the Hammerless .32 S&W. The cylinder does not spin freely and she also gave me the remnants of a box of Western Lubaloy "oilproof" cartridges.
They are non-corrovsive primed and use smokeless powder. There are 22 cartridges in the box, so I am guessing the gun has had 28 rounds through it. I have done a little more research and it looks like there
were a lot of these made. Iver Johnson put out three "generations" of the gun right up until 1941. Judging from the story she told me and knowing these people, her father probably bought it for home
protection in the late 30's. I have no intention of shooting it, I will probably take it to a gunsmith and see if it is worth having it cleaned up inside and give it back to her. Thanks again.