Do I have an Iver Johnson 410 or a 44

[iverjohnson61]

I recently inheirited what I thought was an Iver Johnson 410 shotgun, but I'm not so sure anymore. The gun belonged to my grandfather, who is deceased, it was given to me by my uncle, who never used the gun.

I tried putting a two and a half inch 410 shell in it, but it wouldn't fit it was too tight, the shell would only go into the chamber about half way, then get stuck. I thought the chamber might have been dirty, so I cleaned it with gun solvent, and the 410 shell still wouldn't fit.

I then read on the internet that Iver Johnson did at one time make a 44 caliber rifle that looked exactly like the 410 shotgun, now I'm thinking thats what I have.

The only markings on the gun is "Iver Johnsons' Arms & Cycle Works
Fitchurg,MA
Champion " and the serial number is 66778. there is no mention of any caliber size


The barrel is a smooth bore like a shotgun with no rifling in it.

if anyone could tell me what I have here ,it would be appreciated.

[Alpo]

You quite probably have a gun chambered for the 44 Xtra-Long Shot cartridge.

These have not been made since before WW2.

If you wished to shoot your gun, you could make ammo. Magtech sells 2 1/2" 410 brass, which could be trimmed to length. Circlefly Wads sells the correct nitro cards, felt and overshot cards to fit the magtech brass.

[ozo]

Do you not have any pics ?
IJ did make a .44caliber [NOT GAUGE] shotgun
Although most shotgun bores are measured by "gauge", this one is actually a 44 caliber (44/100 of an inch), and was made for a shotshell version of the Winchester 44-40 cartridge. This ammunition is no longer available (well, maybe from a specialty manufacturer at a high price), so it has NO value as a working shotgun. IJ shotguns are not widely collected, but there is some collector interest in these old guns. I'd say it could possibly bring $200 in excellent condition, or $100-$150 in average condition.

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_th...#ixzz28Gp1xIUP