[jimmyboy]

Hi, recently aquired an Iver Johnson Hammerless Saftey Trigger 5 shot Revolver.
I'm looking for any and all info that may pertain to the year of manufacture as well as number made that year.

heres anything that may help the experts:
double top post latch, leaf spring hammer spring, saftey in the middle of trigger, owl head on grip facing barrel, and free spinning cylinder

printed on top of the barrel spine:

[X] IVER JOHNSON'S ARMS & CYCLE WORKS [X]
FITCHBURG MASS. U.S.A.

printed on the bottom of handle:

PAT'D APR.6.86. FEB.15.87.
[X] MAY10.87.MAR.13.88.AUG [X]
25.96. PAT'S PENDING

under the left grip is:
J 13117

under the cylinder bridge as well as the side of the trigger guard is:
13117

and heres some measurements might also be helpful:

barrel length: 4 inches
cylinder length: 1 3/16 inch
diameter of bore: 3/8 inch

it appears to originally been blued, but has worn off the barrel, cylinder, and grip area. sorry for bad pics all I have at the moment is my cell phone.

also apone taking it apart, only two things seem to be wrong mechanically.
1st being the part with the arrow pointing at it, the ring that holds it to the trigger is broken/missing
2nd being the spring for the firing pin. pin just comes in and out by tilting the frame forward or backwards

 

[hrf]

Welcome to TFF and thanks for good pics and details.

You have a large frame .38 S&W caliber hammerless model made in 1903 for black powder ammo. An estimated 33,000 were made that year.

 

[jimmyboy]

thank you for the info.
do you happen to know which variation of the 2nd model it is?
also should I try to restore it, or just leave it as is?

 

[hrf]

thank you for the info.
do you happen to know which variation of the 2nd model it is?
also should I try to restore it, or just leave it as is?

The book says 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th variations made in 1903, so with your fairly low serial, probably 5th or 6th.

It's in somewhat low condition already, and any refinishing will not increase value. And it's not a shooter, so why bother with the broken or missing parts.

 

[jimmyboy]

well got it cheap.
plans were to strip it down, and try to re-blue it.
and replaceing the one broken part is mainly just so everything functions as it should.
but if i got about restoring the finish, it'll also decrease from original value which i know isnt much. but i know does matter to some people

 

[RJay]

In firearms that are not rare or scarce, and are in very rough shape, such as your Iver Johnson, refinishing it would increase the value, which still wouldn't be a whole lot.

 

[jimmyboy]

ok thanks.
so if I re-blue the frame, but polish the trigger, cylinder, pins, and screws.
how you think that'll look?

 

[gvw3]

I own one from 1924. I would fix it up. Why not, they aren't worth much anyway. I have seen them in pretty good shape going for $200. Mine was my wife's grandfather's issue gun from the city of Chicago. I don't think it was ever fired.

I have fired mine and the trigger pull is horrible. It is not accurate at all. Could be the trigger.

 

[jimmyboy]

question for the experts.
I found the part thats broken for sale online but its from a .32. are the parts interchangable between the .32 and .38??

 

[jimmyboy]

so got bored last night and had some free time so took some 320-600-2000 grit wet/dry sand papers and gave the cylinder a lil polish

 

[jimmyboy]

well had a little free time so decided to take the 320-600-2000 wet/dry sand papers to the rest, and must say am pretty pleased with the outcome