[natedog]

It is a blued gun with wood grips. Top break action, with 6 chambers. It is marked "US Revolver Co.", +1403 and also has "US" on the grips. It is quite old, belonging to his grandpa. Any info, value, safety, etc?

[Old Fuff]

U.S. Arms revolvers were made by Iver Johnson around 1910 to 1930. Wood grips are a bit unusual because most had black hard rubber stocks. While you didn’t say I suspect that it is a .32, in which case it is likely chambered to use the .32 S&W Short or Long cartridge. It does not have the usual Iver Johnson “hammer the hammer” safety and if carried the hammer should be rested on an empty chamber. At the time it was introduced it was intended to be an inexpensive competitor to Smith & Wesson. In good condition the value is likely between $75.00 to $125.00.

[7.62FullMetalJacket]

Wow. You know your stuff :)

[Mike Irwin]

As far as I know, breaktop US Revolver Co. revolvers were made in 3 calibers only -- .32 S&W, .38 S&W, and .22 Long Rifle, with the .22s being kind of rare.

The solid-frame USRevCos may have been made in .32 Long, but as far as I know, they weren't. I also can't find any reference stating that Iver Johnson made revolvers in .32 Long, either...

Blued is rather uncommon, wood grips are VERY uncommon.

I've seen several places that have stated that the USRevCo breaktop guns were made to use up old surplus Iver Johnson stock, and are NOT rated for use with smokeless powder ammunition.

[Old Fuff]

Mike:

In answering the original post I did some speculating, so perhaps it will turn out I was wrong. Anyway, my thinking went this way:

Iver Johnson’s U.S. revolvers were an economy line, intended for sale through mail order houses of the day. They lacked some of the features of the regular line (such as the “hammer-the-hammer” safety system) but in general were similar to contemporary Iver Johnson revolvers. As they were manufactured between 1910 into the 1930’s I presume they were rated for smokeless powder loads of those days. Black powder cartridges were common before World War One, but not so much so thereafter. By the late 1920’s and early 30’s it would have been difficult to market any revolver that was rated only for black powder.

Iver Johnson/U.S. Revolver Co. offered two frame sizes that roughly corresponded to similar Smith & Wesson’s. The larger frame (for which they made a round-butt to square-butt wood grip) had a cylinder that could accommodate 5 - .38 S&W cartridges or 6 - .32 S&W rounds, and I believe the cylinder was long enough to hold the .32 S&W Long cartridge. It was also the size that was most commonly blued.

The small frame cylinder could only hold 5 - .32 S&W Short rounds, or (I believe) 7 - .22 R. F. cartridges. Also I don’t believe Iver Johnson offered wood square-butt conversion stocks for the small gun. I have never seen one with wood round-butt grips that were factory original.

With this in mind I presumed that a 6-shot revolver, blued, with wood grips would have to be a .32, built on the large frame. Maybe I shouldn’t have speculated so much.

For the record, Harrington & Richardson - Iver Johnson’s principal competitor during this time period, did make a large-frame, 6-shot .32 S&W Long chambered revolver that could also be converted to a square-butt with optional wood grips. I know because I once owned one. Business being business I would have expected Iver Johnson to market something to match it.

[Mike Irwin]

Fluff,

This is the most recent admonition I've seen against shooting USRevCo breaktops with smokeless ammo:

"With the discontinuation of the old 2nd Model revolvers - along with the acquisition around this same time of the old Forehand and Wadsworth company - IJ found themselves with a huge surplus of "old-style" revolver parts, unsuitable for use in the all-new 3rd Model revolvers. So, being frugal and prudent, they created a new line of "Second Quality" revolvers to be offered through discount houses, using the brand name "U.S. Revolver Company". These guns were all made with old-style parts, and are not rated for safety with smokeless loads. Later on, IJ (and other companies - H&R and Meridan Firearms) produced another gun with old-style components, called the "Secret Service Special". At the time, it was assumed (probably correctly) that the average buyer would not shoot the gun very much, would carry it in a coat pocket or tuck it in a dresser drawer, and that the few rounds of smokeless ammo it would fire over the course of its life would not do it - or its firer - any great harm. Of course, many years have passed now, and most of these guns have been through several owners, and each one had to fire it "a little", so the cumulative effect is a lot of battered, well-worn, loosy-goosy revolvers. And, in today's litiginous society, it is most prudent to err on the side of caution and recommend that these older revolvers NEVER be fired with anything but black powder ammo. And not even that, unless/until checked out by a competent gunsmith and declared safe for shooting."


That comes from this website...

http://www2.arkansas.net/~sws1/ijfaq004.htm


Essentially this jibes with what I've seen before, and what I've said, that the guns may have been made well into the smokeless era, but they were using up black powder parts.

[Old Fuff]

Mike:

O.K., to be on the safe side I'll agree that U.S. brand revolvers shouldn't be shot with smokeless powder loads. The family that owns "Grandpa's revolver" should consider it to be a relic, and enjoy it for the history it represents.