1903 Iver Johnson

[matakovich]

I have a 1903 Iver Johnson .32 S&W short. I plan on having it checked out buy a gunsmith prior to shooting it. Is there modern ammo that will work in this gun or do I need to find some older than dirt 32 ammo.

 

[MikeJackmin]

Modern .32 short ammo is still made but it sometimes hard to find. Buy a bunch when it finally becomes available.

Some of the better-informed members here can tell you if your revolver was designed for black-powder or is one of the later smokeless models. Opinion differs if it is OK to shoot the modern ammo in the smokeless guns, that's just one more thing to consider.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

It is easy to determine if your Iver Johnson can be shot with modern Smokeless ammo. Around the turn of the Century, the Iver Johnson completely redesigned their revolvers to be safe for Smokeless powder. This is one of them. There are three identifying characteristics.

1. The little owl on the grips is looking backwards, away from the gun.
2. If you remove the grips, you will find a coil spring underneath for the hammer.
3. Notice the shape of the locking slots on the cylinder that engage the bolt. Notice that there is a hard edge both at the top and bottom, so that the bolt is completely captured by the slot.

As long as it is in good condition, this gun is safe to be fired with Smokeless ammo.





Now, compare that to this gun.

1. The little owl is facing forward.
2. The hammer spring is a leaf spring
3. The bolt only engages one end of the slot, the hand keeps the cylinder from rotating backwards.

This is a Black Powder era Iver Johnson. It is not safe to shoot with modern Smokeless ammunition.

 

[bannockburn]

That's some great information there Driftwood. Never even noticed the difference in the owl's head on the grips before. Thanks for the "head's up"!

 

[Monac]

Deleted, because as rcmodel's post below points out, it was a dumb thing to say. Apologies.

 

[rcmodel]

No.

You look at the cylinder notches & hammer spring type, just like Driftwood just explained to everyone.

There is no changing that in the last 100 years.

rc

 

[RUT]

>>The little owl on the grips is looking backwards, away from the gun.<<

Fortunately, mine is of this variety, and I've owned it for some 50+ years now.