Is it a mistake to sell this revolver?

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KaintGetwright

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What I have is an Iver Johnson Cycle Works with a hammer in .38 S&W. I apologize for the lack of pics and will do my best to offer a description. It is in pretty rough shape, no terrible marks or gouges and not rusty but not much in the way of a finish. Also, the lockup on this thing is terrible. I won't shoot it but am confident that if anyone tried it would spit lead. The question here is not to ID it or find its exact value, I currently don't have the serial anyway. What I am hoping is someone could help me to determine if it would be a mistake to unload this thing for a hundred bucks.

There is a local pawn shop offering just that for any operating firearm. I have done the Google search and can't find many going for over a couple of hundred bucks, and all of those are in great condition. So, mostly I just wanted to make sure there was not some rare specimen or demand for these that I couldn't discover online.

Thanks in advance for any replies.
 
There is limited collector interest in these revolvers, but only for ones in exceptional condition. Shooters, with very few exceptions, have no interest in them at all.

What they sell for to the general public (individuals that have little or no knowledge about handguns - or guns in general) depends on where you are, as they are more popular in some places then in others.

I have no idea what they sell for in your local market, but given your description, I would run, not walk, to pick up that one-hundred-bucks... ;)
 
$100 bucks?

I'm moving where you live. I have 3 or 4 little Iver J's and H&R's that either don't work or only barely work and I'd probably take $100 for the bunch of them. I'm the one in the extended family that gets the leftover guns and stuff.

John
 
http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=338737

Here's a question, with a pic of a pretty nice gun, about whether it's worth buying for $30. I don't think he ever gets an answer.

I sold a similar S&W once for $50 to a man who shot them in cowboy events. It locked up tight, but had a lot of discolored nickel on it. I was happy to get the money. Got a S&W hat and some pins and stuff, too.

John
 
Thanks fellas. These were just the sorts of answers I was looking for. That local pawn shop ran advertisements for a while for the hundred dollar special a couple of months ago, lets hope they still honor it. It took that long to get motivated to dig the revolver out of a box in the attic. Now they are running adds for rifles, shotguns and pistols starting at $99. I'll swing by today and let yall know later what the trick is. Thanks again.
 
If they are "in the business" to be dealing in guns, I would think that "they should know" what to look for when they are buying used guns.

If they are buying them, then turning around and re-selling them for a profit, they are the ones that may be dishonest in selling a gun that either doesn't work, or works incorrectly.

For all we know, people are buying the guns to hang up for show.

I don't think I would hesitate to sell them that pistol.
 
You might make more in a "buy back" program, but anyone who thinks they stop crime is really out to lunch.

I would rather sell a gun like that to a dealer than to a buy back program anyway, as a lot of those guns are sold back on the street by crooked police. At least if the dealer sells it he is legally required to run a Brady check on the buyer.

Jim
 
but anyone who thinks they stop crime is really out to lunch.
Click to expand...

I assume you realize that my reference to "stopping crime" was dripping with sarcasm and meant to be facetious in the extreme? Ergo, the face of Satan himself. :rolleyes:
 
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Well I seem to have missed the boat. They stopped the hundred dollars for any gun program a little bit ago. I asked and an employee said it wasn't any sort of buyback, just a program they came up with to get some volume moving.

Now they are doing a $99 sale for selected pistols rifle and shotguns. They had about a hundred total and I have to say I have never seen such a pitiful collection in my entire life. Every single one had rust issues. Maybe this can paint the picture a little better. They had a very similar model Ivers and the normal worn out Bryco Jennings Lorcin Phoenix stuff. None of these made it into the $99 dollar case. These they wanted $200 and up for.
 
the only time ive seen an original break open revolver sell for 100 dollars was a 2nd model Smith and Wesson with 90% finish, fully functional lock work, 4 inch barrel, and mother of pearl handles that had the genuine sw logo engraved on them. all was in what was listed as the original shipping box.

all others ive seen only fetch 20-50 dollars. few will go past 40 dollars unless its a smith in near mint condition.
 
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