cluttonfred
Member
I am not quite sure where to post this, but this seems as good a place as any. I just picked up a copy of Iver Johnson: Arms & Cycle Works Firearms 1871-1993 by the late W.E. Goforth and, while not a book review, I did want to give this book a plug.
It's a great (and perhaps the only) reference to these innovative and often overlooked guns. There is very little info on products of the company's late years (M1 Carbines, some auto pistols, even a sniper rifle) and not much on the company's early longarms (mostly single-shot and double-barrel shotguns) but there is tons on the Iver Johnson single- and double-action revolvers from 1871 through WWII, which are the ones that interest me most in any case.
Not only will it allow you to identify the various models (especially the many top-breaks) and the many sold under other names, it underscores some of the real innovations of company over the years (transfer bar safety before Ruger, trigger safety before Glock, even a few "Secret Service" revolvers with a manual safety, which was less successful). Overall, it shows a company that, except for its final days, managed to put out a quality product at an affordable price to arm the ordinary citizen.
The only "problem" is that now I can't want to get back to the USA to troll the gun shops and shows to build up a complete collection of "Little Owls!"
Cheers,
Matthew