Iver Johnson safety automatic 38 - a fake?

[Martin Mihal]

Hi all,
could anybody help? I've got an Iver Johnson safety automatic 38 hammer revolver. There is a serial number beneath the left hand grip (39985), another number on the body (8685) and a year 1889 beneath the right handgrip. Is it possible to determine the real year of manufacture? Thanks

 

[Tallball]

I don't understand why anyone would make a fake Iver Johnson. They really aren't worth anything.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Because the old Harrington & Richardson and Iver Johnsons have been ignored, and the collectors have snarfed up the old Colts and Smith & Wessons, there is a slow growth of collector interest in H&Rs and IJs.

But not enough I think to make faking worth the effort.

 

[reddog81]

Guns.com has a short write up on that that should help determine what its. To me it looks like a first model based on the look of the latch and the fact that it has a flat mainspring. The second model has a latch that looks significantly different and the third model has a coil mainspring. According to that article they were only produced from 1894 to 1896 with 250,000 being made.

Why do you think it is a fake? I'm not aware of anyone investing considerable amounts of money to reproduce guns that can be bought for $100.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I agree, there is no earthly reason anyone would fake an Iver Johnson revolver.

You have a Black Powder model. Identified by the fact that it has a leaf type mainspring, rather than a coil spring, and when you put the grips back on the little owl will be facing forward. The shape of the cylinder locking slots also gives it away.

Regarding exactly which Black Powder model it is, this should help:

• First Model (1894–1895), single post latch system
• Second Model (1896–1908), double post latch system

 

[Martin Mihal]

Thank you guys for your answers. There's is probably not a reason in the world to fake a IJ revolver but I live in the Czech republic:-D
I've found the same information about years of manufacture as you but a man who had sold me the gun says: "you're wrong, the gun was made in 1889"
Honestly, I've never seen the year of manufacture being marked on a IJ revolver before...

 

[Sovblocgunfan]

You are correct. They did not mark year of production on their firearms.

This was not common practice at the time, and with some exceptions is still not done much. Usually the serial number ties to a factory record, and that is sufficient.