![]() ![]() Of course what this really meant was ‘less likely to be blown up by idiots.’ By 1909 smokeless powders had pretty thoroughly edged out BP, and Iver Johnson introduced the slightly beefier 3rd Model which was ‘proofed’ for smokeless powders. You can fit enough smokeless powder, and people did. You can’t fit enough black powder into a pistol-cartridge case to blow up a reasonable quality gun. But handloaders in the early 20th Century, used to black powder, often didn’t do their research when switching to smokeless. Factory smokeless ammo for these guns was originally, and remains, tailored to not blow up even poor-quality guns, and was designed to be safe in older guns. This is a ‘Black Powder Gun:’ it does not incorporate the changes made in 1909 to accommodate the new smokeless powders- or, to be brutally honest, to allow for the mistakes of stupid hand-loaders. ![]() While these guns aren’t up to the standards of fit and finish that Colt and S&W revolvers of the period maintained they are really decent quality. The last and most pleasant surprise is the trigger- the pull is short, smooth and surprisingly light. The second is that while this gun appears to have been fired quite a bit it is tight and the cylinder lock-up is tight and solid with zero play. The first surprise is that the internal parts are heat-treated and tempered, which is often not the case in inexpensive firearms of the period. I fabricated a replacement and the gun is surprisingly good in several respects. When I got this the hand-spring was broken, and since both the hand and the action-bar that operates the trigger depend on this it was non-functional. The design is quite clever the action-bar that works the hammer is also the transfer bar. The gun is fully locked when the trigger is pulled all the way to the point where it releases the hammer. The cylinder free-rotates when not being fired it’s lock system is similar to the older Webleys- when firing the cylinder is pinned between the hand and a fixed stop mounted on the trigger assembly. The ‘Safety’ refers to the transfer-bar safety and the hammerless part is pretty obvious (and a lie- it has a hammer under the shroud.) It also has a safety-bar on the trigger identical to a Glock Safe-Action trigger. The ‘Automatic’ refers to the auto-ejection feature. HKS Model 36 speedloaders work quite well with this gun. It’s interesting to note that while IJ upgraded their top-break guns ‘for smokeless powder,’ the USR guns were all rated for smokeless… even though they used cylinders and barrels from the supposedly ‘black powder’ guns, indicating that the ‘upgrades’ were made for reasons having little direct connection to the sort of propellant used in their cartridges. Revolver Company guns was that the hammer version does not have the transfer-bar safety of the regular line and the hammerless version does not have the safety trigger. Initially the only differences between the Iver Johnson line of revolvers and the U.S. In 1909 Iver Johnson adopted the trade brand name US Revolver Company, in part to use up remaining stocks of parts for their 2nd Model top-breaks when the line was upgraded for smokeless powder in 1909. These were very popular mid-priced guns, with over seven million made in. He worked as a gunsmith and designer, and eventually entered into a partnership in a business that became Iver Johnson Arms and Cycle Works in 1891 and began production of top-break double-action revolvers starting in 1895. Iver Johnson was trained as a gunsmith in his home-country of Norway and emigrated to the US in 1863, at the height of the Civil War. Not a cheap gun, but not expensive either. Around 1900 the Sears Roebuck catalogue sold these for $6. It is a five-shot double-action only top-break revolver. 38 Automatic Safety Hammerless (2nd Model) made in 1897 or so. Another old-school Roscoe- this is an Iver Johnson. ![]()
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