Ivory Johnson 38

[BIGJACK]

I have an old hamerless revolver, 5 shot capacity in 38 caliber, manufactured by Ivory Johnson--is this thing worth anything???

 

[Mike Irwin]

It's actually Iver Johnson.

They started out making bicycles, and moved into guns, and were still in business in one form or another until the 1990s.

Not the top quality pocket revolvers, but they were well thought of, and certain much better than a lot of the "suicide specials" that were made in the last decades of the 19th and first decades of the 20th centuries.

No, they're not worth very much.

And be careful, some of the early guns should ONLY be shot with black powder loads.

That said, I've had several IJs over the years, and even carried one as a back up for a time.

 

[BIGJACK]

Thanks Mike, I have shot this gun several times, have had it for years. Let my brother in law borrow my ruger single six back in the 50s and that sucker either lost it or traded it for some shine, but I never got it back. He let me borrow his dads (my father in law) pistol and I kept it. cylinders don't line up real good with the barrel but it appears that this just sort of makes a lot of fire aroung the hand when you shoot it at night. Also, on a good day one might could hit a wall inside a 10ft square room the first shot, if lucky. I leave it in the glove box of the family car but usually slip the ole 45 in between the seats when I am traveling in it.