dating an old Iver Johnson

sewktbk

sewktbk

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I'm trying to help out a friend, but my research online hasn't answered his question.

So this friend's grandfather has an old Iver Johnson & Cycle Works revolver. Its for sure a prohib ; his grandpa showed it to us when we were at his place last year hunting, and the barrel is around 3 inches. So we're talking about a 12.6. I'm not sure what caliber it is, but if it matters, I'm sure i could find out.

This is what the gun looks like from what we can both remember:

Iver_Johnson_Safety_Automatic_Revolver_1533.jpg


His grandpops wants to offer it to him, as a family legacy.

Now, the Firearms act states this :

If you are not grandfathered, the only prohibited firearms you may possess or acquire are handguns with a barrel length of 105 mm or less or that discharge .25 or .32 calibre ammunition, and only if all of the following criteria are met:

1 - the handgun was made before 1946, and
2 - the handgun was registered in Canada on December 1, 1998, and
3 - you are the child, grandchild, brother, sister or spouse of the lawful owner, and
4 - you are acquiring it for an approved purpose such as target shooting or as part of a collection.

In these circumstances, you can lawfully possess the handgun in question, but you are not grandfathered or authorized to acquire more prohibited handguns.
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Requirements number 2, 3 and 4 are good to go. The only thing he needs to find out is if the gun was made before 1946.

The handgun has no serial number what so ever. So he has no clue how to date it. His grandpa doesn't really have the energy to look into it I think, his health was already poor last year. I haven't seen him since, but he says it got worst, so he doesn't want to bother him with it too much.

Can anyone help?
Sorry I don't have more info, but i can always try to ask him for more details if there are specific things you guys would like to know.

Thanks.
 
I am in a similar position.

My father has a collection of pinfire and other .32 rf and .41 rf revolvers. All of them have been registered but his POL expired in 2007.

I have been told by more than one person that if the POL expired they just take them away.

I have also been told that there may be a chance if the owner gets his PAL before it is too late that they won't be confiscated. It is only a chance because it is up to the whim of the CFO.

It is both sad and ridiculous. None of the guns are functional and even if you could get ammo for them and replace the missing parts they would likely blow up in your face. They still have tremendous sentimental value though.
 
Clotho said:
I am in a similar position.

My father has a collection of pinfire and other .32 rf and .41 rf revolvers. All of them have been registered but his POL expired in 2007.
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Chances are pretty good that some, if not all, of those would qualify as antique, and not require registration or a license. He might want to look into that as an option - some could legally be de-registered.
 
I think the pinfires qualify as antique but probably not the rimfires. They are after 1900 but before 1946. Where can I find out more about de-registering them? I didn't think that was possible.
 
Pinfire, .32RF and .41RF pistols made prior to 1898 are antique, and are not subject to registration/licencing requirements.

sewktbk. It is highly unlikely that an IJ like that was made post 1945, so the family transfer should be good to go.
 
tiriaq said:
Pinfire, .32RF and .41RF pistols made prior to 1898 are antique, and are not subject to registration/licencing requirements.

sewktbk. It is highly unlikely that an IJ like that was made post 1945, so the family transfer should be good to go.
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i hear you, but we're both fairly certain that the CFO will demand PROOF of the manufacturing date, no?
 
It would be worth a call to a tech in Ottawa.
In addition, there has got to be an IJ collectors association.
Pistols that looked like that tend to be turn of the century/pre WWI.
 
It should be quite a bit, names and patent dates. I do have a book on Iver Johnson revolvers and it is a lot easier to reference the data with that info.

If you get the info, try to get the exact info. Don't write patent if it says "pat" or "pat." or "Pat." etc. I dig my book up and try to do a prelim search.

But dinner first...
 
Lodi said:
It should be quite a bit, names and patent dates. I do have a book on Iver Johnson revolvers and it is a lot easier to reference the data with that info.

If you get the info, try to get the exact info. Don't write patent if it says "pat" or "pat." or "Pat." etc. I dig my book up and try to do a prelim search.

But dinner first...
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OK noted. I'll ask him if he can make an exact transcript of whats on the pistol. How quick i can get that info is unsure though, unless he already noted it down, he'll have to go visit his grandpa to check.

Much thanks for your help, i'll let you know.
 
I have the same revolver but with the 7 inch barrel, the serial number is under the left grip, you can date it by that, I think I found something on google, mine is from 1902, hope that helps
 
generally_mitchell said:
I have the same revolver but with the 7 inch barrel, the serial number is under the left grip, you can date it by that, I think I found something on google, mine is from 1902, hope that helps
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My guess is he didn't check under the grips. Should help a great deal, thanks!

will keep posted when i get more info.

cheers for the help guys
 
My Dad has a similar hammerless model that was once owned by my Great-Grandmother (His Grandmother). From my inspection, I believe that it is probably a .32 S&W, an underpowered, now obsolete and long disused centerfire cartridge. Due to that, I can see how under our bizarre laws why are considered "prohib". My Dad's was acquired under the "12.7" law. IMO it it is stupid that such a gun has to be prohib. It was clearly a cheap handgun back in its day due to it's somewhat flimsy feel, ammo is almost non-existent and its sights and barrel look very crude. The only reason my family is keeping that gun is because it is a family keepsake.

My Grandfather had another .32 SW revolver, but it was scrapped because it was both prohib and was worn so bad near the cylinder that the chambers failed to align properly with the barrel, and as a result. the gun was spitting chunks of lead out the side when it was fired.
 
UCSPanther said:
My Dad has a similar hammerless model that was once owned by my Great-Grandmother. From my inspection, I believe that these are probably .32 S&W, an underpowered, now obsolete and long disused centerfire cartridge, and as such, they are considered "prohib". My Dad's was acquired under the "12.7" law.
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Is that the law i was quoting in my original post?
 
Still have no news on his part as far as taking note of all the markings, but I did tell him he should look under the grips for the serial number.

If he's able to find it, then dating should become a piece of cake.

Cheers!
 
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