Iver Johnson 12 Ga. Side by side info

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Can'o'nutz

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Hi everyone,

I'm hoping to get any info you may have including age and approx. worth on a new to me shotgun I have acquired. It is an as said Iver Johnson 12 gauge 2 3/4 inch side by side. It is the Hercules grade and is serial # 5###. It was made here in Canada in Cobourg Ontario.

Everything is good and tight with shiny bores, surface rust on outside of barrels but reciever and stock in decent shape and should be at least a good shooter.

Thanks for the help/info :)
 
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Can'o'nutz, Cooey in Cobourg made double barrel Hercules shotguns for Iver Johnson from the late 1920s to the early 1930s. It would probably be a pretty good pheasant gun.

Sharptail
 
Can'o'nutz said:
It has 30" barrels, anyone know if they would both be full choke without measuring?
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Probably not both full choke, most likely full and modified, BUT could be any other combination. It should be easy enough to see if the two chokes are the same size, use calipers or a dime or something and see how much difference there is in the diameter of the muzzles. This is not difficult to perceive if you look. The difference in the thickness of the barrel walls at the muzzle is usually apparent to the naked eye.

Most double guns offer two different chokes, but ardent waterfowlers could and would order a double with two fully choked barrels. I have seen an upland gun made with two improved cylinder barrels. You can never make generalizations with any certainty.

The best way to find out the truth is to pattern the gun on paper. This will tell you what the barrels are doing. Measurements will only tell you what the patterns MIGHT be.


Sharptail
 
In excellent condition, some of the skeet(Skeeter) and Trap(super) models can fetch over 1K, field guns in "fair" condition may not bring $400.
 
Looked at the barrels and by eye could see that the right barrel was more open than the left. Using a dime I "measured" the barrels and the right barrel seemed to be the same as my fixed full choke on my mossberg and the left was in deed tighter. Some kind of skeet barrel?
 
Can'o'nutz said:
Looked at the barrels and by eye could see that the right barrel was more open than the left. Using a dime I "measured" the barrels and the right barrel seemed to be the same as my fixed full choke on my mossberg and the left was in deed tighter. Some kind of skeet barrel?
Click to expand...

Tighter means more choke, so your left barrel is probably choked "full". Even though your right barrel has roughly the same size opening as your Mossberg, you likely can't draw a comparison. Unless it's as old as the SXS, the Mossberg is bound to be designed for steel shot, whereas the SXS likely was designed for lead. The nominal bore of the barrels could easily be different as well. Choke is a factor of the amount of constriction over the nomal bore, as opposed to a pre-set sized opening.

I'm quite certain that Sharptail intended that you use the dime to compare the chokes on the SXS to each other, but not to draw inferences from comparisons with other guns.

What you learned from that exercise is that the two chokes on the SXS are not the same. The left barrel is traditionally the tighter choked, so your left barrel is probably full choke and your right would most likely be modified, as that was most common configuration.

The only way you'll find out for certain is to pattern the gun, pay a smith, or get the tool for measuring shotgun chokes.
 
Yes straightshooter thanks you are right in that all a found out for sure was that the two barrels are differently choked. I do plan on having a gunsmith check it out for me for peace of mind anyway.

My mossberg is a fixed full choke and not intended for steel though, it as a 500A. It isn't as old as the SxS but found it interesting that the other barrel was notably tighter.
 
I have a Iver Johnson sxs aswell made in cobourg, Was my grandfathers pheasent gun.. Great gun, I have bagged many hundred grouse with it over the years. Choke up real tight!
 
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