Iver Johnson Shotgun Ammunition
I have an Iver Johnson 10 GA shotgun with serial # 51331. I would like to find out the date of manufacture for this gun. I am also looking for ammunition which I cannot find. The chamber was 2 9/16" and the gunsmith opened it to 2 3/4". I cannot find any listings for 10 GA 2 3/4" shotgun shells.
0
-
Hello,I believe that most if not all 10 gauge shotguns shells are 3 inches not the standard 2 3/4".hope that helps. 0 -
you would need to find the 2 5/8 lenght shells that havent been made since the early 80's..i would not attempt to fire that gun with any modern loads,, 0 -
the only 10 gauge iver johnson shotguns i am aware of the the ones simply marked "champion" and sold excusively by J.P. Lovell Co. of boston between 1883 and 1895. they were offered in three models; top snap, side snap and side snap hammerless. the same shotguns were in iver johnson's first catalog in 1896 but were only offered in 12 gauge.
this shotgun would have been manufactured between 1883 and 1895 and would not be safe with any modern shotgun ammo.
bill0 -
iver johnson made the champian in .10,12,16,20,24,28,32,and 410 from 1909 - 1956 and the 12 thru the 70's 0 -
I checked some of my old paper 10 ga shells and they are 2 7/8 in.the ones im looking at are newrival N0 10 dated 1901, I load and shoot all my old guns using pryodex and there loading data for shotguns.tks.hedge[:D] 0 -
fordsix,
regardless of what any modern day pricing giude may say no iver johnson catalog starting in 1896 ever listed the champion single barrel as being available in 10 gauge. the only 10 gauge single barrels, marked, champion are the ones i mentioned in my post. marked only with champion name J.P. Lovell co. was the sole distributor, however J.P. Lovell co. also sold thing as a distributor to other wholesale companies so the champion single barrel shotgun manufactured for them by iver johnson did have a very wide distribution. after 1895 and the death of iver johnson, iver johnson's arms & cycle works undertook the distribution of thier firearms themselves and eventually in 1899 bought out J.P. Lovell co. renaming it iver johnson sporting goods company of boston.
1890 J.P. Lovell co catalog list these three models as being availabe with either a plain or twist barrel. the twist barrel models always cost at least a $1.00 more than plain barrel, even the plain barrel models should be treated with the same respect as any other black powder gun.
1896 iver johnson's arms & cycle works list same three champion models with plain barrel only and in 12 gauge only, also should be treated as a black powder only shotgun.
bill0 -
For b.goforth
This shotgun does not have the "champion" marking. According to your information were these shotguns originally "black powder" guns?
I am dissapointed in the gunsmith because I asked them to determine if the gun would be "usable" before doing any repair work. They claim that it is "fully functional" but that doesn't seem true. I certainly would not have spent money for repairs to a gun that cannot be fired, and has no ammunition.0 -
with out seeing a picture i can only tell you what the catalogs say. if you could post pictures in a new thread maybe we can find out what this gun is. i would really be interested in seeing a 10 guage marked iver johnson single barrel shotgun. i know a lot about iver johnson but do not know it all.
there were three single barrel models offered by iver johnson between 1900 and 1908 that were not marked with the Champion name, but the catalogs of the era only list them as being available in 12 and 16 gauges. as stated the 10 gauge seem to have been dropped before the first iver johnson catalog was issued in 1896
a firearm may be fully functional and still not be safe with smokeless powder cartridge pressures.
bill0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
8 comments