Age of 2 Iver Johnson revolvers

1022man

Howdy Guys. Tonight I picked up a matching pair of Iver Johnson Revolvers. They are nickle finnish, top break, in .38SW. The last patten date is DEC 26 93. Ones ser# is 9573 and other 32582. Any hint on how old they are?

b.goforth

with the limited information here what i cal tell you. the dec.26.93 patent date was only used between late 1894 and early 1896. on the iver johnson's arms and cycle works safety automatic revolvers. in the large frame 38 caliber this includes both the first and second models. this patent date was replaced late in 1896 with the date aug-25-96 (the date of the hammer-the-hammer patent).

first models have the barrel top latch release lever on the left side of the barrel top strap and used a single top post frame. the second model uses the double top post barrel latch.

with out knowing exactly where the serial numbers are found (and if there are any letter codes with them), hammer or hammerless models and type of barrel latch, i can only tell you these revolver are first models or very early second model. on the large frame 38 caliber the first model was only manufactured 1894 and 1895. second model large frame was manufactured 1896 to 1908. so the best i can do for now is they were manufactured late 1894 to early 1896.

all first and second model safety automatic revolver were manufactured for black powder cartridge pressures and are NOT safe with modern smokeless ammo.
bill