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Belongs to a friend, and he has no idea what it is.
Obviously I don't either, or I wouldn't be posting.
He says it is a 5 shot, and the caliber is just a bit bigger than a .22.
No serial number, or identifying marks he can find.
Any help on what it is, and of course what it could be worth would be great.
In his own words:
"it looks slightly better than home made"
Wasn't it alxone who posted the exact same type of pistol couple months ago?
Haha it looks slightly better than home made! Hahaha. Hopefully alxone will be along shortly to help! Or blaster bob.
http://imageplay.net/tya22294325/HR_...ATIC_thumb.jpg
H&R police auto?
I'm not sure what it is but my grandfather who was a former cop had one. He told me they were super cheap to buy back in the day so they got used for suicides a lot. That's how he got his, guess back in those days that's how it worked.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChunkyMonkey
Might be the same type, but not the same gun.
That looks right to me.Quote:
Originally Posted by ChunkyMonkey
Ok...
So I come here for help, and now I think I got it.
I didn't notice the little sideways owl head on the grip.
Googled that and it looks like it's an Iver Johnson 32 caliber.
I think that's the definition of an Iver Johnson.Quote:
Originally Posted by crashdown
However, they were apparently also good enough to kill President McKinley and Senator Robert Kennedy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iver_Johnson
Frighteningly the cheap small copies of the Smith and Wesson top breaks were not culminated with Iver Johnson. I.J. was actually one of the best copies. Fly by nights such as U.S. Revolver Company made copies inferior to the quality of the cap guns of that era. Many were in now obsolete cartridges, such as the .32 rim fire. These were so poor in metalurgy that any modern cartridge would likely burst them open. Its strongly reccomended that they locate markings on the gun to be sure. Iver johnson grips could have replaced cracked factory stocks on a truly poor make of gun.
what you have there is an iver jhonson break top 32 or a neat paperweight. not really what id call a shooter , i have shot a few but its not recommended
0-200 bucks it what they fetch .keep in mind 200 is unfired , still has original packaging and is something i have never seen . most "working " .32 i.j. break tops go for around 60-80 bucks
oh yeah the # usually a letter or 2 digit number is found under the grips (if at all ) , yes you have to remove the grips
I had posted one very similar but the one I had was a S&W with mother of pearl grips.Quote:
Originally Posted by hghclsswhitetrsh
I'd say I.J. my grandpas looked Very similar. 1st thing I noticed was the owls head.
i beat [blaster] to it ! i mostly wanted to use the blaster smileyQuote:
Originally Posted by hghclsswhitetrsh
Commonly known as an "Owl Had Pistol". I have one I got from my FIL. Nice, cheap (little to any value), piece of history. DO NOT try to shoot it. These were also known in the early to mid 20th Century as "suicide pistols". Most were produced to shoot old style ammunition which created tremendously less pressure than modern ammunition creates. With the creation of the modern smokeless ammo, folks with Owls Heads would use the newer ammo and the guns had a tendency to explode on the user.Quote:
Originally Posted by alxone
Similar to what Rob said, there were many manufacturers of the break-top during tis era. In fact, under license from I.J. (Best as I can recall), there was at least one other company making the Owls Head. It shared manufacturer credit between I.J. as well as the other manufacturer, although history pretty much just remembers I.J. and not the other company. I think Sears, Roebuck, & Co. sold these for a while too.
As Alex stated, if you remove the grip, under the (as I recall) left side of the frame you will find the true serial # (many Owls Heads had a partial S/N visible on the frame, but the full S/N under the grip). I'll see if I can boot up my busted laptop to get you links to sites that can tell you more about the specific model you have. The best I was able to determine for mine is that it was produced some time between 1908 and 1912.
Thanks....
I sent him a link to this thread.
Doubt there is any chance of him trying to shoot it, he is still trying to figure out if it takes paper or plastic caps.
caps ?? brass
Cap gun joke... It ain't funny if you have to explain it.Quote:
Originally Posted by alxone
Dear Alxone,
http://wildwesttoys.com/db1/00001/wi...orwebsite2.JPG
[Coffee]
Not a worthless gun, camber it for 32 H&R mag. Then you place your bet, shoot one then hand it to the guy on your left. Kind of like the Dear Hunter. Luck is a Lady tonight.[facepalm]
OMG, an arsenal!Quote:
Originally Posted by ChunkyMonkey
Hide your children
It's a neat looking paper weight, that's what it is. Moth and Ginsue hit it on the nose. There were about 15 different manufacturers around the world (that had actual company names, and not the "really cheap" knock off's) that made top break pistols, and most of them sucked badly and were throw away guns. I have a Meriden 38 that is worth less than the time I put into it to make it work properly.
ooohhhh i see . now i know what the kids are talking about when they say "im gonna bust a cap " [facepalm][ROFL2]Quote:
Originally Posted by ChunkyMonkey
Those Iver Johnson grips might not be original to the gun. If it is an I.J. it will probably be stamped with the manufacturer's name on top of the barrel. Looks like a Forehand & Wadsworth to me. Iver Johnson made one of the better quality topbreak .32 revolvers, second to Harrington & Richardson. All of the other off brands (of which there were over a hundred) are usually considered junk or throwaways. Back in the 1950s they were disparagingly referred to as "Suicide Specials", which I suppose is probably the next notch down in quality from a Saturday Night Special.
Nothing like having my very own personal smiley!![blaster]Quote:
Originally Posted by alxone
That smiley looks just exactly like me but I don't use a cane (YET).[Beer]
we all know you would use a .50bmg as cane [Flower]Quote:
Originally Posted by BlasterBob
Dang, that's a great idea.[blaster]Quote:
Originally Posted by alxone