Remember Iver Johnson Guns?
Some of us older guys remember, not all that long ago, when American firearms were dominated by a few big names: Remington, Winchester, Mossberg, Colt, Smith & Wesson, Ruger, and a few others. In recent years, though, there’s been a veritable explosion of new gun manufacturers, many of which – but not all – seem focused on the endless stream of Tacticool, rather than polished, blued steel and fine walnut, which some of us still prefer. (Get off my lawn!)
Back in the day, though, there were a lot of small, independent gun companies, and some of them made a mark on American gun history that was all out of proportion to what we might have expected. And the great thing about all these small, independent companies is that they filled several niches, especially for affordable guns of good quality.
Which brings me to a Norwegian immigrant to the United States, a guy named Iver Johnson. Born in 1841 in Nordfjord, Norway, Johnson was educated as a gunsmith and had a gun store in Oslo. But for whatever reason, young Johnson thought he would try his luck in the New World, and so he struck out for Worcester, Massachusetts, where he kept on working as a gunsmith and dabbled as an inventor. He started manufacturing after the American Civil War, when he started making pepperbox pistols for Allen & Wheelock.
Then, in 1871, Johnson and a guy named Martin Bye formed a partnership. Both gunsmiths started to combine their talents to design guns with new features. Things went along all right for a while, but for unknown reasons Bye eventually left; Johnson bought out his partner’s half of the business, and thus was born the company, Iver Johnson & Company.
The Company
In 1891, Johnson changed the name of the company to Iver Johnson’s Arms & Cycle Works, and moved his business lock, stock & barrel (hah) to Fitchburg, Massachusetts, into larger facilities. He employed some promising smiths and designers, including a young guy named Oscar Frederick Mossberg, and another young fellow named Andrew Fyrberg, who would invent the top-latch mechanism later used in a wide variety of Iver Johnson revolvers.
Old Iver Johnson died of tuberculosis in 1895, handing the company off to his sons, Fredrick Iver, John Lovell, and Walter Olof. Their bicycle operation expanded into motorcycles, but we’re focused on the firearms aspect here. In any case, the company eventually dropped that dies of the business, once more becoming just the Iver Johnson’s Arms Works.
The company came through the Great War and the following Great Depression in good order; that last event was strangely profitable as the crime that accompanied Prohibition and the Depression created a demand for inexpensive self-defense handguns, which was a big part of Iver Johnson’s stock-in-trade. But after World War II, the company struggled, especially after its wartime contract to make M1 carbines ended. They moved to New Jersey in 1971, then to Jacksonville, Arkansas, when it was purchased by Lynn Lloyd and Lou Imperato. If those names sound familiar, it's because they also owned the resurgent Henry Arms Company. Then, in 1993, the original company founded by that remarkable Norwegian immigrant ceased operations.
The Guns
Iver Johnson made a variety of top-break revolvers and single-barrel shotguns. In fact, my first exposure to the brand was from an old hunting buddy, who routinely lugged along a 16-gauge Iver Johnson single-shot on grouse and pheasant hunts.
First, the shotguns:
- The Champion series, made from 1890 into the 1970s, single-barreled, single-shot shotguns in 12, 16, 20 gauge, and .410 bore. There are rumors that some were made in 10, 24, 28, and 32 gauge, but I’ve not been able to verify that.
- The Hercules Grade, side-by-side doubles with more polish and nicer wood than the Champions.
Then, the revolvers, which make for a longer list:
- The Lovell/Swift Safety “Automatic” (double-action) revolvers, mostly in .32 Smith & Wesson and .38 Smith & Wesson. The 1st model was made from 1894 to 1896, the 2nd Model from 1896 to 1908, and the 3rd model, proofed for smokeless powder, from 1909 to 1941.
- The Safety Automatic Hammerless, which had an internal hammer, despite the name. The 1st Model was made from 1895 1996, and the 2nd Model from 1897 to 1908.
- A solid-frame revolver called the American Bulldog, also in .38 S&W.
- Several .22 target revolvers, including the Supershot Sealed 8, the Supershot 9, the Model 55/55A, and the Model 855.
There were a few others, including some single-action and specialty items.
Iver Johnson’s guns were solid, reliable, and affordable. They were also rather distinctive, especially their patented hammerless, top-break revolvers. But in the end, that wasn’t enough to save the company.
Read More: Sunday Gun Day Vol. III Ep. XXVII - Not Fancy but Solid: The Story of Harrington & Richardson
What Happened?
It’s hard to say. There’s no shortage of demand for simple, rugged, reliable, and inexpensive firearms; there are any number of companies around who make something of a specialty of that, like the one founded by that chap Mossberg, who old Iver Johnson had employed for a while. Maybe the market was saturated, and Iver Johnson, or the people who owned it in 1993, just weren’t adroit enough to adapt.
Read More: Sunday Gun Day Vol. II Ep. XLVIII - A Great Classic, the Mossberg 500
There is, now, though, a resurgent Iver Johnson Arms company. They specialize in 1911-pattern pistols and a variety of shotguns, in single-barrel, double-barrel, and pump configurations. The new company, formed in 2003, doesn’t seem to have a connection to the old; their website states in part:
The Iver Johnson name has been around in the firearms industry since the late 1800s. Our product line was reinvented in 2003. We do not have any information or records related to Iver Johnson products made before this time period. We do have a wide range of 1911 pistols, shotguns, and our soon to be released 4 barrel derringer.
Here’s the good part: There are still a variety of Iver Johnsons, as in, the originals, available in the used-gun world. Need another reason to go surfing the auction sites? Maybe the line of old Iver Johnson firearms out there might fill a need you didn’t know you had.
