It's for real (except for the price being asked), and it is a .38 Smith & Wesson - cartridge. Probably an old Iver Johnson revolver, they looked like that. In the late 19th and early 20th century, these knockoffs of S&W breaktops were very common and popular because they were cheap. Manufacturers such as IJ, H&R, H&A, etc. often used a variety of strange-sounding names for them. In one of the older issues of Gun Digest there was a fairly extensive story about these revolvers, along with a listing of scores of oddball names they were sold under. They used to be seen in quantity at gun shows in various states of deterioration for a few bucks each (you never saw one new in the box). But they are rarely seen now. I wonder where all of them went?
|