IVER & JOHNSON "32" w/3" & 5" barrels

[RCK]

I have a Iver & Johnson that i inherited from my grandfather that i would to get some information about. He was a mail carrier and the story was that he was required to carry when transporting payroll through the USPS???
The serial number on the bottom of the frame is 57385, the grips have an owls head facing away from the shooter. The spring under the grips is flat.
It has 2 barrels, one measures 3" and the second measures 5". I've read several of the posts about this firearm but have not seen any mention of barrel length options. It is nickel plated and appears to be in excellent condition with only one VERY small nick on the frame and one small nick on the 5" barrel. The 3" barrel is very clean. Several years ago i did shoot a few rounds of 88 grain cartridges with no "bad" results. Maybe a statement about luck rather than gun quality
I would like to know more about the value of the gun and if the 3" and 5" barrels are rare. Any information will be greatly appreciated.

[TACC1]

RCK, welcome aboard! I know there is a reference book
somewhere about yhe I-J line. Hopefully, someone here will
know where to obtain it. Got any pics?
TACC1

[Cyrano]

I wrote a piece about the Iver Johnsons that runs about 8 replies. Latest is 1-26-2013. You might want to read it, most of your questions will be answered there. You revolver, with the flat mainspring is not made for smokeless powder. You can get away with a few rounds of 32, but more than that and the frame will stretch and the locking will suffer. Yours doesn't have positive cylinder stops and there are only two pins in the frame below the cylinder. The standard barrel length for 32s was about 3 inches, but barrels up to 6 inches were available. Your 5 incher probably came from another gun. Nice rig, however.

The complete serial number, including the letter prefix, is found on the grip frame under the left grip. There's a book about IJs, by William Goforth, shown in my post mentioned above. It has all the serial numbers, with letter prrefix, by year. As IJ made millions of these revolvers, the numbers get pretty complex.

[pawncop]

Welcome from Texas RCK. Great forum for all things S&W, have fun, learn lots, share what you know.

[MP22]

Welcome to the forum.