Iver Johnson Nostalgia, TP 22 (corrected)

Retired W4

Retired W4

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In 1987 I was transferred to Little Rock, AR to fly for 5th Army Operational Support Airlift (5th OSA). Bought a house in Jacksonville, which is a small gate town outside LR AFB. It turned out the Iver Johnson factory was about a 1/4 mile from my house. During my time there IJ took down their sign from in front of the facility because punks were trying to break in.

This little SA/DA piece has a Walther type take-down with firing pin block safety. As you can see, this one has been around the block a few times.
 

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I've had 2 of the IJ. Sold 1 which I now regret doing. Won't sell the one I have now. My serial number is 54XXX. Fun little gun. Mine shows wear too.
Not as much as it appears to be in the photo. Bad photo job. Altho the frame looks almost like case hardening where the blue is worn. The slide isn't as bad as it looks here.
Carried it a lot of miles deer hunting to finish off game. Grandson loves to shoot it and that alone is reason enough not to sell it.
 

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I believe that the model was TP 22 and not PP 22.... but I could be wrong.

J.
 
Hey W4. One of my uncles was a security guard at LRAFB from the opening until he retired. Sometime in the early 70s I asked him what his sidearm was, expecting to be told a 1911A1. He reached on top of the refrigerator and after unloading it handed me a US marked 1903 Colt. I asked why he chose that pistol he said when he hired on the let him into the arms room and said "Pick out what ever you want". The 1903 was the smallest thing they had and he figured if he really got into trouble guys with rifles were only a phone call away.

He also commented that he had the pistol so long they probably forgot they issued it to him. I'm sure he kept it when he retired and have often wondered what happened to it.
 
Home of the C-130! They had a fabrication shop there that did metal work for us on occasion. Used to fly Jack Keane when he was a Col. out of LRAFB. Interesting place.
 
I had an Iver Johnson TP-22 many years ago. I was working nights in a pretty bad neighborhood and needed something small, discrete and inexpensive. I was poor in those days. Decent little gun. Seems fairly well made. Reasonably accurate, Until.........
I was loading it up one evening getting ready to go to work. Put in the mag and racked the slide... BANG! :eek: The little sucker slam fired when the slide closed! Fortunately, nobody was hurt, but it did put a nice little hole in the bedroom wall. :( It went away very shortly after that. I won't own another. :mad:
 
I have one just like the OP posted AND a TP25 - same gun in 25ACP. I wish they had made one in 32ACP - a TP32. I'd buy one in that caliber too.

Only thing I didn't like about them is that the trigger guard is too small for my fat finger, so it would frequently swing down under recoil and let the slide go back too far. That allowed the rear of the slide lift up so that it wouldn't return to battery.

I say that is something I DIDN'T like - not DON'T like - 'cause I fixed the problem. I drilled through the frame and pinned the "block" that is part of the front of trigger guard in place so that it can't swing open without taking the pin out first.

That means you can't remove the slide without drifting the pin out first, but that's OK it pushes out fairly easily when you need to take it down for cleaning.
 
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I had one for several years. Small, unobtrusive for concealed carry in a state that didn't issue many permits. The only problems were (1) the finish didn't hold up and (2) it would jam with some ammo. Fed most with no problem.

I THINK I gave it to a girlfriend when we broke up (obviously. amicably).
 
The TP 22, like a lot of small 22 semi-auto's are ammunition sensitive. Mine likes Win. Super-X. The safety keys off a small spring loaded ball that goes into a recess in the frame and if not installed properly allows the switch to go to fire very easily.
 
Erma made or designed them originally if I recall-American Arms of Kansas City also sold them in the 90's.
They had the same finish as the Erma lever action 22's that Ithaca sold way back.(maybe ZAMAK?)
Always thought they were neat
Larry in Reno
 
I remember advertisement for the piece many years ago. The ad showed a photo of a small (maybe 12-15) member police force that adopted the piece as their official back-up gun. I recall thinking you could do worse, but my feeling then, as it is today, is that a back-up gun should really be a double action revolver.

Regards,

Dave
 
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