John Jovino Effector

iowafilm · Feb 20, 2021

I just bought a John Jovino Effector 25-2.
I would like to replace the factory grips and was wondering what I should look for as I know Jovino's modified the grip.

I would also love to know who would have carried this type of gun since Jovino mainly sold to cops and agencies.

Anything you all could do to help inform me, I would appreciate it.

6518John · Feb 21, 2021

model 25-2 John Jovino

ko41 · Feb 21, 2021

I have N frame round butt Ahrends and Culina grips on my Jovinos.
I've had other makes on them too, some require a small amount of wood removal others don't.
Culina sent me the grips before final shaping and finishing so I could put them on the gun and trace around the grip frame. I then sent them back to him to finish for a custom fit.

N Frame Round Butt grips will be what you want.

KO

WCCPHD · Feb 21, 2021

My 25-2 Jovino wears N Frame Ahrends Retro Banana grips.

Jovino bought the guns from S&W, modified them and sold them to the public. Back "in the day" they advertised in Shotgun News.

Culina · Feb 21, 2021

Jovino cut down square butt frames and round butted them. The problem is they fall somewhere in between a K-round and an N-round, and the cutdown job is sometimes lopsided. Also, some if not all of them had the main spring replaced with an after market upgrade which means where the grip screw goes through on a factory mainspring, now you have a spring blocking your screw. So if you want a nice fitting set of grips, I would recommend sending the revolver to a grip maker that has an FFL and can receive your gun and make a set of grips specifically for it.

rockquarry · Feb 21, 2021

These were advertised for a long time in SHOTGUN NEWS thirty or more years ago. I never understood the practical value of these revolvers. You can cut and inch or two off the barrel and round the grip, but you still have a heavy and bulky N-frame revolver. It seems there are better guns for carrying concealed, but these have cosmetic appeal and that alone probably accounted for many sales.

.30Calibre · Feb 22, 2021

iowafilm said:
I just bought a John Jovino Effector 25-2.

Firstly, congratulations. Second, I hope I'm not the only that is wondering what it looks like it and whether it's marked.

iowafilm said:
I would also love to know who would have carried this type of gun since Jovino mainly sold to cops and agencies.

Jovino's did not exclusively sell to 'cops and agencies' as it was a retail store in New York City situated in lower Manhattan; the establishment sold firearms nationwide as a distributor and also to anyone who could legally own them within the five boroughs, such as NYC residents with pistol permits. Yes, civilian average Joe NYC residents have been able to own handguns since...well as far back as I can remember; these are handgun permits for possession, but not for carry/CCW. Retired NYPD received a full carry permit upon retiring, and the ability to add up to eight handguns to their permit for rotation. As such, invariably some of the 'gun buff' types would sometimes add all sorts of outlandish pieces to their carry permit, just because they could. I personally knew an old-timer retired cop who worked the late 1970's that has a Buntline Single Action Army in .45LC on his carry, so when you see stuff like that on a guy's card, the snubnose Effector doesn't seem so crazy after all. I think that when you understand that Jovino's in it's heyday was more like a Century Arms International, or a J&G Sales type of outfit, and less like a mom and pop gunshop, the question of "who would have carried this type of gun" becomes less relevant because Jovino's sold their wares literally nationwide.

iowafilm said:
Anything you all could do to help inform me, I would appreciate it.

A good place to start, is this link here.

SammyJoe · May 7, 2021

rockquarry said:
These were advertised for a long time in SHOTGUN NEWS thirty or more years ago. I never understood the practical value of these revolvers. You can cut and inch or two off the barrel and round the grip, but you still have a heavy and bulky N-frame revolver. It seems there are better guns for carrying concealed, but these have cosmetic appeal and that alone probably accounted for many sales.

I believe that it had something to do with the modern metallurgy practices back when these Jovino Effectors were first being marketed. The consumers wanted a robust/heavy carry piece with a small profile that packed some serious power.
I for one think that they are fascinating, but I cannot even come close to what folks are wanting for them.
-Sam

Mike SC Hunter · May 7, 2021

rockquarry said:
These were advertised for a long time in SHOTGUN NEWS thirty or more years ago. I never understood the practical value of these revolvers. You can cut and inch or two off the barrel and round the grip, but you still have a heavy and bulky N-frame revolver. It seems there are better guns for carrying concealed, but these have cosmetic appeal and that alone probably accounted for many sales.

Hummm. You never carried a 3" 24/624/625 or 3 1/2" 27? The appeal and usefulness IS there.

colt_saa · May 7, 2021

I do not have a Jovino Model 25, Austin Behlert did my conversion.

For the purpose of this revolver and many of my other big bore carry pieces, I am VERY happy with the Pachmayr Compac grips.

Like on this 41 Magnum John Jovino Terminator

SammyJoe · May 7, 2021

Colt_saa,
Very cool piece! These jovinos are very unique, hope to own one in the future.
-Sam

colt_saa · May 7, 2021

rockquarry said:
These were advertised for a long time in SHOTGUN NEWS thirty or more years ago. I never understood the practical value of these revolvers. You can cut and inch or two off the barrel and round the grip, but you still have a heavy and bulky N-frame revolver. It seems there are better guns for carrying concealed, but these have cosmetic appeal and that alone probably accounted for many sales.

Back in the 1980s these were not heavy, they were just guns.

Back then there were no plastic guns with any kind of acceptance. Scandium alloy was not yet around.

Today folks are so used to plastic they think everything else is too heavy. Well now we have Titanium and Scandium alloy revolvers and the folks are complaining they kick too much

These two Total Titanium snubbies from Taurus weight in under 20 ounces. The top one is 45 Long Colt while the bottom one is 41 Magnum

These Smith & Wesson Night Guards stay well below 30 ounces thanks to Scandium alloy frames

And there are not a lot of things that will have you backpedaling faster than looking down the barrel of a Model 25 snubby

BigBill · May 8, 2021

Back pedaling? Not if there’s a big S on your chest lol.

Just the bore size is scary. X’s thats gonna leave a mark.

John Jovino Effector

iowafilm

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6518John

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ko41

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WCCPHD

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Culina

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rockquarry

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.30Calibre

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SammyJoe

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Mike SC Hunter

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colt_saa

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SammyJoe

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colt_saa

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BigBill

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