Feeling really lucky to have not just one, but now a pair of the Jovino modified Model 25s. The first one I got a while back at a local gun show (spotted by my son) is a modified 25-5 in 45 "Long" Colt. The gun letters as shipped to Jovino in June, 1982. It shipped as a 6" square butt version. Jovino cut the barrel to 2.7", rounded the butt to K frame round butt size, rounded the hammer spur, and added a crane lock (ball and detent shown in the 2nd photo) to replace the one at the end of the full length ejector rod. The gun was also given an action job.
The 2nd Jovino is a 25-2 in 45ACP that followed me home last weekend. It was a trade with another forum member who really, really wanted a gun that I had (or he'd never, ever given this one up). I have not yet sent for the letter on this one but it has all the identical features to the 25-5. By the serial, this one is probably a year or 2 older than the -5. Both of these are near the end of the Jovino production as S&W shortly started making big bore snubbies on their own which eliminated Jovino's expensive machining.
The John Jovino Company opened in 1911 and was one of S&W's major distributors and was a supplier to the NYPD for years. It spawned a manufacturing supsidiary which I understand became Henry Repeating Arms.
The 2nd Jovino is a 25-2 in 45ACP that followed me home last weekend. It was a trade with another forum member who really, really wanted a gun that I had (or he'd never, ever given this one up). I have not yet sent for the letter on this one but it has all the identical features to the 25-5. By the serial, this one is probably a year or 2 older than the -5. Both of these are near the end of the Jovino production as S&W shortly started making big bore snubbies on their own which eliminated Jovino's expensive machining.
The John Jovino Company opened in 1911 and was one of S&W's major distributors and was a supplier to the NYPD for years. It spawned a manufacturing supsidiary which I understand became Henry Repeating Arms.
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