Favorite Firearms: Grandpa’s Well-Traveled Iver Johnson

by
posted on August 23, 2022
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
Iver Johnson Safety Automatic .32-cal. blackpowder revolver

My grandfather, a civil engineer for the Russian Tsarist government, obtained this Iver Johnson Safety Automatic .32-cal. blackpowder revolver sometime in the early 1900s on one of his trips to Finland or Britain. After the Bolshevik Revolution, he, as manager of a workers’ manufactory in St. Petersburg, found that he could not raise wages fast enough to keep up with the price of bread. This and other risks led him to send his family, including my father, on vacation via the Trans-Siberian Railway to Vladivostok. 

He followed three weeks later on a “bridge-inspection tour,” with this pistol sewn into the crotch of his trousers for personal protection. Because of its single latch on the left of the top bar, it should be a first model, but it has the trigger safety of the second model.  

The patent date on the pistol is April 1886. The shrouded hammer with transfer bar, along with the automatic ejection of its five rounds, make its use as a concealed firearm obvious. My father made the larger grip sometime in the 1940s or 1950s, but I do not know if he ever fired it, since blackpowder cartridges may have been less available then, and the pistol is not considered safe with smokeless powders. 

Grandpa’s gun traveled with the family from Siberia, through China, then to Indonesia for a few years before coming by tramp steamer to San Francisco and ending up, decades later, in his closet in Texas. I learned the bare bones of its history from my mother, as neither my father nor grandpa would talk about their escape in my youth. Well-traveled and worn, this Iver Johnson Safety Automatic is proudly displayed in my study.

Latest

DNT ThermNight TNC225R
DNT ThermNight TNC225R

Review: DNT ThermNight TNC225R

One of the most common campfire debates regarding low-light hunting is whether digital night vision (DNV) is still king or if it’s been dethroned by modern thermal-imaging technology. Products like the DNT ThermNight TNC225R have become popular, as they pack both technologies into one compact unit.

NRA Now Accepting Applications For Public Range Grants

The NRA has reopened its Public Range Fund, which was first established in 2009 to encourage city and county governments to build and improve public ranges across the United States.

Rifleman Q&A: Candelas Or Lumens?

When it comes to lights, I’ve seen a lot more mention of “candelas” being made recently than I have in the past. What is a candela, how does it differ from a lumen and what’s the practical difference between the two from a defensive perspective?

I Have This Old Gun: 1854 Lorenz

The Austrian Model 1854 Lorenz rifle musket, designed by Lt. Joseph Lorenz around 1852, saw use in numerous European conflicts and was the third most common longarm seen in the American Civil War—its popularity being right behind that of the U.S. Model 1861 Springfield rifle musket and British Pattern 1853 Enfield.

Editor’s Choice: Helikon-Tex Swagman Roll Poncho

A modern take on the perennial classic, the patented Swagman Roll Poncho from Helikon-Tex incorporates several simple upgrades that promise far more versatility than a simple blanket.

The Armed Citizen® June 23, 2025

Read today's "The Armed Citizen" entry for real stories of law-abiding citizens, past and present, who used their firearms to save lives.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.