New Acquisitions: Iver Johnson Arms Champion & Winchester Model 1887

[OnTheFly]

My mother is passing down a few of my father's firearms.  The first is a Iver Johnson Arms Champion in 410.  It is by far in the worst condition of the firearms I am getting.  I've read that it is not worth fixing up.  May just become a "wall hanger".

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[OnTheFly]

And this is the Winchester Model 1887 manufactured in 1897.  There was an interesting story behind this gun.  My great grandfather purchased this when he was 15 years old (GASP! I know...so young to be handling things that kill!) with moneys he had earned 10 cents at a time.  He was riding a horse when it was spooked by a snake.  The horse reacted and my great grandfather fell off the horse, bending the barrel of the shotgun in the fall.  He didn't want to junk the shotgun after earning the money to buy it, so he put the barrel in the fork of a tree trunk and carefully bent it until it was straight.  He gave it a test fire and all was good.

You don't see too many lever action shotguns.

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[OnTheFly]

One more of the Winchester Model 1887.

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[FarmerRick]

I like that thing, have you shot it?

[bkoenig]

An original 1887 is worth some serious coin, I'm pretty sure.  The CAS guys would go nuts over that.

[OnTheFly]

I like that thing, have you shot it?

No I have not.  I would like to.  Will likely get it checked out by a gunsmith (especially considering the bent barrel story) and if they give me the thumbs up, I will find some appropriate ammo.  I imagine a lower pressure will be necessary for the metallurgy of the time.

When I was researching it on the web, I ran across a movie data base on firearms that said a similar version of the Winchester 1887 was in Terminator 2.  It was the sawed off shotgun he was wielding while he was riding the motorcycle.

Fly

[OnTheFly]

An original 1887 is worth some serious coin, I'm pretty sure.  The CAS guys would go nuts over that.

Well I know it has got me all proud and excited.  Its kind of like that proud feeling when my kids were born. 

Fly

[lefty]

My grandfather had a 1887 but it had the bad habit of dropping the hammer every once in awhile, when it wanted to.  My brothers and older cousins said it wasn't safe for me to hunt with but they sure enjoyed it.

Last I knew it was hanging on a wall in my cousin's house in Missouri.

[OnTheFly]

Last I knew it was hanging on a wall in my cousin's house in Missouri.

That's one of the reasons I'm getting these guns now.  As a wise man told me about the items my mom intends to pass down to me, "get them NOW".  Apparently he had family members helping themselves to what was intended for him.

Fly