Iver Johnson Supershot + I.J. .38 67-S = BEST of both era's in one.

[xtriggerman]

This is one of my "what if" guns that I am nearly done with but it actually shoots fine as is right now. About a year or more ago I picked up this Iver model 67-S Viking 2.75" 38 S&W at a GS. It was cheap enough because it had a bad trigger recoil spring in it. My intension for it was to load snake shot loads for it for around the house. Then one day I saw that 3" I.J. Supershot barrel and frame parts for sale on Ebay. I thought what if I could put the older supershot 22 barrel set onto the 38 frame? I had to try it since there were a few pluses in the final franken gun. The old world Supershot sealed 8 top break guns were beautifully machined with tapered light weight barrels and an auto eject feature. But by 1947 Iver had to cheapen the guns to stay competitive with the H&R 999. Once the Supershot turned into the model 66, The barrel became a bulky casting and they ditched the auto eject feature for a finger ejection rod. The 66 did have some important improvements such as a fixed firing pin with transfer bar, a nice wide spur hammer and a much needed larger trigger & trigger guard. So basically, I love the old Supershot top end but the newer 66 had the far better lower frame. So I set about mating the 2 together. I ended up getting a nice 6" supershot barrel from Numrich but found the forcing cone was off center. So I made a cutter up to correct that and found I have to cut new cylinder notches in the Supershot cylinder since the frame lug of the 67 center fire frame didn't line up. But that was fine since I could now match each cylinder bore with barrel bore using a brass alignment pin I made up. Milling each of the 8 cylinder notches threw the frame lug hole assured me a more accurate gun in the end. The newer & nicer rear sight/frame latch fit perfectly on the old barrel frame and of course the center fire FP bushing was removed, welded shut and remachined for a spring loaded FP of my own design. The frame did need a bit of weld to get a tight lock up also. I intend to color case harden the frame once I make up a crucible for a kiln I have. That will toughen the lock up to where it should be.

 

 Below you see one of the weak areas of the IJ design. The trigger rebound spring is not a good one. I tried to install a new Numrich spring in the gun and flat out couldn't get it to work worth a s***. you see it inside the trigger guard here. So I revised the design with duel spring arms that are seated into holes drilled into the forward potion of the guard as pictured. The new springs have a longer arc of bend to them and with about a dozen careful thinnings, I have a nice reliable and lighter trigger pull over that stock joke of a spring they sent me. Also you can see I put the cylinder lock up lug spring mid body on the lug for a far more reliable and solid cylinder lock.

  All that remains to be done is build up the front sight with some weld to match the higher rear sight and kiln color the frame and bingo, I have that old world top break I always wanted yet with modern full cylinder safe carry AND auto eject. No one in their "sensible" mind would ever go about a job like this so don't ask what it would cost..... never said I was sane when it comes to old guns  :?
 

Edited February 5, 2017 by xtriggerman

[MacGyver]

Neat!

[Ronald_55]

Nice! Sounds like you are a guy that should just start designing and building from scratch. 

[xtriggerman]

On ‎2‎/‎5‎/‎2017 at 8:55 AM, Ronald_55 said:

Nice! Sounds like you are a guy that should just start designing and building from scratch. 

Improving on an existing design is a gratifying thing. Yesterday, I worked on a little Spanish pocket 25 that had ejection issues. With some milling on the ejection port, that puppy is now spiting spent shells out 12 feet away rather than 2 feet away.....some times. 

[Ronald_55]

1 hour ago, xtriggerman said:

Improving on an existing design is a gratifying thing. Yesterday, I worked on a little Spanish pocket 25 that had ejection issues. With some milling on the ejection port, that puppy is now spiting spent shells out 12 feet away rather than 2 feet away.....some times. 

I bought a Winchester 37a 12ga single shot. It refuses to cock the hammer when closed. Gratifying and frustration to work on. I think I know the issue, but there is no clear reason why it will not lock completely. I gotta stop buying broken guns. Lol I still have to test the Iver Johnson .32 S&W top break that I had to put the firing pin in.

Edited February 7, 2017 by Ronald_55