Gentlemen, let’s not forget the collector value of this Iver Johnson marked Remington New Model Army. Iver Johnson replica percussion revolvers are worth a premium not only because of their rarity but the history that is involved with their existence.
Very briefly, let’s also not forget the history of the Colt 2nd Generation “C” Series and “F” Series and their relationship to Iver Johnson. It was Lou Imperato who persuaded Colt to assume production of their percussion revolvers. It is also Lou Imperato who had purchased Iver Johnson. Since Uberti had been producing the 1851 Navy since around 1959-60 and possibly the 1860 Army in 1962-63 for Navy Arms, Lou Imperato came to an agreement with Val Forgett to provide parts from Uberti for the Colt revolvers. These early revolvers were assembled and finished at the Colt factory thus the “C” Series. In 1977 after Lou Imerato had assumed direct control of the parts issue from Val Forgett, the “F” Series were produced at the Iver Johnson factory in Middlesex, NJ.
Now the interesting part, most replica Iver Johnson percussion revolvers have code dates between 1975-1978. It appears that Iver Johnson was importing finished replica revolvers from Uberti at the same time that they were supplying parts to Colt. When the Colt revolvers started being produced at Iver Johnson in 1977 the Iver Johnson marked replicas disappear. It is also interesting to note that the first “F” Series Colt revolvers were packed in the black boxes with a note that stated that they were produced at the Iver Johnson factory!
Thus we have importer marking, Iver Johnson, which is closely associated with the production of the Colt resumption of their percussion revolvers. The Iver Johnson marked revolvers were only imported for around two years. Exactly what models were produced is unknown at this time. RPRCA has four Iver Johnson revolvers in its collection:
Remington New Model Army
Remington New Model Army Target Version
1860 Army
Model Griswold & Gunnison Army .44cal.
Two other models that have been observed are the 1862 Pocket Police and the 1862 Pocket Navy.
The detailed information about the 2nd & 3rd Generation Colts can be found in Dennis Russell’s book, Percussion Colt Revolvers, The Second Generation Collector’s Handbook & Price Guide. The greatly expanded 6th Edition has just been released and is available directly from Dennis Russell. Over 75 pages of new information have been added.
