Iver Johnson 38

Question
I have an Iver Johnson 38 Serial # D56754 on trigger guard and under grip. It has a one piece wood grip and is hammerless. Any information available is appreciated.

Thanks

Answer
Hello, again Brian.
  Your IJ "May" be a post WWII Third Model Safety Hammerless Fourth Variation. The reason I say"May" be, is because there were less than 2,000 of the Fourth Variation manufactured. In 1942, all IJ .38S&W revolvers were sent overseas for the war effort. After WWII(1946), The factory still had 4" & 5" barrels and .38S&W cylinders left, but no frames. At the time, IJ was manufacturing .22cal. Supershot Sealed Eight Second Model. These had the oversize wood one pieces grips. The frames were compatible, so they assembled what they had on hand and came up with a "Frankenstein" revolver called the Fourth Variation. This information came from one of my research resources Iver Johnson U.S. Pat. Off. Arms & Cycle Works Firearms 1871-1993 by W.E.Gorforth, published in 2006. He was one of the noted researchers of his time. His quote on this model was," As of this writing, none of the Fourth Variation (post-World War II) have been discovered - in either the large or small frame Hammerless models." My advice would be to google for something like, Revolver Collectors of Pre and Post WWII. You might get some help there. Another piece of advice, would be to clean it 'EXTERNALLY'. Do NOT take it apart. Shoot it if you want to, but only if it passes a complete physical, by a 'competent, licensed gunsmith'. Or just put it away until you can get further verification of this information. It is not going to set you up for retirement, but could be worth three figures to the right collector.
  Thanks for allowing me to research this revolver for you. Please contact me someday, if you find anything of interest on this revolver. Charles Gage