I am hoping to buy a nice little Iver Johnson SxS shotgun from a friend. It is a "Hercules Grade" 20ga. Nice bores, receiver has lost 90% of the color case but the wood is great, and it shoots. Anyone know if these are sound firearms or is there something prone to breaking on them that I should stay away from?

I don't know of any particular problem with these guns. I own two and both work.

ij's are decent, well made, utility grade guns. the best ones were made between the wars. my only complaints are that they are kinda heavy and not as well balanced as others. plus, they are overpriced due to ij collector demand. for what you get, you are better off buying a stevens 311 or one of its many derivatives.

Are the chambers in the IJ Hercules 2 1/2 inch or 2 3/4? Just a thought that you might consider.

Jolly

The Iver Johnson doubles have one peculiarity that may take a little getting used to. The top lever doesn't latch in the open position like most doubles, and is cammed open when closing the gun. I guess there is nothing wrong with this, it's just different. The guns seem to be well made and durable.

Great info guys. Thanks for all your help. I am not sure on the chamber length. I have not yet had a chance to measure them but now when I see it I will.

Unlike their pistols which are in the nickle plated junk category their shotguns seem to have held up well over time.
Enjoy the one you have as it will probably give you years of good service.
There are instructions in other threads on this forum for measuring chamber lengths.
Jim

Every toddler should sleep with an Iver Johnson revolver, dontcha think?

Mike:
I think I'm on fairly solid ground when I state that ad would freak out every gun grabber in the Country!!
Jim

"Papa says it won't hurt us, but look at the hole it made in my little brother's head". My first association.

I have never owned an IJ double but have several guns which have this feature, including British, Continental & an early side pivot Lefever. Personally I much prefer it to the "Lever Latch", but that's just my opinion. All my Lefevers except for that one have the central pivot levers & do have the lever latch. They are among my favorite guns, but in spite of rather than because of the lever latch.

I have a 12 gauge Skeeter and a 12 gauge Super Trap. For the original cost, these are great guns. The rarity and totally ugly appearance of the Super Trap makes it a bit of a cult gun, a title well deserved.

I have one of those little revolvers and know what they mean. The gun is hammerless and the trigger is very hard to pull! I wouldn't be afraid to guess 20lbs.

I've owned a 20g Skeeter years ago. It was a really nice shooter. I thought they looked pretty decent. Kind of a poormans 21.

Ive owned a few Iver Johnson sxs (28 gauge Skeeter, .410 Skeeter a 16 gauge Hercules) I thought that the 28 gauge Skeeter was too heavy and a few other Skeeters I've seen, other than the .410 were also too heavy. They all seem to crack at the ejector screws on the forend. All of the I.J. sxs I had, had a lot of wear around the cocking dogs, so that sometimes they wouldn't cock the hammers. Other than that I think they're pretty good guns.
Pete