doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Iver Johnson Skeeter - On Approval

I have an Iver Johnson Skeeter 20 gauge in on approval.

It is an ejector gun and the ejectors don't work. All the visibile parts are there but I haven't taken the forearm apart.

The serial numbers match on the forearm iron, forearm wood, barrel, and action.

The Owl's head buttplate is there.

The triggers excellent. Light, crisp, and no creep. Double triggers.

Stock fits me very well.

The barrels have been reblued and I suspect they might have been hot blued. I believe they should be rust blued and am worried about the soft solder in the ribs. How can you tell for sure the difference? There is a dead spot 6" from the muzzle in the rib when I ring it.

It is tight and on face.

The lever is 1/8" to the right.

28" barrels, 2-3/4" chambers. The POIs of the two barrels are within 4" of each other at 25 yards. The barrels are marked "M" and "F" right and left respectively. It patterns tighter than that of course.

The finish on the stock is flaking off in places.

The trigger guard is an antique copper color with a black streak in it.

The beavertail forearm is slightly loose - like most of the Winchester Model 21s it is loose up towards the muzzle. That is between the muzzle end of the forearm and the barrel.

The action has been reblued and the stamped lettering is soft.

It weighs 7lbs 4oz.

I bought it to take for Argentina dove hunting. I have $1000 in it. What do yall think?



Best,

Mike

I think I would pass.
Best,
John

Pass...

Thanks John and jOe. I appreciate it.

More information.

The rib is not loose. The barrels were rust blued. The gunsmith at the FFL receiver was able to tighten the forend with little trouble but the ejectors were beyond his comfort zone.

I took some pictures and will post them tonight.

Thanks again for you advice.

Best,

Mike

Mike,
I bought an Iver Johnson 16 ga. Hercules with 28" barrels mod/full with ejectors. I paid $62.50 for it Forend didn't fit tight because loop was loose. Barrels were good but no color. Ejectors weren't working so I took gun all apart and re-solderd loop and rust blued barrels, refinished stock and still have a problem with the ejectors, know what it is, just have to figure on how to fix it.
More and more of these guns are surfacing now and the prices are high on some.

before picture:


rust blued


after


ejectors


Had the original grip cap, had a recoil pad which I replaced with an owl head butt plate.
Ejector problem is with the plate that is in-between the ejector trips. This plate has a notch on the bottom that seats onto a block and from what I can figure is that at the end of the receiver there are two dimples that catch onto that piece and when gun is broken it resets that retangular piece on to the block. Either the dimples are worn or the piece in the forend is.
I'll experiment further one day.
Gun weighs 7 lbs. 2 oz. and in checking chokes are .013 right and .031 left, not mod/full. The bore is .662 and is 2 9/16" chambers.

Mike
It's a bit of a rare bird with 28" bbls. Look around, I haven't seen a 28" 20g Skeeter before. I had a 26" 20g once.

I think it's a decent deal at $1k for what you have...if you want a 28" 20g Skeeter.

You still have plenty of "playing margin" in that price to spend for fixing the ejectors. The question is whether or not you like the gun enough to have it fixed. 7lbs 4 oz is quite a chunk of iron for a 20g unless it's primarily going to be used for targets

PS O.K. I looked. There are 2 20g 28" Skeeters on GA right now. Both are near $4k.

Not Argentina. I have one ejector Skeeter, but it is a very low mileage gun. When I add to my Skeeter collection, I would prefer that the additions be extractor guns for long term reliability. A single trigger would be less of a problem because most of them, if not all, were Millers. My 28" ejector 12 gauge has a non selective Miller that I assume to be factory.

According to the Iver Johnson catalogue I have the standard barrel length is 28-inch for the Skeeter with the option of 26-inch. Extras: Miller single trigger, selective or non-selective; Jostam Anti-Flinch recoil pad; and Lyman Ivory rear sight can be supplied at additional cost. Regular specs were a straight grip for the .410-bore and a capped full pistol grip for the 12-, 16-, 20-, and 28-gauges, but straight or capped full pistol grip to order. Also special stock dimensions at no additional cost with a 3 week lead time on double trigger guns and 5 weeks on single trigger guns.

My 410 Skeeter is the only 410 that I doubled on doves with. I still smile when I remember that one. The Miller trigger is great and ejectors work to perfection.
bill

A friend won the .410 hammerless event at the Southern Side by Side a couple of years ago with his Skeeter. I think his score was the high overall .410 score.

Three years ago or so I examined one of those .410s at Cabela's in Hamburg PA. I still remember the $2700 sticker shock tag for what seem to be country "meat and potato" gun. Cute adult .410 gun, but not $2700 cute.

Model B Fox .410s are over a grand if they are right.

The only .410 I regret not buying was that lil' Winchester pump that still had dried yellow grease on the bolt. That gun was pristine. Ok, that Marlin O/U .410 should have come home with me too.

The stock looked funny to me. It had that narrow look of a stock that had been cut off but it measures 14" LOP. I finally measured the distance from the heel to toe and it is 4". Best guess is that the toe got broken off and someone reshaped the stock and butt plate. Good job too - if that is what happened.

JDW thanks for the information. Very nice Herc 16 by-the-way.

Chuck I thought it was below market too. If I purchase it it will be used for Argentina dove and targets. Thanks.

eightbore I thought since it was designed for clays it would be rugged enough for Argentina. Are the Skeeter ejectors problematic? And I have been steering away from Skeeters with single triggers not realzing they were probably Miller. Thanks.

Researcher thanks!























Thanks again for all the replies, information and advice.

Best,

Mike

Mike,
That looks in good condition. I like the wood. I think the price is decent, I would ask what is the best they could do.

Mike,
All the Skeeter's I've seen seemed to have a smallish butt height. Still, I wouldn't know if what you have is factory, but I suspect it is. If you pass .... nah, I better not. 'wife 'll kill me.

With the info you gave concerning the bluing being correct and the rib being tight, I have to change my opinion.
It is a decent buy at 1K.
Best,
John

Chuck Joe Wood looked at the gun and he thinks the butt is original also.

John thanks! I really appreciate your advice.

I am going to keep it.



With the help of my six month old French Brittany Belle I managed to bag 15 Mourning Dove today using the Skeeter.

The shooting lessons I have been giving Joe Wood are paying off for him as he bagged 15 with a beautiful Blisset 12 bore hammergun today also.

Best,

Mike

Congrats Mike. Hold back some shooting secrets from Joe to prevent the dove from getting on the endangered list. That ol' dog in the pic looks like it got a little dirty.

Thanks Chuck. And it had rained earlier in the day and she was muddy. I don't think Joe can afford enough shells to endanger dove. At a ratio of seventeen shells per bird it would break him.

My big frame (12 gauge) Skeeter measures 4 7/8" at the butt. Your gun is a beauty, wish I owned it. Say hi to my friend, Joe for me. Bill Murphy

Eight-Bore how about the Savage-Stevens M311 series- 26" barrels 3" F&F DT EXT in near Mint shape- would that go out for a 4 figure tag? Just curious. Impressive that you started into doubles in the early 1960's- same time I was wondering why Harley-Davidson put the shift lever on the right side (brake hand side)-but my Sportster still runs fine-have to get used to it is all.. RWTF

Bill I said Hi to Joe for you today. Thanks for the measurement and the help! I called Wildwood and their 20 gauge Skeeter measured 4-5/8" and Steve Barnett's 20 gauge Skeeter had sold but his 16ga Skeeter was 4-3/4".

Best,

Mike

They sound original to me. I will see a ratty 20 this weekend and will measure it if I don't forget.

David I forgot to thank you for the advice on that and I appreciate you sharing your opinion of the gun.

Since mine measures 4" (heel to toe) it seems to me that it has either been reshaped or it was custom ordered - which seems unlikely. Anyway I am going to leave it as is except to have Steve Bertam fix the ejectors and open the chokes to 5 and 15 thou. I think with modern 1200 fps shells that should pattern about modified and extra full.

Thanks again for all the help.

Mike