Yes Iver Johnson did make 410 shot guns, I own 2 break open 410 shot guns both made by Iver Johnson.
usa
The Iver Johnson Company
What do you mean by building them himself? He learned to manufacture firearms as an employee of Ethan Allen. In 1871, he and Martin Bye, another Ethan Allen employee, formed their own company, Johnson and Bye. In 1883 Bye sold his share to Johnson and the company was renamed Iver Johnson Arms and Cycle Works.
Unfortunately, manuals for guns are a fairly new thing, and Iver Johnson has been out of business for some years. If you leave a message on my message board with a description of the gun, will try to help- but there ARE no manuals for many guns- never had them.
Iver Johnson did use the 'EXCEL' trade name for some hardware store guns. However, the guns are earlier than the more common Iver Johnson Champion model and Champion barrels will not fit the EXCEL marked frames. You will have to keep searching the internet, eBay, etc, and hope that somebody puts one out for sale. sales@countrygunsmith.net
single barrel was probably an Iver Johnson. There were double barrel models made probably by Iver Johnson and possibly Stevens. They were made under contract after WWI for Sharpliegh Hardware in St Louis. This was common practice as Iver Johnson would put your Company name or logo or P/N on anything they made . Iver Johnson originally made bicycles and merged into firearms. Their Champion guns were sold with as many as 20+ different names on them. I have 6 different guns and they all resemble each other very much. Am looking for an extractor for a 12 gague single Champion.
Not a lot of info available on the individual models Iver Johnson manufactured. The company began in 1871 as Johnson Bye & Co.. About 1883 the name of the company changed to Iver Johnson & Co.. In 1891 the name was changed to Iver Johnson's Arms & Cycle Works. Iver Johnson produced firearms under various names and owners form 1871 until 1993. It's]reputation was for low cost, reliable products. Little to no collector interest. Values rarely exceed 100 or so. FYI, serial numbers were not required prior to 1968. Try posting in the H&R/Iver Johnson forum over at ArmsCollectors.com
In the case of guns, "antique" has a legal meaning- made before 1899. The value of your Iver Johnson will be based on the exact model and the condition. Although well made, these were not high $$$ guns when new. Value could be anywhere from $50 to $300 (for a perfect new-in-box specimen)
Most guns in good shape are selling for $350.00 up
Yes, and no. The IJ Cattleman Buckhorn was available with a 12 inch barrel and the Cattleman Buntline was 18 inches. However, these guns were made FOR Iver Johnson by Aldo Uberti in Italy.
Newport guns were made by a variety of manufacturers for Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co. Known makers are Crescent, Davenport, Iver Johnson, and Stevens. Best bet for a 410 single would be Iver Johnson's Champion model.