On the left side on the barrel, it says Model 925” followed by” 38 S&W”. On the frame, beneath the cylinder is stamped “H&R INC U.S.A”. I know it’s a Harrington & Richardson made revolver that fires a short 38 Caliber round.
HARRINGTON RICHARDSON WORCESTER MASS. Hard rubber grips with target Has a 2 1/4 inch double edged knife that folds under the barrel. The serial number of my H&R revolver is AR37697. After 1940 letter codes were used to denote year of manufacture. Starting with A in 1940 and going to BC in 1986. H&R used the AR letter codes in 1977 (information from the 'Blue Book'). At the range I shot some CCI Mini-mag.22lr ammo, and some CCI Maxi-mag ammo from the WMR cylinder.
Dave_Markowitz
Supporter
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2010
- Messages
- 1,501
- Likes
- 4,120
- Location
- Pennsylvania
I've been on the lookout for a low cost wheelgun in .32 S&W Long and this seemed to fit the bill, so I called and had them hold it for a few days until I could go in to check it out in person.
Upon inspection the gun seems to have been fired very little and wasn't very dirty. I inspected it carefully. It appeared to have sat in a drawer for most of its life, with maybe one box of ammo ever being shot through it. It locked up well with no endshake, so it came home with me, along with a pound of Alliant Reloder 7 powder for use in my .44-40 rifles.
The serial number starts with 'AH', placing the date of manufacture as 1971. It looks like it was made yesterday and had maybe a box of ammo through it.
One known weakness of relatively early H&R 732 / 733 is a plastic tip on the end of the hammer spring guide rod, which bears on the hammer. Before I bought the gun I'd done some research and apparently, it's not uncommon for it to break. So, I wanted to remove the grips, make a drawing of the part if mine was plastic, and replicate it in brass.
Naturally, that part shattered when I removed the grips. Just a little bit of lateral pressure on the mainspring assembly while pushing the left side grip off managed to break it. The old plastic literally crumbled so there was no way I'd be able to replicate it in a stronger material.
<sigh>
After much cussing, I went online to search for a replacement. Luckily, Numrich has them, in either plastic or steel. I of course ordered the metal part for $35.99 after shipping. Even with the cost of the part the overal cost of the gun is in line what they go for nowadays at retail. I got the replacement about a week later and it dropped right it.
I took the H&R over to a friend's place on New Year's Day to try it out. We got the chance to put 30 rounds of Prvi Partizan .32 S&W Long 98 grain LRN through it, plinking at an 8' steel gong from about 5 - 7 yards. As long as I did my part it rang the gong (albeit softly). Recoil was negligible.
So why a revolver in .32 Long? They are just fun to shoot, in my opinion. If looking for a low recoil, compact self defense gun, compared with a .22, it shoots a bullet over twice the weight and 1/10th of an inch larger in diameter. With wadcutters, it has the potential to punch a ~5/16' hole in a miscreant deep enough to reach the vitals. And in general, centerfire ammunition is more reliable than rimfire ammo.
Where legal, a lead .32 wadcutter or semiwadcutter performs well on small game without destroying a ton of meat. (Unfortunately, that doesn't include PA.)
Next up will be to shoot the gun at paper targets to verify point of impact.
Sturdy, well made and reasonably accurate, despite going out of business in 1986, H&R .22 revolvers might likely cross your bench.
Serial Numbers Revolver Harrington And Richardson Firearms
by Wendell Dwight Deaner
Harrington & Richardson 22 Revolvers
Harrington and Richardson was in the business of making firearms from 1871 to 1986. From the period past the First World War to the end of its manufacturing run, the company produced many variations of .22 revolvers with model numbers ranging from 900 to 999. Some of the very similar firearms it produced had no model numbers (for a time) or were labeled with a name, such as the Sportsman. These little guns were sturdy, well made, and reasonably accurate. Many are in use today and you may find an example coming into your shop for repairs at any time.
Fortunately, the 900s are not difficult to work on. Many parts are still available but some may be easier than others to obtain. Brownells has a few and Bob’s Gun Shop (gun-parts.com, fax: 501/767-2750) seems to have a good selection. Use Google to search “H&R gun parts” will bring up more suppliers. For revolvers that were manufactured from 1934 to 1986, finding parts is not the chore that one would suppose. The good news is that the most likely suspects, cylinder pins and mainspring assemblies, are fairly easy to find.
The barrel is pinned and screws out. Dedicated action wrenches for this gun would not be easy to find as would barrel vises. That being said, something from most shops could probably be rigged to twist off the barrel. Most of the time this is not necessary but I have seen some of these guns with loose barrels you could actually shake with hand pressure.
Read more in our September 2012 issue. Back issues are available.
Harrington Richardson Top Break Revolvers
Serial Numbers Revolver Harrington And Richardson Revolver
Don’t miss a single issue. Subscribe today!