Flea Market Find Harrington&Richardson Break Revolver

[rocketmoon2]

Iv been reading and learning on the forum as I go, I picked this revolver up for $30 today, its in fairly tough condition but the rifleing is in really nice shape. Obviously its missing the grips, spring, and probably another part or two internally(havent opened it up yet)
" The top of the barrol reads Harrington & Richardson Arms Company Worcester Mass USA" "Pat 007.4.87 MAY 14 & Aug 6.89 April 2.95. April 7 1896"
There is no caliber size marked on the side of the barrol like iv seen in other posts, and the serial number under the frame reads 34208. It holds 5 shots, if i had to guess its a 32 cal but Im a Rifle guy so i could be wrong.
I have a friend who is a gun smith and I know he will take a look for me and make sure its safe to shoot with the correct black powder rounds etc if i get to that point, but my question is whats it worth, and what is it exactly, the pic i took is exactly as i found it, it has light surface rust that could be cleaned easily, i would say 30-40% of the original blue is still present conservatively, could be more when i clean it.
what model exactly is it? tough to look for a schematic and parts if I dont know. From looking on here it seems like a fairly common gun with alot of variations which has me lost, Thanks again to everyone who looks at this post and let me know if you guys need more info identifying it.

[3/2 STA SS]

$30.00 good find. Hammer spring is missing but you have a potentially functioning firearm for $30.

[Jim K]

It is an H&R Hammerless (concealed hammer), and appears to be in .38 S&W caliber.

It looks like the trigger spring is missing or broken as well. The pins that hold the cover in are missing. Are the cover and the hammer there?

The ratchet is in very poor shape and the gun is probably way out of time. Gun Parts lists the extractor/ratchet only as part of the cylinder, which runs some $45 if available. Small parts might or might not be OK; in general, once someone has worked on one of those guns (and probably several someones have worked on that one), there will usually be many parts out of whack.

Grips (stocks) will run around $20, the mainspring (hammer spring) $6 or so.

Then, when/if you can get the parts, and assemble them, you have a gun worth maybe $50.

Good luck!

Jim

[rocketmoon2]

Thanks Jim, top cover is there and the hammer is there as well, looking at similar guns a piece of metal protrudes from the back of the trigger guard area to behind the trigger, i think it and the spring appear to be the two missing components mechanically wise unless its bouncing around inside the frame. may be a fun project for me if i take my time to look for the parts, ill probably end up trying to track down some parts and make the grips myself so i dont have too much sunk in to it if i go that route, otherwise its a wall hanger. Are there anyways to see the difference in 32 and 38 cal smokless versions you know of? thanks again

[Jim K]

It might be a fun project IF you don't spend much money and don't believe you are going to end up with anything worth a lot more than you paid. I don't have enough info on H&R to know when they modernized their guns to handle smokeless powder, but in reality, modern ammo will be safe enough in most old guns for a few shots. It is repeated firing that eventually will destroy the gun.

As to the .32/.38 difference, use a common pencil. If it fits closely in the barrel or chamber, the gun is .32; if it is really wobbly, the gun is .38.

The piece of metal you mention is the rebound lever, designed to retract the hammer enough for the firing pin to pull back out of the primer and not interfere with opening the gun. They run around $10. (H&R called it a sear, but it is not a sear in the sense of providing a single action capability, which would be impossible with a concealed hammer.)

Jim

[rocketmoon2]

your the best jim, yes I a acctually went and found a used 9mm shell and it fits with just a little play so it is indeed a 38. I dont plan on making any money at it, it would just be somthing fun, thanks

[rocketmoon2]

Just poped the remaining pins/ screws and these are the pieces that are present, the actual firing pin is still in the gun frame as well, so as of right now, looks like the missing parts tally is (2)pins for the top cover, (1) hammer spring, and the missing sear, so maybe if i take my time i can find them fairly inexpensively, is the modeal acctually ccalled an "H&R hammerless chambered in 38" or is there another model name? also if any of you H&R guys see another missing part please point it out, thanks for all the quick responses

[fleetwood1976]

if it was me, I would clean it up a bit, put a set of grips on it and hang it on the wall.

[Jim K]

I don't think those guns had any other model name or number, but I am not an expert on H&R's. I don't think they used model numbers until later on.

I don't think you will have any trouble getting parts just using that description, if parts are available at all.

Jim