info please ? - The Firearms Forum

kitty666 · 12-13-2006, 11:43 PM

hi, i know nothing about firearms but i found this gun at my grandparents house its made by harringtion & richardson arms company worcester mass usa it says pat oct 4 '87may 14th & aug6, 88april 2,95 ,april 7 (looks kike 1881), on the butt of the handle it has the # 81997, could you tell me anything about it?

thank you

b.goforth · 12-14-2006, 01:19 PM

kitty666,
h&r used these five patent dates on their large frame 'auto-ejector' model (second model third variation) revolver between 1898 and 1904. calibers were 5 shot cylinder 38 S&W and 6 shot cylinder 32 S&W. the era 1898 to 1904 was h&r most profilic time for these revolvers with over 500,000 of this model/variation manufactured.

beside the serial number on the bottom of the butt there should also be a serial number on the bottom of the top strap (you will probably need to remove the cylinder to see this number). this is the location where H&R added a letter code to the serial number. this letter code will help identify the year of manufacture. without this letter code i can only date to the era 1898-1904.

all H&R revolvers manufactured before 1905 were manufactured for black powder cartridges pressures and are not safe with modern ammo. this is one, so do not fire this revolver with modern ammo.
bill

kitty666 · 12-15-2006, 12:41 AM

hi, thank you very much, i had no intentions of firing it, lol, besides that, the cylinder has been soldered shut, i was just interested cuz i love antiques of every kind , heck we even found an old sword , its nice , he came here from Russia to flee the war back in the day

12-13-2006, 11:43 PM	#1
kitty666 Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: san francisco Posts: 2	info please ? hi, i know nothing about firearms but i found this gun at my grandparents house its made by harringtion & richardson arms company worcester mass usa it says pat oct 4 '87may 14th & aug6, 88april 2,95 ,april 7 (looks kike 1881), on the butt of the handle it has the # 81997, could you tell me anything about it? thank you -->

12-14-2006, 01:19 PM	#2
b.goforth Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: houston, tx Posts: 3,174	Re: info please ? kitty666, h&r used these five patent dates on their large frame 'auto-ejector' model (second model third variation) revolver between 1898 and 1904. calibers were 5 shot cylinder 38 S&W and 6 shot cylinder 32 S&W. the era 1898 to 1904 was h&r most profilic time for these revolvers with over 500,000 of this model/variation manufactured. beside the serial number on the bottom of the butt there should also be a serial number on the bottom of the top strap (you will probably need to remove the cylinder to see this number). this is the location where H&R added a letter code to the serial number. this letter code will help identify the year of manufacture. without this letter code i can only date to the era 1898-1904. all H&R revolvers manufactured before 1905 were manufactured for black powder cartridges pressures and are not safe with modern ammo. this is one, so do not fire this revolver with modern ammo. bill __________________ Author: Iver Johnson's Arms & Cycle Works 1871-1993 H&R Arms Company 1871-1986 (due spring 2010) available from www.gunshowbooks.com website; iverjohnsoncollector.x10hosting.com

12-15-2006, 12:41 AM	#3
kitty666 Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: san francisco Posts: 2	Re: info please ? hi, thank you very much, i had no intentions of firing it, lol, besides that, the cylinder has been soldered shut, i was just interested cuz i love antiques of every kind , heck we even found an old sword , its nice , he came here from Russia to flee the war back in the day