The Hartford Arms and Equipment Co. was founded in late 1925 by three men from Massachusetts. They produced two .22 pistols and a .22 rifle.
The most common Hartford pistol was the semi-auto. The single shot was less common and one will seldom encounter the rifle. There is mention on a number of gun guides of a magazine fed manually operated Hartford similar to the Fiala or Schall pistol. This repeating Hartford pistol does not exist. If I recall correctly , the first mention of the Hartford repeater is in Edward Chappels gun guide. Later other gun guides included it in their listings. It is not found in the Hartford Arms literature or magazine advertising as do the other two pistols and rifle. The only reported sightings of the Hartford repeater turned out to be an unmarked Schall pistol.
The Hartford single shot came in two different serial number series and in two major variations. the first variation was made by Hartford and the second which had a slightly larger diameter barrel was made by High Standard with Hartford markings. The High Standard version began shipping at the same time as the High Standard Model B and ended in July 1933.
The Hartford semi-auto also appeared in two different serial number series. There were three different major variations of the semi-auto independent of the grips and finish variations. It is similar in appearance to the early Colt Woodsman family. However the Hartford guns were a pretty pedestrian gun that were a good deal cheaper than the Colt product. Examination of the bore with a bore scope will show that the rifling was not always well cut.
High Standard bought the remains of Hartford out of bankruptcy and began producing the single shot with little change except the barrel diameter and the semi-auto went into production with numerous changes including a completely new magazine but still utilizing some small Hartford parts like the trigger and front sight.
There is some collector interest in Hartford but mostly by High Standard collectors as there are few collectors interested in just Hartfords.
John Stimson
www.histandard.info