Saw a H&R Sportsman Revolver at a gun store. Top break, simultaneous ejection, .22. Adjustable sights, wood grips. Many years ago, while they were still being made, a friend of mine had one and loved it. I have long since lost track of him. I was not interested then because I had a K.22. I still have it, love it, one of the smartest purchases I ever made. But I an interested in this H&R. Does any one here have any experience with them or an opinion on them? I have done some research and am finding mixed reviews. I have no need for one, and I doubt I would use it as much as my K.22. But that as never stopped me from buying a gun before. Thanks, Waldo.

I've never owned one, but I've always wanted one. I know that's not much help. They've always seemed to be handsome and well made guns.

If you don't mind me asking, what is the going rate for one?

__________________
“What you got, ain’t new.”

Back in 2009 I paid $325 delivered for a lnib 4" 999 that I have yet to fire as 4" are kinda unusual. I see 6" guns occasionally priced at 250-350 at gun shows but a quick search of GB completed listings show good ones bringing north of $400. Sidekicks and the 949 cowboy models are a little cheaper but seems like all .22s are in demand.

__________________
God spelled backwards is dog.

I had a 6" version as a teenager back in the mid seventies. I really don't really remember too much about it other than it was a fun gun, a decent shooter, and I never had any problems with it.

Hi:
Over the years I have owned several. Great shooters and well made.
Jimmy

A old version probley was the first handgun I ever shot in the 40s. My dad had a couple. I remember him tradeing one for a 1936 chev!

I bought one new about 15 years ago. It had one chamber that spit lead very bad. I didn't keep the gun long.

__________________
Regards,
Windjammer

My H&R is a 4" barrel 926. I do like mine. Shoots fine - about 1.3" @ 25 yards for 5 shots with CCI MiniMags, as I recall. Thus, accuracy similar to two of my Model 17s.

The design is less sophisticated than the S&W K frame and the price less.
Purchased around 2000 for $125, a good price.

Look it over for usual mechanical issues and Good Luck to you!

Regards,

Dyson

I have two a4" and a 6".Both are pretty good guns and I enjoy shooting them. I have never had any problems with them other than that caused by dirty wax coated ammo. Both are accurate as my Smith revolvers though the triggers certainly don't compare. I like the 9 round capacity and actually have speed loaders for them. I have taken some small game with them.
Bob Ray 1915

I've got the single action version (Model 199). It's the first handgun I ever shot. Very accurate pistol.

I paid $138.00, OTD for this one, from 1955, a few months ago. It's tight as a tick with a little normal wear and tear. The rear sight was missing, and I've been meaning to order a new one, but never have gotten around to it. I "made one" that works well enough for shooting cans and such.



Like a lot of people I wanted one for years before I saw this one in my LGS.

__________________
John 3:16 .

Like this one? I've had it since it was new in 1973. Wouldn't trade it for anything.

Very well made and a decent shooter.

They bring big bucks compared to what they were back in the seventies ($69.99 brand new)!

A high school friend of mine had one that all of us shot quite a bit. I bought one new in the eighties for $99, and another last year for $150 at a gun show that was in excellent shape, but an older model. Both are excellent shooters, the best quality of all the H&R pistols, and pistols I would never dream of selling.

__________________
Kevin in Oregon

They are a lot of gun for the money.

I had a "Sportsman", 1951 vintage. Used it a lot for a trail gun. Never had any problems except greasy ammo ejecting.

My father came to the conclusion that we needed a handgun in the house for "protection" when I was a kid back in the 60's. After looking over a few pistols and revolvers at a local shop, he chose a H&R 999 6". Back then, one had to get a permit to just purchase a handgun in the city we lived in...A medium sized city in Virginia. It took several weeks to get the permit and pick up the revolver. I thought the time would never come. I had never fired a handgun before but got fairly good with it when shooting it single action. The double action trigger was pretty heavy and rough.

I still have the revolver and its been fired a lot over the last forty five or so years. It is slightly out of time and the plastic collet that keeps the mainspring in place broke making the hammer strike too light to reliably fire all cartridges. It needs some TLC but it has been a pretty decent gun and I don't plan to ever get rid of it. It is somewhat less refined than the S&W and Colt .22 revolvers but it was a much cheaper handgun. If I came across a nice 4" at a decent price, I would consider buying it.

I still have the one my grandfather purchased new in 1931. Too bad, the box is now long gone, but I carried it on the ranch in Southern Cal. in the 1970's as a rattle snake dispatcher. The oversize grip is great for my large hands, but I've got to admit it looks somewhat odd with the thin barrel cross section. the only weakness I know of is the ejector star mechanism housed in the pivot area of the frame. Very smooth action on mine - comparable to a S&W of the day. 9 hole wheel is nice too! Overall, I'd consider the 999 Sportsman to be a great little revolver.

edit: Well, we just finished moving to a new home after living in the same place for almost 32 years. Low & behold, I found the original box stashed out in the old garage along with the box for my Ruger Redhawk which my wife purchased for me in 1981.

I found one today. Looks like new. Paid $300.00 for it. Found it in a local gun shop. S# is AS58###. Does anyone have an idea when it was made? I am thinking mid 1980s but don't know for sure. Thanks, Waldo.

"AS" prefix is 1978 I think. IIRC it's the same year they added a transfer bar to the mechanism.

It's the only ser# code I recall because of the change over. But H&R ser# codes are a little scrambled depending on what list you read them off of.
You can probably find more info on ser#'s on AlGore's Internet.

I have one that I purchased new in 1970. It's a great gun for the $ shoots great. Still have the box and all the original paperwork too. I'll never part with it.

Attached Images

DSCN5367.jpg (106.1 KB, 160 views)

I remember my dad had several in the 1940s. He must have liked them. I belive I shot one the first time I ever shot a handgun when I was a twrip.

I bought a very nice one a few months ago on this site but had to return it. When firing Remington target rounds, the barrel latch would disengage and tip up the barrel. It appeared that the frame lugs were worn and the latch couldn't fully lock. No problem with the latch when using Shorts but I didn't want my shooting limited to Shorts.

Before buying one on line, have the seller verify that the barrel stays locked. In fact, the best test would be to test fire a few High Velocity rounds.

I bought a H&R Model 905 years ago and it has been an excellent shooter. I bought it because it was nickle. I have killed several snakes with it on fishing trips. I do not have a good photo but here is one for sale that has a good photo with the ad.

H&R Model 905 4 Heavy Ribbed Barrel .22 LR Electro-less Nickel 9- Shot for sale (958451123)

__________________
Corripe Cervisiam

When I was 10 years old, the laws here in New York State stipulated that bars could not serve alcohol on Sundays before a certain hour, which, as I recall, was noon. An exception was made for "private clubs" and so my father and his buddy, no strangers to a scotch bottle, joined the local rod & gun club (I still belong to it today!).

So when on Sunday mornings he went there to drink, I sometimes tagged along. His buddy had a son my age, and the two of us would occupy ourselves in the parking lot , no kidding, drag racing my dad's new Buick Century Convertible against his father's Chrysler Imperial, both 1956 models. The old guys were too soused to care.

When we tired of that activity, we'd go upstairs to the bar, where the bartender would hand us an H&R Sportsman, some boxes of shells, and send us to the basement range to get us out of the way.

We were 10 years old!

I still have a piece of a bullet in the corner of my eye from a riccochet!

I think the break action H&Rs are fun. The 999 is a great $200 pistol... unfortunately sellers want $450+ for them and that strikes me as lunacy.

I got this 1941 Sportsman for $150 two years ago. Functions fine but finish issues abound.





Shoots OK, too.

__________________
No life story has happy end.

My dad won a Sportsman in some sort of program at work, it was back in the 50's. I remember it being a beautiful deep luster blue, wrapped in oil paper and a nice brown and gold box. He gave it to my mother for home defense, she believed in that sort of thing being raised in the hills of Idaho.
I was packing a .22 rifle for years and always wanted to mess around with the pistol. Mom didn't want me to fool around with the pistol explaining that I had a nice .22 rifle, be happy.
I started "borrowing" it from mom and taking it afield to shoot, it was a real good pistol and capable of shooting as well as anybody I knew could. I shot sparrows, pigeons, rock chucks, and the occaisonal chukar. Mom never caught on until one day I was trying out my hand at fanning the hammer and something broke internally, probably the single action sear of something because it would only fire double action, it still functioned fine but was nevertheless broken. I fessed up to mom, who said she knew all along I was messing around with it because the box was getting worn from me taking it out of the closet, etc. I paid the local gunsmith to fix it and that was about the time I graduated to larger caliber pistols of my own.

Not to got OT too much, but several years ago I inherited a revolver reminiscent of the H&R.
It's an Iver Johnson 'Sealed Eight', top break, 6", 8 shot , large walnut gripped target pistol. Probably from the '40's. I think the model name referenced the fact that they had both recessed chambers as well as a recessed cylinder breech face. Extremely accurate, but has a set of the absolute SMALLEST sights I think I've ever seen on anything.

__________________
Ret'd LEO
SWCA #2275

this gun came up for comment a while back , didnt see my post on this new thread so i will jump in again . if it IS on here i apolagize

had one years ago after a lot of folks saying how good of a lower priced gun they were .
mine had a bear hard trigger and i never really liked it much.

caught on to smith & wesson arms and ruger , & throw in a colt or two . more $ for sure but you get what you pay for !

never had a desire to own an other one . but good luck & happy shooting with yours

Are we talking about that sweet shooting, 9 shot, top break 22lr handgun. Dang thing shoots as well as my 17-4 or Hammerli.

Bringing this back yet again...Just saw a Sportsman at my LGS this afternoon as I was picking up an old Smith I bought online...It was selling for $199, and the clerk had just brought it out from the back room to put the price tag on it.

I'm picking it up Saturday.

mark

__________________
Liberals made the USA

I had a 6.0 inch barreled Model 999 many years ago. It was my first handgun, and first revolver. It was good for plinking and such, but while using it for a target gun (bullseye and silhouette) I learned what a good revolver it wasn't: heavy trigger pull, poor adjustable sights that didn't take or hold adjustments, poor sights, poor grips with an odd grip angle, etc. It did get points for its 9-shot capacity, and "cool factor" for the simultaneous top-break opening and ejection.

Personally, I'd save my money and get something better.

Best of luck,

Dave

Got a 1952 6" and love it. Really neat gun, accurate and has a little different feel that other 22's out there. Still love my K-22 Masterpieces through.

Back to this again over 1 year later...I found a serial number/date list for the H&R 999 Sportsman...link here...

Harrington & Richardson Serialization

Mine is a 6", with the vent rib barrel flat nose hammer, made in 1970.
VERY light SA and actually pretty good DA, and a good shooter. I have several 9 shot .22 revolvers - one of them a High Standard Sentinel steel frame .22 magnum snub - because I think they were a really good little gun to have around...and there are speedloaders for 9 shot .22's that seem to fit most of them...made by HKS. Got a few of those, too.

__________________
Liberals made the USA

In the meantime I picked up another one. Paid $325 at a local show. Still high to me but the 4" isn't as common and I wanted it.

__________________
No life story has happy end.

............pre 68 a Buddy of mine and I were in Corpus Christi visiting my Sister and her family. We slipped off and hit the pawn shops downtown.

He bought one of the long barrel Sportsman models and when we went to the airport. The clerk checked it and said give it to the pilot when you board, think the flight crew played with it all the way to LR and seemed reluctant to give it back.

Wonder if he still has it?

__________________
LEX ET ORDO

I have a later model 999, it was nearly mint cond when I bought it, but it had some buildup in the forcing cone, which affected accuracy. It took some effort getting it out, until I did, I had some erratic accuracy and key holing. One day I was able to literally pick this chunk of coagulated lead/copper out using bore brushes, toothpicks wrapped with screen, etc.
Now it really shoots. The DA is typical heavy and stiff like most H&R guns, but a nice clean SA break. I treat it like a SA revolver, never use DA at all (... And I'm really a DA shooter).
Shown with my Taurus 94, my other 9 shooter.

Just picked up another one this summer to fill the hole that I made when foolishly sold the last one I had ...



... but I kept the holster for it.

GF

I have also thought seriously about getting one. In the early '80s I took some buddies out after jackrabbits and other field varmints, and my oldest pal at the time brought a 6" DA version. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed that weapon! A jack would streak by at full speed and a guy could crank out the bullets till he put it down. And it seemed pretty accurate to me on the longer, single action shots. Maybe some day I'll notice one at a good price and grab it up...

I still regret selling my H&R 999. I sold mine in the early '80s. I needed the money to buy a custom model 10 for PPC.

My Dad taught us to shoot on an H&R Sportsman, the newer model I believe it's a 929? But it's a great gun! He still has it, still fun to shoot. It has the side cylinder release and a push-rod ejection system.

__________________
Still just a kid at heart

Here's my H&R 999 safe queen.

__________________
God spelled backwards is dog.

I own 3 H&Rs. A 922, called a push pin model, a 932, 6 shot 32 long swing out, and a 929 swing out cylinder. 922 & 929 are 9 shot 22s. Two I inherited and one I bought in 2003. They are sturdy, accurate, ugly fun guns. HKS makes a 9 shot speed loader that works well. H&Rs are probably really expensive now.
_______________________
I don't have Alzheimer's- My wife had me tested.

Father gave me a 999 in 1957. Fantastic gun. Friend and I probably ran about 50,000 rounds through it (ammo was probably $2.00 a brick). Never misfired, excellent trigger, accurate. Was getting a little "loose" and should have sent it in for refurbishing instead of selling. Picked up another one in mid 70's. Still pretty nice but not the accuracy of earlier one, don't think the timing was quite right. Wish I had that first one. H&R made good guns. Wish they were still in business.

I had one of those. It was a later produced model, and I learned that if I were going to shoot it, that I'd better eat my Wheaties before I did. That thing had the absolutely worst and heavy trigger pull of any gun I've ever fired (can you believe a blister on you trigger finger). I also learned to make sure the two opposing screws in the rear sight were tight, as they had a tendency to shoot loose after 30 or 40 rounds of LR. I also wasn't real crazy about the front sight elevation adjustment. I traded it a few years ago, and haven't missed it. A K-22 is head and shoulders above them in quality.

I want one.

The prices are pretty high but as a percentage to a Smith----the ratio is still about the same as many years ago.

---I have observed that they sell at 400 plus. The last three in very good condition I observed was $435, $484, and 605! Yes, SIX-Oh-Five.

How come everything I really want costs money.

I've never either owned or shot one. But a friend held up his end on an indoor (50 foot) pistol team with one. Once the rear sight fell off, but that's the only trouble he had with it. It was very accurate.

What's not to like about a 9 shot top break revolver.

I've wanted one since I first handled one over fifty years ago. It just looked and felt so right...

__________________
Oh well, what the hell.

I'ts nearly 2 AM and I'm bored. I have a H&R 949 9 shot, .22 double action with 5.5 inch barrel and a H&R 925 breaktop in .38 S&W. with 2.5 inch barrel. I've had them since the late 70's. Both are clean, tight, good shooters. Have killed a lot of all size cans with them. I wish I could run across a good 999. I have several .38 special M&P's from 1919 to about 1940. I can't afford to be a collector, but I love shootin' American Made steel. I just turned 64 today and always believed in the KISS principal. (keep it simple stupid) Guns are meant to be used.

ZOMBIE Thread

__________________
SWCA #2306
DAV in honor of POP