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Old 07-11-2017, 10:46 AM
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Default Roper / H&R USRA .22 LR single shot

Few collectors realize that Walter Roper, having had a fall out with S&W, went to work for Harrington and Richardson.

His work on the single shot USRA was one of his achievements at H&R.

Here is a H&R USRA heavily influenced by Walter Roper during his tenure at H&R. This was Walter Ropers answer to the S&W single shot for H&R.

Extremely accurate and shooter friendly.

This is one I had purchased over 20 years ago for the stunning and unique Roper Grips.

While this USRA shows some white spot from improper storage, the Roper Grips are stunning and in excellent condition and it has the original box.

Photos by Mark Calzaretta.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg H-R bs.jpg (105.0 KB, 169 views)
File Type: jpg H-R bs GRIP.jpg (37.6 KB, 137 views)
File Type: jpg H-R as GRIP.jpg (49.4 KB, 128 views)
File Type: jpg H-R es.jpg (55.8 KB, 132 views)
File Type: jpg H-R as.jpg (117.3 KB, 130 views)
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Last edited by model3sw; 07-11-2017 at 11:11 AM. Reason: Revise pictures
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Old 07-11-2017, 11:15 AM
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Very nice.

I've been around the block a time or two and that's the first one of those I've seen.

Those were the days.

GF
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Old 07-11-2017, 11:30 AM
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Originally Posted by GF View Post
Very nice.

I've been around the block a time or two and that's the first one of those I've seen.

Those were the days.

GF

I have had offers to sell just the Roper stocks but refused. I feel the Ropers should stay with the gun it was installed on, especially that this was during Walter Roper's tenure at H&R.

Walter Roper references the USRA in this "Experiments of a Handgunner" book, pages 3 to 8 and in Walter Roper's "Pistol and Revolver Shooting" in Chapter 4 from about page 98 to 112.
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Old 07-11-2017, 01:28 PM
ImprovedModel56Fan ImprovedModel56Fan is offline
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Fairly similar set here.
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File Type: jpg USRA Cd1 4S&W.JPG (231.0 KB, 119 views)
File Type: jpg USRA Cd2 4S&W.jpg (121.2 KB, 106 views)
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Old 07-11-2017, 03:12 PM
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Very nice little boy's pistol or small game gun!
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Old 07-12-2017, 08:57 AM
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My first though looking at 520Fan's pictures is that the holes along the top of the barrel rib were for the attachment of a weight. After more study, they appear to allow moving the front sight to change sight radius. Neat!

I posted this once before; this is my H&R/Roper. On page 213 of Pistol and Revolver Shooting, Roper shows one identical except for barrel length. He attributes the European-style modification to George Hyde of New York. George Hyde is better known as the designer of the M3 "grease gun" submachine gun.

Bob
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Old 07-12-2017, 09:06 AM
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Very nice little boy's pistol or small game gun!
that too, but, it was designed and made for competition shooting. Notes in Roper's books mention Camp Perry and other competition matches.
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Old 07-13-2017, 07:27 AM
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One of these is high on my list, thanks for sharing! I have a S&W Perfected and a Colt Camp Perry already, so I clearly have a weakness for single shot .22 target pistols.
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Old 07-13-2017, 08:29 AM
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Years ago there was a person in the Ohio Gun Collectors Assn that had a great collection of these on display. He may still belong to the OGCA. Nice gun, looks great with the Roper grips. I also like the .22 single shot pistols. Shooting a Hammerli 100 free pistol regularly and having fun. Larry

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Old 07-13-2017, 08:49 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jebus35745 View Post
Years ago there was a person in the Ohio Gun Collectors Assn that had a great collection of these on display. He may still belong to the OGCA. Nice gun, looks great with the Roper grips. I also like the .22 single shot pistols. Shooting a Hammerli 100 free pistol regularly and having fun. Larry
That was likely Bill McCarter. I once wrote to the Ohio Gun Collectors back in 2010 which Bill responded.

His father started the collection and Bill kept right on going. Through S&WCA club friend, Joe Cebull, he put me in touch with Bill, again, just recently.

Bill likely has the finest USRA collection. Either he and / or his father authored articles on the USRA and on Walter Roper.

Bill made me an offer just the Ropers from this one. While his offer for the Roper stocks was very generous, I cannot reason with removing them from the USRA they were likely supplied with when purchased.

All my collector friends tell me that I had not been to a "show" unless I have attended a Ohio Gun Collector show. I hope to get to one of their shows in the near future.
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Old 07-13-2017, 09:42 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by model3sw View Post
That was likely Bill McCarter. I once wrote to the Ohio Gun Collectors back in 2010 which Bill responded.

His father started the collection and Bill kept right on going. Through S&WCA club friend, Joe Cebull, he put me in touch with Bill, again, just recently.

Bill likely has the finest USRA collection. Either he and / or his father authored articles on the USRA and on Walter Roper.

Bill made me an offer just the Ropers from this one. While his offer for the Roper stocks was very generous, I cannot reason with removing them from the USRA they were likely supplied with when purchased.

All my collector friends tell me that I had not been to a "show" unless I have attended a Ohio Gun Collector show. I hope to get to one of their shows in the near future.
His father wrote the following: USRA Single Shot Pistols - Guns of Constant Evolution - by William K. McCarter, Past President . Actually, Sean McCarter told me that he was the one that got his father interested in Model 195 pistols.

The friend who gave me the 195 pictured in my post above found it at OGCA. This was a few years before the McCarters got interested. My friend also had four or five other 195s which were passed to his sons or sold when he moved to a less gun-friendly state than Massachusetts.

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Old 07-13-2017, 11:49 AM
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I'd love to try mine with a set of Ropers.
The trigger pull and short hammer throw is fantastic on these.
Mine is an early one without the USRA and this particular one fits the bill as a gun of constant evolution.
Maybe mines the one Hatcher shot the perfect score with...... : )

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Old 07-13-2017, 04:18 PM
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Maybe mines the one Hatcher shot the perfect score with...... : )
Nice try, but I recall Hatcher's mentioning his preference for the curved trigger and small hammer, probably in his Textbook of Pistols and Revovers.
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Old 07-14-2017, 09:23 AM
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Model520Fan,

Roper, in Experiments of a Handgunner, discusses sight radius. He says he conducted a test using two shooters "...I supplied two U.S.R.A. model pistols on which the front sight could be set at varying distances from the rear sight." Is yours one of those two?

Bob
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Old 07-14-2017, 12:01 PM
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Default USRA H&R

There were six or seven different grips available, all are fancier than standard grips on other models, influenced by Walter Roper for better handgrip than smaller types. Also the USRA pistols done while he was there a an "R" stamped on them on the flat bottom of the chamber, opposite the serial number. It was estimated to cost 4-5 times as much to produce each one than they were sold for.
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Old 07-14-2017, 12:24 PM
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Model520Fan,

Roper, in Experiments of a Handgunner, discusses sight radius. He says he conducted a test using two shooters "...I supplied two U.S.R.A. model pistols on which the front sight could be set at varying distances from the rear sight." Is yours one of those two?

Bob
I doubt it. First off, my serial number (in the 2900s), is far too late, if I understand correctly, to have been involved in these tests.

There may easily be a dozen of these pistols. IIRC, which I may well not, L. Richard Littlefield has three of these, Sean McCarter has three, another unnamed collector has one, I have one, and there are several mentioned in various writings or on the internet. Whether there is overlap here is, AFAIK, undetermined.

BTW, Mr. Littlefield is collecting info on all H&R USRA pistols, since H&R does not have records of that period (a fire, I believe). He has a two-page questionnaire on the characteristics of each pistol. I do not know how many pistols he has in his database so far, nor any conclusions he has yet reached. With luck, I will live long enough to see a book published by him, and I will buy a copy as soon as I know about it.

Edit: In reviewing some old posts, it becomes clear to me that I was told that L. Richard and Sean each had TWO such pistols, not three. Of course, that may have changed since then.

Last edited by ImprovedModel56Fan; 11-25-2018 at 12:30 PM. Reason: IIRC vs. CRS
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Old 09-01-2021, 12:41 PM
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Mine was an early one serial #300 without the USRA stamping.for anyone keeping track.
It does have later features so one of the constant evolution ones.
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