Actually the proper model name is "Triple Action Safety Police".
They were made in .22. .32 S&W and .38 S&W in two frame sizes with 2, 3, 3 1/4, 4, 5 or 6 inch barrels. The .32 was made in 5 shot on the small frame and 6 shot on the large frame. (The .22 was a 7 shot and the .38 a 5 shot.) Manufactured from 1908 to 1915 in a serial range of 1 to 8,000.
These were the last of the H&A firearms as the company suffered a financial disaster in 1916 and failed in 1917.
The H&A factory burned in 1900 and they lost all of their heavy forging and casting equipment. They did not replace outdated equipment (Civil War era) and, instead, purchased the Forehand Arms Co. in 1902. The newer equipment plus they started buying the rough parts from outside vendors and finished and assembled them at their new factory in Norwich.
The Safety Police was considered the best of the H&A's ever made and had the company not failed they would have been a serious contender in the mid-priced revolver market.
The Safety Police was also made in a hammerless version, but I have never seen one. (Besides, you can't see the neat "bobbing" hammer action as mentioned by k22fan.)
I have a .38 and wouldn't mind some examples of the other sizes, so if any of you guys have one of these "junkers" I will be happy to take them off your hands for the $25 to $75 you paid for them...
