The Harrington & Richardson Sportsman

44MOshooter · Oct 10, 2023

I still have my H&R SPORTSMAN 999 that my parents gave me as a Christmas present in 74' or 75'?
I was 10 years old, shot a lot of rabbits and squirrels with the
H&R 999

http://smith-wessonforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=649646&stc=1&d=1696915638

brandon73 · Oct 15, 2023

I recently inherited my H&R 999 from my neighbor who was a WW2 Veteran. My neighbor had inherited this from his father in 1973 and it hadn't been fired since. It came with box, paperwork andthe original purchase permit dated from 1958, the gun is a July 1957 production. This gun was fired very little and I'll treasure it for many years to come.

Goony · Oct 15, 2023

[FONT=&quot]In the first post of this thread I mentioned that my 1981 vintage Sportsman had a fluted rather than a ventilated barrel rib. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Allow me to recap the progression in this regard. The prewar and early postwar Sportsman had a solid rib. This style persisted even through the move away from the birdshead grip frame to the modern square butt one in the early 1950's. Sometime in the mid to late 1960's, the ventilated rib was introduced (note that this remained integral to the barrel, unlike the screwed on one of the 939 shown above). Then around 1980, the vents became merely flutes.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]In the 29th Edition of Guns Illustrated (1997) there was published an article by Gary M. Brown discussing the history of the Sportsman in which he details the reason for the move away from a ventilated barrel rib to a fluted one. I'll quote him here:[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"A long-time H&R employee states that there was a very pragmatic reason for this subtle change, Due to the 1100-degree hot-bluing process used by the 'old' Harrington & Richardson, combined with a slight loss of structural integrity caused by the removal of metal necessary to create a true ventilated rib, considerable barrel warping had been experienced. Rather than simply returning to the unadorned plain rib, the current fluted effect was adopted."[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I'd not heard this before. It leaves open the question of, if such difficulties had been encountered with the production of the ventilated barrel (accompanied by the wastage this would've entailed), then why did H&R continue making the Sportsman in that configuration all the way through the 1970's?[/FONT]

erikpolcrack · Oct 15, 2023

I have a single action Sportsman I believe is one of those from the 30s. The SN is S12187. Is there any way to nail that down to a specific year?

Drm50 · Oct 15, 2023

I bought a bunch of H&Rs when they were circling the bowl back in 80s. Distributors close outs on some models were 2/$99 and 3/$99. I bought several 3” or4” .32mags, wish I had tucked them away- for later sale.
I never liked H&R or IJ revolvers since a wee kid. My old man had a Sealed 8 and Uncle a 999. The 1st handguns I ever shot. A lot of Boomers are jacking the market on H&Rs out of nostalgia. Gramps had one, type deal.
A friend of mine just bought a couple on line. Correction, he said he “Won” them at auction. They are bringing the money of a good shooter grade 34 or Ruger S-6. When you are talking $400 for a H&R, I fold.
I think the design of lockwork was joint effort between Rube Goldberg and the Count de’Sade.

Goony · Oct 15, 2023

erikpolcrack said:
I have a single action Sportsman I believe is one of those from the 30s. The SN is S12187. Is there any way to nail that down to a specific year?

H&R's records from this era haven't survived, so the best estimate for your single action Sportsman would be that it was made sometime after mid-1933 but prior to 1937.

erikpolcrack · Oct 15, 2023

Goony said:
H&R's records from this era haven't survived, so the best estimate for your single action Sportsman would be that it was made sometime after mid-1933 but prior to 1937.

Thanks for the info!

Mike SC Hunter · Oct 15, 2023

You could(will) develop some strong fingers from pulling the DA on H&R revolvers.

Goony · Oct 16, 2023

Drm50 said:
When you are talking $400 for a H&R, I fold.

That $400+ price point does seem to be where the Sportsman is currently coming in at. Some recent documented sales can be viewed here: 999 Sportsman

fiasconva · Oct 19, 2023

Goony, just thought I 'd let you know that I've already used your chart twice to give someone in other forums the manufactured date of their H&R's. Thanks again for posting it.

shovelmike · Oct 20, 2023

Thanks

Thanks for starting this thread, Goony, that is a great looking 999 revolver.
I inherited my father's 949, which he bought new. It is in nice shape, I doubt that my father fired any more than 100 rounds through it before he passed on.
It works well in single action, but gets out of time in double action. It probably left the factory that way, I am fairly sure my father only fired it single action.
My wife really likes it, and has pretty much taken it over!

Thanks for the chart, Goony, my father's revolver was made in 1966.

Goony · Oct 24, 2023

A 1967 advertisement.

Goony · Oct 30, 2023

In the company's waning years, as an alternative to the Sportsman H&R promoted their line of swing out cylinder models for competitive shooting. Pictured is a Model 904 from 1980, fitted with a bull barrel and chambered in .22 WMR (note the unfluted cylinder).

Goony · Nov 1, 2023

[FONT=&quot]Aside from the company's target and more utilitarian models, H&R also vied to capture a share of the market for western styled .22 revolvers (albeit in double rather than single action). Although not so highly regarded [/FONT][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot](either then or now)[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=&quot] as the Ruger and Colt "cowboy" .22's, H&R nevertheless sold plenty of theirs, with the lineup including[/FONT][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot] both 6 and 9 shot versions. Pictured below is a 1966 vintage "Forty-Niner" which falls into the latter category.
[/FONT][/FONT]

Model 15-4ever · Nov 1, 2023

murphydog said:
I had one a few years back but just couldn’t warm up to it. Not a bad gun in any way but just not up to S & W standards of finish and function.

These days, a mid-grade H&R of yore, exceeds the current S&W standards of fit and finish. Sad.

Model 15-4ever · Nov 1, 2023

Mike said:
You could(will) develop some strong fingers from pulling the DA on H&R revolvers.

Like Colt DA revolvers, they were intended to be fired SA, "with DA capability".

Goony · Nov 4, 2023

A 1948 advertisement.

Gamecock · Nov 5, 2023

Goony said:
both 6 and 9 shot versions. Pictured below is a 1966 vintage "Forty-Niner" which falls into the latter category

Argh! Loading a 9-shot through a loading gate !?!?

Goony · Nov 10, 2023

An auction listing from a few years back: Two H&R Sportsman Double Action Revolvers | Rock Island Auction

Both are interesting, one being an example of the engraved "1 of 999" version, while the other dating from 1953 would represent one of the earliest post Rice frame guns. On this latter one, note the relief cut at the top of the left grip panel. I'd be inclined to think this to be a modification made by a previous owner rather than it having left the factory that way, but if so it was beautifully done.

Onomea · Nov 10, 2023

Model 15-4ever said:
Like Colt DA revolvers, they were intended to be fired SA, "with DA capability".

That's an interesting statement. If you believe it to be true, may I ask why?

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