I seem to remember seeing those things in one gun magazine or the other back in the day.
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The Harrington & Richardson Sportsman
- Thread starter Goony
- Start date
A 1940 vintage Sportsman that sold at auction yesterday for a reasonable price: Harrington and Richardson Sportsman .22 LR cal. Double Action Revolver - Matthew Bullock Auctioneers
A nice early postwar Sportsman accompanied by a really lovely box: Harrington & Richardson Sportsman Double Action Revolver with Rare Hinged-Lid Box
BRING_GUNS
Member
That's a 1942 manufactured C prefixed frame too which are quite rare in my experience. A and B marked frames are common but Cs are rare and for whatever reason they seem to have stockpiled a bunch of frames in the late 1930s through 1942 and then assembled guns using the stockpiled frames until starting up frame production again in 1949.
J prefixed guns (1949) are fairly common but I have never seen a E, F, G, H, or I prefixed Sportsman, and the D prefixed guns are all from the mid-late 1930s.
The 11/11/1948 inspection tag included with the gun probably gives us a really good clue, if they stopped making Sportsman frames fairly early in 1942 (which resulted in the C prefix being rare) and they were completing guns using those 1942 frames in late 1948 then they probably restarted frame production once they started running low on stockpiled frames which fits perfectly in with the next extant prefix being 1949.
It's also possible they restarted frame production in 1948 but that probably means that there was only a couple months of production maximum since this gun was made with an earlier frame late in the year. If anyone ever sees an "I" prefixed Sportsman please chime in!
J prefixed guns (1949) are fairly common but I have never seen a E, F, G, H, or I prefixed Sportsman, and the D prefixed guns are all from the mid-late 1930s.
The 11/11/1948 inspection tag included with the gun probably gives us a really good clue, if they stopped making Sportsman frames fairly early in 1942 (which resulted in the C prefix being rare) and they were completing guns using those 1942 frames in late 1948 then they probably restarted frame production once they started running low on stockpiled frames which fits perfectly in with the next extant prefix being 1949.
It's also possible they restarted frame production in 1948 but that probably means that there was only a couple months of production maximum since this gun was made with an earlier frame late in the year. If anyone ever sees an "I" prefixed Sportsman please chime in!
I bought a Sportsman off the shelf at a gunshop I was working at in the 90's. It was a 'No Returns' special for $20. as it had a ring in the bore and didn't work DA.
Couldn't even use my Employee discount of 10%..
I relined the bbl and fixed the mechanism up. I gave the revolver to my Brother. What a Guy!
Now 30yrs later, the gun ends up back on my bench in pieces and a medicine bottle of parts.
Seems Bro was shooting at the range w/a good friend. The revolver had some FTFire issues. So the Friend armed with a Leatherman tool disassembled, or started to, the gun and parts started to drop.
So they gathered up what they think was all of them, and when I showed up...
There it sits on my bench now.
IIRC it's a post war gun,,late 40's, early 50's.
Added..I checked the ser#. It's 'C' prefix, 3 digit#..or a very poorly stamped 'G' prefix.
So either 1942 or 1946.
I'll get back with what went wrong and maybe what's missing.
Yes they are a bit frail inside especially after working on S&W's.
But they have a uniqueness to them that just seems to make you want to make them work,,,but we'll see how long that attitude sticks with me with this particular one..
$20,,not bad. But it was probably a bad deal back then. I can't remember
Couldn't even use my Employee discount of 10%..
I relined the bbl and fixed the mechanism up. I gave the revolver to my Brother. What a Guy!
Now 30yrs later, the gun ends up back on my bench in pieces and a medicine bottle of parts.
Seems Bro was shooting at the range w/a good friend. The revolver had some FTFire issues. So the Friend armed with a Leatherman tool disassembled, or started to, the gun and parts started to drop.
So they gathered up what they think was all of them, and when I showed up...
There it sits on my bench now.
IIRC it's a post war gun,,late 40's, early 50's.
Added..I checked the ser#. It's 'C' prefix, 3 digit#..or a very poorly stamped 'G' prefix.
So either 1942 or 1946.
I'll get back with what went wrong and maybe what's missing.
Yes they are a bit frail inside especially after working on S&W's.
But they have a uniqueness to them that just seems to make you want to make them work,,,but we'll see how long that attitude sticks with me with this particular one..
$20,,not bad. But it was probably a bad deal back then. I can't remember
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skwchock
US Veteran
This is a "fun" gun to shoot. Love it!!
Here's a very nice example dating to 1961, accompanied by its box: Harrington & Richardson Model 999 Sportsman Double Action Revolver with Rare Original Box
I bought a very high condition Sportsman recently on another forum. I can't get my photo app to work right now, but will post a picture or two when I can. It looks to be about 1934 production - has the firing pin in the hammer which i understand started in '34, but fairly low in the s.n. range of the pre-1940 guns (33xxx, has no letter suffix on the s.n.) so maybe 1934-35?
BRING_GUNS
Member
It’s somewhat difficult to explain why but the 30,000-90,000 SN frames seem to have been produced in the late 1930s and completed during WW2 so I’d put a 33xxx at 1940ish give or take a year or so.
I took my 1977 era M999 to the local indoor range. Wanted to use it in an CMP EIC match. With ammunition that shot great in my other pistols, the M999 would not hold the black, might not have held the target, at 25 yards.
Mine is not accurate. The action locks up tight, times correctly, barrel is excellent.
Before buying one, shoot it first, and see if it is "target grade". If it will shoot like this, then it is target grade
I have never asked, nor have I ever heard, anyone using the things in Bullseye Competition. About the only old 22lr's I see are High Standards. Anytime I see a High Standard on the line, I ask how many magazines the owner has. Then I make jokes about High Standard magazines being worth more than gold, by weight. Which is almost true.
Mine is not accurate. The action locks up tight, times correctly, barrel is excellent.
Before buying one, shoot it first, and see if it is "target grade". If it will shoot like this, then it is target grade
I have never asked, nor have I ever heard, anyone using the things in Bullseye Competition. About the only old 22lr's I see are High Standards. Anytime I see a High Standard on the line, I ask how many magazines the owner has. Then I make jokes about High Standard magazines being worth more than gold, by weight. Which is almost true.
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CMudrock
Member
So glad to see that I'm not the only one who likes H&R top breaks. Many years ago I owned an unsatisfactory Ruger MKI 22. I traded even for my H&R 999 sportsman, + period Holster. I was amazed at its accuracy - a real tack driver, with high lighted sights.. It was made in 1941, & loved. A few years later, I purchased another that appears to have been modified (cut down, with compact grips, & optic front sight) It too is surprisingly accurate, & probably had an interesting life. My last H&R purchase is the "defender" in .38 S&W. Even though these were never high-end revolvers,I bought them used, back when they were real bargains. I'm very attached to mine, & highly recommend them. All keepers.
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shil
Member
I certainly like mine. Those guns are so enjoyable to shoot!
To quote the late Bill Goforth: "H&R did not manufacture a true target revolver after 1953." That was the year that marked the major redesign of the Sportsman which entailed the abandonment of the birdshead "Rice" frame and its lockwork, and adopting the square butt version that persisted to the end of production. From that point forward, there was nothing special about the Sportsman's internals relative to other models in the H&R lineup.
This SA Sportsman sold at auction last month for a reasonable price: Harrington & Richardson Sportsman Single Action Revolver
Here's another SA Sportsman that obviously more than one person wanted very much to add to their collection: Very Rare Harrington & Richardson Sportsman Single Action Revolver with 3” Barrel
Here's another SA Sportsman that obviously more than one person wanted very much to add to their collection: Very Rare Harrington & Richardson Sportsman Single Action Revolver with 3” Barrel
BRING_GUNS
Member
I thought about bidding on that first one, that's one of the less common grip styles.
That second one is the only 3" 199 I've ever seen, I don't think they're even mentioned as existing in Bill Goforth's big H&R book. The 3" 999s are already super rare!
Bill Goforth does in fact refer to the 3" version in passing as having been made in the 1937 to 1939 time frame. The quantity produced is unknown, but I'd think it would've been very few.
An absolutely gorgeous (and very high dollar) Sportsman: Very Rare Factory Engraved Harrington & Richardson Model 999 Sportsman Double Action Revolver
Above quote is from post #144 that was commenting on an example I'd put up a link to in post #143. Well here's another "C" prefixed gun for which the auction company got the serial number wrong: H&R HARRINGTON & RICHARDSON SPORTSMAN .22 LR REVOLVER S/N 0451 - Bentley & Associates, LLC
BRING_GUNS
Member
Dang I'm jealous of whoever got that for $225. Granted it's nothing special aside from the date code but I don't think I've seen more than five Cs including that one.
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