An H&R Resurrected

[Goony]

This is an earliest type Sportsman.

First, the story behind the gun. I bought it from an acquaintance, and at the time I purchased it, it was in pieces. The trigger guard was totally incorrect, and the lockwork incomplete. However, I recognized that it was something quite special, and wanted to see it brought back to life. For some time after I got it I concentrated on picking up parts with which that might be done.

It turned out that a friend of a friend was an H&R guy who was more or less a savant at getting nonfunctioning ones going again. So it was turned over to him, and it took even him over a year to get it right. He remarked that the geometry of the internal workings was slightly off, and that an inordinate amount of hand fitting proved necessary. He opined that it was a prototype. Sadly, not too long after finishing this job, he passed.

Two things about this revolver absolutely peg the coolness factor needle. First, it's chambered in .22 W.R.F. Second, the serial number is 22!

I'm not entirely certain that the original trigger guard might not have been one with the finger groove extension (there are illustrations of this initial version that show them as having such), but I doubt there'd ever be any way to know for sure.

Note that the cylinder and extractor are both marked "22" and that the rear of the cylinder is stamped "W.R.F." as well. The number 493 has also been applied, for which I have no explanation.

In any case, it's a highly unusual (and maybe even historic) piece that has now been preserved.

 

[2152hq]

They were made from the start in either .22LR or .22WRF
9 shot in .22LR
7 shot in 22WRF

The .22lr was given the Model 999 designation
The .22WRF was given Model 998 designation
but I don't know if either of these were immediate when the gun was introduced in 1932. I think they were.

.22WRF was dropped as a caliber choice just before WW2.

Maybe (?) the trigger guard is from another model like a Sealed 8. I think those were w/o the finger rest.

Any ser# stamped on the grip frame flat under the wood?

The # on the back face of the cylinder would usually be the guns ser# or the last 3 of the #.
But perhaps an assembly # on such an early production gun?

Ser#22 had to be in the first batch making it's way through the line at the factory on day 1.

Nice revolver and under appreciated IMO.

I think Roper's grip design from the H&R Single Shot pistol (USRA Target Pistol) was used on these First Style (Rice frame) revolvers.

 

[mk70ss]

Very cool. I am a big fan of the H&R revolvers. Workingman's guns from a simpler time.

 

[Goony]

The .22lr was given the Model 999 designation The .22WRF was given Model 998 designation but I don't know if either of these were immediate when the gun was introduced in 1932. I think they were.

Maybe (?) the trigger guard is from another model like a Sealed 8. I think those were w/o the finger rest.

An October, 1932 print advertisement identifies that the Double Action Model of the Sportsman as the "No. 999" and clearly states that it's also available in .22 W.R.F., but doesn't give a alternate model number based upon that chambering.

The Sealed 8 was of course an Iver Johnson revolver, but your point is taken. H&R target models immediately preceding the Sportsman had trigger guards sans the finger groove extension. It may be that at some point I'll replace the trigger guard on this one with one of the Sportsman configuration, but I've noted that for this extremely early gun there's an additional pin retaining the trigger guard that's absent on the next variation, so a simple switch will require being certain about the vintage of the donor gun.

Any ser# stamped on the grip frame flat under the wood?

Yes, see the attached photo. I'd remark that Bill Goforth thought Sportsman serial numbers began at either 101 or D01.

 

[2152hq]

I've seen the 998 Model designation for 22WRF edition in late 1930 catalog prints. That's why I noted I was not sure H&R started out using that early on when mfgr'g was started up.

Wasn't the very early production (1932/33) use of the Letter prefix 'D' ment to designate Double Action?
Seems like some have said that a few of the early ones were marked prefix 'S' meaning Single Action (only).
That is going way further than I know much about the history of these.
I'll leave that to the collectors and researchers.

I had a nice one from 1948/9 IIRC. Someone ringed the bbl so I bought it for $20 at the time 'As-Is'.
'As-Is' shot pretty well just like that. I relined it anyway after a while.
But it still shot about the same.

 

[Goony]

Wasn't the very early production (1932/33) use of the Letter prefix 'D' ment to designate Double Action? Seems like some have said that a few of the early ones were marked prefix 'S' meaning Single Action (only).

This is correct. The "D" and "S" serial number prefixes were dropped after 1936. In 1940, an "A" prefix was adopted, and each year after that the prefix advanced alphabetically. This has caused some confusion over the years, with some erroneously taking the 1930's "D" prefixed guns to have been manufactured in 1943. Even an American Rifleman article mistakenly stated this.

Below I've attached an image of an early Sportsman that was sold by Rock Island Auctions several years back. It is serial number 1607. I've also seen serial number 553, so I think we can dispense with the notion that Sportsman serial numbers began at D01. Note that this early Sportsman has the extended trigger guard (as does number 553), which I do think would be a drop in fit for mine. However, as early as mine is, and if in fact it represents a pre-production example, it still might not have been necessarily fitted with that style of trigger guard.

 

[nutsforsmiths]

That trigger guard on you early Sportsman looks a lot like the style on the H&R 22 Special model. I have an early 7 shot 22 Special and a later 9 shot version. The trigger guard on yours looks a lot like the one on my late model 22 Special. Only difference is the late model only has a rear pin for the trigger guard. The early 22 Special I have has a front and rear pins for the trigger guard, but since it's made around 1926, the guard is smaller and a bit more rounded than yours.

Since the 22 Special was the top of the line 22 pistol before the Sportsman came out, and was the same large frame size, it wouldn't surprise me if H&R used some 22 Special parts on early Sportsman models. In fact, in Bill Goforth's H&R book, he states that early Sportsman models used 22 Special barrels.

 

[BrovoEchoSierra]

I had a 999 and really liked it, until it broke.
It was a good shooter, and I used it for Hunter Education at our live fire field day, for several years.
After it broke, I took it apart there was a part in the hammer spring pieces that is made out of some kind of plastic.
After I got parts ordered and installed, it seemed fine, and I shot a couple boxes of ammo through it to be sure.
I was afraid of it breaking again, so I swapped it off.
There is a guy at the show where I frequently go, who has a whole table of H & R's and I swapped him, and paid a hundred bucks, and got a Model 15-3.
One of the best trades I ever made, and I picked up a Ruger single six for the kids to shoot.

 

[2152hq]

Here's a 1938 Catalog page showing the Model 999 cal .22lr
and the Model 998 cal .22WRF




But as I said, I have no idea when the 'Model 998' name was first attached to the .22WRF version

 

[swsig]

Good show, OP! Save the H&Rs!

Here's my "Expert" .22lr target revolver with a 9" barrel from 1938, inherited from Dad. Looks great, works great. Long live the H&Rs!

 

[BRING_GUNS]

Whoa, that is both the earliest Sportsman I have ever seen and an exceptionally rare one just for being chambered in 22 WRF. I'm very jealous!


By all accounts the 22 WRF models were always 7 shot instead of 9 which I'd guess is what caused your friend's issues with the internal geometry. If your replacement spare parts were intended to advance a 9 shot cylinder then it seems likely they'd be just a bit off when trying to work with a 7 shot.


I've never been able to get my hands on a Sportsman in 22 WRF although I do have a 22 Special in 22 WRF and the cartridge markings and design of the cylinder and ejector face are consistent with those of your Sportsman. My 22 Special is a bit older so it does not have the "safety rim" on the cylinder and the cylinder stop notches are half ovals instead of the long rectangles seen on the Sportsman. However I know that later production 22 Specials were changed to have the rectangular cylinder stop notches and I believe they also had the safety rim as well.


So my guess would be that your cylinder was taken from the 22 Special production line after it was already numbered for a gun with a serial ending in "493" and renumbered with the new number 22. If you remove the cylinder and look at the bottom of the barrel latch and the part of the rib that it attaches to above the cylinder both are typically numbered with the full serial number. If they both say 22 then I think it's safe to say it's Sportsman #22.


It is kind of funny/unfortunate that you got the one number where it's possible they could have meant it as either #22 - WRF or ".22 WRF".


As far as the finger rest behind the trigger guard it's hard to say. I have never seen a Sportsman without the finger rest and would probably guess that it's not the original trigger guard. But if it was the first day of production and they were using 22 Special parts anyway then it's certainly possible they decided to use a 22 Special trigger guard for whatever reason. Could have been an accident or might have something to do with it being .22 WRF.

 

[Goony]

As far as the finger rest behind the trigger guard it's hard to say. I have never seen a Sportsman without the finger rest and would probably guess that it's not the original trigger guard. But if it was the first day of production and they were using 22 Special parts anyway then it's certainly possible they decided to use a 22 Special trigger guard for whatever reason. Could have been an accident or might have something to do with it being .22 WRF.

I may not have been completely clear in my initial post, but I know for a fact that the trigger guard isn't original, as I had to procure it to substitute for the one that came to me with the gun, it being obviously for some other model/variant and which couldn't have been fitted.

 

[BRING_GUNS]

Ah I see. If I ever see a pin trigger guard for sale I'll send it your way. I have a spare 1 pin but that's not what you need. All the ones on ebay right now look like either 1 pin or 2nd/3rd model trigger guards.


Parts can be pretty hard to find for the really early Sportsmans. I've never seen a frame mounted firing pin for a pre-1937 Sportsman for instance which sucks since I have 2-3 of them with broken firing pins! I asked a machinist friend to make a few for me and he started and got side tracked.