H&R .32 Self-Loading Pistol

[LaVistaBill]

I have some rudimentary information on this pistol that was made in .32 ACP from about 1914-1924. The one I just bought, serial #28034 is pretty good shape, so if anyone has any idea the year it was made, let me know. I'm also looking for a spare magazine.

 

[Texas Star]

Those closely resemble the Webley .32 auto. But I don't know if magazines interchange, and Webley mags are also rare.

 

[Bruce51]

Type 1

Triple K list magazines and grips for the H&R.

An interesting pistol that I would like to see.

Since these were serialized from 3,026-34,500 i would guess your pistol was late production 1920's.

BLM

Gun Holsters and Gun Magazines by Triple K :: HARRINGTON & RICHARDSON, .32ACP, 7 RD MAGAZINE OR GRIPS

 

[forindooruseonly]

Nifty little guns. This one is in the 29,9xx range and dated to 1923, as best as I could figure. I don't recall where I came up with that date though.

 

[shouldazagged]

Yet another golden oldie I'd love to own.

 

[Bruce51]

Thank you for the pictures. That is one nice looking pistol.

It would be hard to leave one sitting in the case at the LGS.

It would be good company for the 1903.

BLM

 

[les.b]

Hey, guys, I want to join the club! Hope no one minds me trying to resurrect a 14 month old thread. I picked one of these up today at a LGS that I stop by on occasion, a combination Feed Store and Sport Store. Here it is. The light freckles look worse in the photo than in real life. Had it apart, and the quality of workmanship is impressive. Serial No. 17,486. Bore is mirror bright:



The light rust is only on the slide. The front and rear look mint with very little bluing wear and no signs of rust:



I have had it apart, and cleaned some very old lubricant out, it had turned to a glue like consistently, but appears to have prevented rusting from setting in.

I have been posting with some forum members about the Webley revolvers, and I was aware of the connection between H&R and Webley, and an image of one of these had been lurking in the back of my mind for some time, so when I saw this one, I had to have it.

Bruce Lee, you are right: I have a Colt 1903 in .32, and they will make a good combination. Now I'm on the lookout for a nice 1907 Savage .32!!!!

Best Regards, Les

 

[DWalt]

I had one of those H&R .32s some years ago. Nice gun, fired it a little, then sold it. I bought a set of reproduction grips for it, as one of the original panels was broken. And I think H&R used the Webley design, possibly under license. That's all I know about it. At one time I had a fairly extensive collection of pre-WWII US .32 and .380 pocket pistols, but sold most of them off long ago. I still have a couple of Remington 51s, a Savage 1907 .32, and a Davis-Warner "Infallible." I kept the latter mainly because it is probably the ugliest pocket pistol ever made anywhere by anyone.

 

[les.b]

DWalt:

I had never heard of the "Davis-Warner Infallible", so I looked it up. As usual, you are spot on: It is one of the ugliest pocket pistols I've seem!!! You learn something every day.

 

[Texas Star]

DWalt:

I had never heard of the "Davis-Warner Infallible", so I looked it up. As usual, you are spot on: It is one of the ugliest pocket pistols I've seem!!! You learn something every day.

Uglier than the current S&W Bodyguard auto? Wow!


I like the looks and quality of the Mauser M-1914 .32 and the slightly revised M-1934. The latter has a curved back of the grip.

You can see one of these Mauser .32's in the film, "The Guns of Navarone." Look at the pistol carried by the German officer who captured the Allied commandos at the Greek café.

The H&R is striker- fired, I think. The Webley autos have hammers. I read that Webley assisted with re-design and in setting up production.

 

[les.b]

Texas:

I concur about the Mauser 1934, I was following a really nice one on GB recently, but it went a little too high for me. I love both the little 32 revolvers and the old time 32 autos. The one above was just luck, I saw it in the local Feed/Gun store, and got it for a really nice price. I have to admit that the extensive discussions that we have been having about Webleys influenced me. I had read that not only did H&R license the basic design from Webley, but Webleys own designer came over from England and worked with the Americans on the design of this variant. That makes it sort of an American Webley. I have been in the process of cleaning out what appears to be the original grease from close to a hundred years ago, and see no wear on the internal parts, even though there is a little external freckling on the slide only. The frame and internals look like they were made yesterday. I have shot it, and will try to post a shooting report soon.

Best Regards, Les

 

[Kronos]

Seen those,it looks a bit like a shrunk down P-38 in some ways.

 

[LaVistaBill]

Hey, I'm back to the Forum after some 14 months! I recently was contacted by Triple K and I had a magazine on back-order from them for months for my H&R SLP 32...it finally came in and it was a bargain ($45) compared to what originals cost, when you can find them, and it works great!

 

[les.b]

Hey, Bill, that's good news... Both that you are back, and that the magazine works. I checked out the link provided by Bruce Lee M above, and saw the listing at Triple K, but there was no photo, that I could find at least, and I always like to see photos before I buy something. Glad to hear that they work. I'm going to post my H&R on the thread I started, http://smith-wessonforum.com/firear...-shooters-roaring-twenties.html#post139113511 as soon as I get through with the twenties Colts. Check out the thread, and post some of your twenties treasures if you want to. I'm really having fun with this one.

As far as dating them goes, I think that they were only made from about 1914 until 1924, .... I have been unable to find any definitive dating lists, so we can look at the few examples that folks have posted, and try to interpolate from that.

Best Regards, Les