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- H&r Shotgun Serial Number Lookup
What year was the Harrington and Richardson Model 922 serial number J15716 made? I THINK your H&R 922 was made in 1948. In 1942 they added a letter prefix. Changing to double letters in 1961.
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These small shotguns were used both to hunt small game and asprotection against snakes.
1920 Harrington & Richardson (U.S.) Tip-Up Shotgun(single-shot/ breech-loading/ smokeless powder/ shot ammunition) In.410 gauge, this small shotgun folds in its middle so that it canbe tucked in a pocket. Firing a single shot, it is slightly over 21inches long when folded. In 1920, these little guns were good forhunting small game. They were also a favorite means of protectingtheir users of all ages from reptiles. 'Snake Charmers' came invery handy when tramping through fields of tall grass or splashinginto swamps.
Even today they make a fine companion for persons travelingalone in strange country. Children of the early 20th century werebecoming urbanized, but their families often still valued shootingskills and honored the successful hunter. The needs of an eradictate what shall be valued and who shall be honored. --Dr.William L. Roberts, THE AMERICAN LIBERTY COLLECTION; #198Harrington & Richardson, located in Worcester, Massachusetts,was founded in 1871 by Gilbert H. Harrington, the inventor of thetop-break revolver, and William A. Richardson. By 1876, H&R hadbecome sufficiently established to be represented at the NationalCentennial Exposition in Philadelphia, where the company exhibited24 of its pistols.
In 1880, H&R achieved another significant milestone inbecoming the sole American licensee for the manufacturer of qualityEnglish Anson & Deely double-barrel hammerless shotguns, and in1900, the company introduced its own top-break single barrelshotgun. In the years prior to the First World War, Harrington& Richardson's product line expanded to include other shotgunsand revolvers. In addition, H&R produced an improvedsemi-automatic pistol patterned after British Webley & Scott,as well as the Handy Gun, a top break single-shot pistol that wasavailable in various calibers and small-bore shotgun gauges.
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During the First World War, the company received a contract forshoulder-type flare guns. This was the first of many militarycontracts that H&R would receive from the U.S. government,marking the beginning of a long association of arms production insupport of American troops. After the war, Harrington &Richardson redesigned its handgun line. Among the arms introducedduring this period was the U.S.R.A. single-shot target pistol,which featured a short hammer fall and crisp trigger pull. TheU.S.R.A. pistol became the standard of the U.S. Army pistol teamand was used to set a new U.S. pistol record in 1932. Prior to theSecond World War, the company manufactured .38 caliber revolversfor British police use. These pistols, which were also available onthe U.S. commercial market, were the first firearms ever carried byBritish 'Bobbies'.
In addition to these revolvers, H&R also produced handcuffsand leg irons for police use. When the United States went to waragain in 1941, H&R produced the Reising .45 caliber submachinegun under contract with Eugene Reising, the gun's inventor. Thesedelayed blowback arms, which fired from closed bolt, were moreaccurate than conventional 'slam fire' submachine guns such as theThompson, but Army acceptance tests showed that the Reising's closetolerances caused function problems when not cleaned regularly orwhen operated in dirty conditions.
With Thompson production earmarked for Army and Lend-Leasepurchases, the Marine Corps adopted the Reising, in bothconventional wood stock and folding metal stock models, tosupplement its insufficient submachine gun inventory. Reisings sawaction on Guadacanal, where their performance was problematic dueto the near impossibility of keeping them clean under jungle combatconditions. The Marines received their last Reisings in 1943, afterwhich they were withdrawn from front line use as additionalThompsons and M1 carbines became available.
Approximately 100,000 Reisings were manufactured, including somefor Lend-Lease sales to the Soviet Union. A semi-automatic civilianversion was also produced for use by defense plant and prisonguards. After the war, H&R discontinued production afterattempts to sell Reisings to police departments failed due to theready availability of surplus military arms. During the Korean War,Harrington & Richardson once again turned its production linesto the manufacture of military arms. On April 3, 1952, H&Rreceived an order for 100,000 M1 rifles plus spare parts, and thefirst deliveries were made a year later. The company's experienceas producer of firearms enabled it to begin production without thestart-up problems experienced by other military contract armsproducers, including International Harvester. Unlike other M1manufacturers, H&R also made extensive use ofsubcontractor-produced parts and components in their rifles.
The end of hostilities in July 1953 meant that mostH&R-produced rifles were added to postwar inventories. Thecompany continued to receive additional contracts for the M1, andby the time production ceased in 1956, H&R had produced 428,600rifles. The end of production did not mark the end of the company'sassociation with John Garand's rifle, as H&R later received acontract to rebuild 50,000 M1 rifles in 7.62mm NATO caliber for theU.S. Navy. In late 1954, Harrington & Richardson received anadditional contract to conduct an engineering study aimed atproduction of 500 T48 rifles, an American version of the Belgian FNFAL .30 caliber rifle which was under consideration as a possiblesuccessor to the M1 as the U.S. military's standard battlerifle.
Harrington And Richardson 12 Gauge Shotgun Serial Numbers
In 1957, the Army adopted the Springfield Armory-developed M14,which was based on John Garand's original M1 design. These riflesbecamethe first multi-purpose American infantry rifle, replacingthe M1 rifle, M1 carbine, Browning Automatic Rifle, and M3submachine gun. As with the M1, the Army issued contracts for theM14 to Winchester and H&R to supplement production atSpringfield Armory. H&R's tool-up and manufacture beganquickly, with the company utilizing machinery left over from M1production, but problems arose with subcontracted parts. To furthercomplicate manufacturing efforts, inspectors discovered cracks insome receivers.
Old Harrington And Richardson Shotguns
H&R's M14 production came to a halt as the Army changed bothmetallurgical and heat treatment specifications for these rifles.With problems now corrected, H&R was able to make up for lostproduction time and get back on schedule by August 1961. By thetime production ceased, Harrington & Richardson hadmanufactured over 500,000 M14s, making the company the largestmanufacture of these rifles.
H&r Shotgun Serial Number Lookup
H&R also produced the M16 'black rifle' under contract withthe Department of Defense, as well as the M4 survival rifle, a .22Hornet/.410 combination gun manufactured for use by U.S. Air Forceflight crews. Harrington & Richardson exists today, but under anew name, the New England Firearms/H&R 1871. In addition toproducing a complete line of pistols, rifles, and shotguns based ontheir earlier designs and ranging from inexpensive topresentation-grade models, the company is a U.S. distributor forBritish-made Webley & Scott shotguns.