what is the deal with these things? They look like S&W schofields. My local store is selling one for 112. Ive seen some online for 60-70 bucks. All are old.
Online, ive seen them reffered to as harrison and richards, harrison and richardson, harrington and richardson, etc.
The few online references to them say "little or no collector value", and "good quality." Wtf?
Whats the score here?
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These little revolvers are what was coined the phrase "saturday night special", and were also known as 'Suicide specials". There were many, many different manufacturers and most of them were less than careful as far as quality control is concerned. Quality ranges from "OK" to "firing may cause loss of body parts". Most are chambered for .38 S&W, .38 short, or .32 SW short. Neat collectibles, but not something I'd be shooting.
$100 is too high unless it's near mint, which is damn hard to find. Most will have flaking nickle finishes or the remnants of crappy blue. Grips can be gutta percha (a hard rubber), wood, mother of pearl, bakelite....whatever.
Most that I've seen are broken to one degree or another, and broken parts either need to be obtained from other guns or made from scratch.
There is an H&R 922 that looks similar but is a 9 shot .22.
Here's a forum dedicated to suicide specials: [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
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The 999 "Sportsman" was the best of the bunch. I've got one. It is an exceptionally fine revolver. Well made, accurate, reliable, and very cool to use when you break it open and those 9 empties pop out. H&R was never noted for making fancy weapons, just serviceable bread-and-butter ones, and they made zillions. The lack of collector interest is a good thing - it keeps the price down. I paid $100 for mine in mint condition probably 10 years ago, $112 is a very good price for a 999 these days.
EDIT: When H&R went belly-up, GUn Parts Corporation AKA Numrich Arms bought up all the parts. So parts are very readily available if you need any - which is unlikely. I've found mine to be very sturdy. There are some options on the sights (e.g. nickel front, I believe different notch widths on the blade for the adjustable rear), but I'm OK with the ones already on the weapon. FYI, the front sight adjustment is odd and clever: A screw at the muzzle raises or lowers the front sight.
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Last edited by Dzerzhinsky : 03-04-2005 at 02:58 PM.
I have a HR break top. it has been in my family for MANY years. it belonged to my grandfarther. he has been dead before I was born and she knew of it, but had never seen it used by him, ever! she is allmost 80. after a long conversation with my mom she figured it had to have been at lease 80 years since it could have possably been fired. she is not intrested in guns but it was a good family moment remembering and figuring it out. I did a full inspect and decided to fire it. it uses 32sw, long. it shoots fine. 32sw, long is just a pop not much power at all so I feel it is very safe.
All in all I would not buy one for anything over 100 but I would not sell this family one for any amount. if you like it and can get one for 0 bucks ,, why not , rite, all in what you like.
their are some people that colect them and realy like them.
one more good thing for me about it,, this is the same ammo I use in my nagant !!
H&R = Harrington and Richardson. The M999 is a real nice top break revolver in 22lr with a 9 shot cylinder. Some of the earlier revolvers weren't bad either, my dad had one in .38 S&W it was a 5 shot. It shot and worked just fine. I think one problem is people trying to fire .38 S&W special rounds in them. NOT a good idea!!
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I have an H&R 999 that is in near mint condition. I bought it at a gun show about a year or so ago for $120. It is one of the best target revolvers that I own. Very accurate. They were an excellent firearm, but it just wasn't popular for some reason.
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h&r top break revolvers
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