doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Harrington & Richardson SxS

About a month ago I bought a H&R 10ga. SxS. Since then I've been trying to determine what Grade it is. Haven't been able to find any pictures to compare this gun to. Pretty sure not a high grade, minimal engraving which would put you in mind of a Parker V grade. I do know it was built on an Anson and Deely frame sometime in the late 1800's. Damascus barrels and a pretty fair piece of walnut.

Anybody know of a source for pictures or drawings of H&R SxS shotguns?

Thanks for your help.

I had one and it was a Westley Richards clone. Beautiful work,
but I have not seen any info on them. I personally think it was made by WR because of the type of engraving etc, but---

There was an article on them in The Double Gun Journal a few years back, by Don Hardin. It was since the last Index and Reader, so Volume Seventeen or later.

Built in a special area on the second floor of the Harrington & Richardson factory under license from Wesley Richards/Anson & Deeley from 1880 to 1885/6.

I believe our old mate, the late John Mann had one of these...he thought it pretty nice , I believe
franc

have handled both the 410 and 28 gauge hammer guns, circa 1900... nice little doubles.

I believe they were produced in 5 grades. Finding pictures is like finding a needle in a haystack. There has got to be some pictures or drawings of the different grades someplace. Wouldn't you think?

The little hammer double of the early years of the Twentieth Century was a nice little gun, certainly a cut above the output of the Crescent Fire Arms Co. factory, but doesn't compare with Harrington & Richardson's A & D hammerless guns of the early 1880s.


By 1912 it was also being offered in 20-gauge.

I was hoping someone would come along that knew, but I finally broke down and searched. Don's article is in Volume Eighteen, Issue 2. According to Don, the November 1882 issue of Field & Stream carried an S,D&G ad showing the Harrington & Richardson Anson & Deeley style gun in four grades No. 1 $100 to No. 4 $350. The next years Edw. K Tryon Jr. & Co. catalogue listed them in descending order as the A. B, C and D grades. Don pictures a B- and an A-Grade in his article.

The Gun Digest repro of the 1884 E.C. Meacham Arms Co. catalogue pictures a nice Harrington & Richardson hammerless but only lists the No. 1 with Laminated steel barrels for $100 in 12-gauge and $110 in 10-gauge; and the No. 2 with fine Damascus barrels for $150 in 12-gauge and $160 in 10-gauge.

One of the confusing things about H and R guns is that retailers often showed them with different grade designations. This ad shows them with letter grades. I suppose a $300 gun in the early 1880s was not for every man.

I remember reading an article in DGJ within the last few years about the lisenced Anson & Deeley boxlocks. Until that article I had no idea that H&R built anything like that. The gun in the article had nice damascus barrels, was well-engraved with traditional scroll, and had beautiful wood. i was impressed. If you want, I'll see if I can dig out the issue tomorrow.

Adam

The License Agreement for the sole US manufacturing had H and R paying 15 shillings per gun , up to 1000 produced per year. The guns produced above that number required 12 shillings and six pence per gun to be paid by H and R.

The examples of the A and D by H and R , together with the Colt 1883 were the finest hammerless guns produced in the US, in my opinion.