Almost forgotten today, Hopkins and Allen (H&A) was a major player in the firearms industry from its founding in 1868 to its end in 1916 with bankruptcy and sale to Marlin Rockwell. In that period, H&A made a bewildering variety of percussion revolvers, cartridge revolvers, single shot cartridge pistols, rifles and shotguns. Early revolvers were single action, mainly spur trigger, but later revolvers were both breaktop and solid frame, in double and single action. Quality was generally quite good, often considerably better than similar guns made by other companies.
In 1916, during WWI, H&A accepted a contract to make Model 1889 Mauser rifles for Belgium. The contract was completed by Marlin-Rockwell after H&A went under, but the guns are all marked H&A. There is some question about Belgian receipt. The rifles are scarce in Belgium and not long ago a ship full of those rifles was found a the bottom of the sea off the Dutch coast. If H&A had not been paid in advance, that loss, presumably to a German submarine, might have contributed to the bankruptcy. We will probably never know.
The H&A No. 6, according to some sources was part of what some collectors call the H&A series II, made from 1886 to 1907. That is a double action, solid frame revolver, not greatly different from hundreds of thousands of similar guns made by Harrington & Richardson, among others. There is a mild collector interest, but the value is not high, running in the $200-250 range even for one like new in the box. Guns in poor condition, as many are, bring $75 or so, if a buyer can be found. As with similar guns of the period, no parts are available, and dealers are reluctant to buy them or take them in trade since they cannot be warranted on sale.
Jim
