Model 733 S&W long Revolver
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ThomasT
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I would like to know more too but your pictures don't show up.
I attached different images not sure why the original pictures are not showing up
ThomasT
Member
Those are just good basic guns. Not fancy but reliable and durable and you have one in one of my favorite calibers. I have three 32 long revolvers myself and with three 32 mag revolvers.
evan price
Member
Harrington& Richardson.
The year can be determined by the letters in front of the serial number.
1940 was A then continued to Z, 1964 was AA. They ended in 1982 with AY.
Value roughly a hundred bucks, cheap but decent little guns.
The year can be determined by the letters in front of the serial number.
1940 was A then continued to Z, 1964 was AA. They ended in 1982 with AY.
Value roughly a hundred bucks, cheap but decent little guns.
Speedo66
Member
Rub it down gently with some 0000 steel wool and a liquid like WD40. Spray the gunk with auto brake cleaner.
ThomasT
Member
There is a youtube video saying you can remove rust with a penny. I have never watched it or tried it but maybe look for it and see what they say. I am more with Speedo and the steel wool and WD-40. Be careful with the brake cleaner around the grips.
I just sold a 3" 732 H&R on GB a few months ago and got $135 for it. Mine was in 32 Long also. It was a fine shooting gun but I have about reached the point of saturation on gun ownership. I have a few more I think I am going to sell.
I just sold a 3" 732 H&R on GB a few months ago and got $135 for it. Mine was in 32 Long also. It was a fine shooting gun but I have about reached the point of saturation on gun ownership. I have a few more I think I am going to sell.
it has to be an old, pure copper penny
TTv2
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It's an H&R, company is no longer in business. In good working condition you could probably get $150 for it on gunbroker.
These were not S&W, Ruger, or Colt, they were budget handguns back when the revolver was still the preferred handgun of choice due to reliability. H&R didn't build these to last, they can go out of time quickly from overuse. That said, I've always preferred the non swing out cylinder models for the pull pin ones because the pull pins ones seem more durable.
If you're looking to shoot it .32 S&W Long is easy to find online and is about $1-$2 more than .38.
These were not S&W, Ruger, or Colt, they were budget handguns back when the revolver was still the preferred handgun of choice due to reliability. H&R didn't build these to last, they can go out of time quickly from overuse. That said, I've always preferred the non swing out cylinder models for the pull pin ones because the pull pins ones seem more durable.
If you're looking to shoot it .32 S&W Long is easy to find online and is about $1-$2 more than .38.
bannockburn
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- Apr 24, 2007
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Might also want to try using Flitz on areas of rust or grimy build up. Use it gently and sparingly.
Dave Markowitz
Member
H&R date codes.
The H&R 732 (blued) and 733 (early on, chrome, later nickel plated) were made from around 1957 up until 1986, IIRC. As was already mentioned they aren't in the same class as a Ruger, Colt, or Smith & Wesson but they are generally inexpensive, serviceable revolvers.
There was one weakness of the early production guns, up through the early 1970s at least. On those guns the doohickey on the end of the hammer strut, that presses against the hammer to push it forward, is made out of a poor quality plastic that deteriorates over time and will break. Luckily, Numrich Arms carries replacements with a steel doohickey on the end.
The plastic one looks like this (pic I found online):
Early last month I picked up a Model 733 with a 2.5" barrel for $125 + tax. Mine had the part as above and yup, it broke, when I disassembled the gun the first time. I bought the steel replacement from Numrich. It dropped right in and the gun shoots fine now.
They make a nice, inexpensive shooter with very mild recoil.
The H&R 732 (blued) and 733 (early on, chrome, later nickel plated) were made from around 1957 up until 1986, IIRC. As was already mentioned they aren't in the same class as a Ruger, Colt, or Smith & Wesson but they are generally inexpensive, serviceable revolvers.
There was one weakness of the early production guns, up through the early 1970s at least. On those guns the doohickey on the end of the hammer strut, that presses against the hammer to push it forward, is made out of a poor quality plastic that deteriorates over time and will break. Luckily, Numrich Arms carries replacements with a steel doohickey on the end.
The plastic one looks like this (pic I found online):
Early last month I picked up a Model 733 with a 2.5" barrel for $125 + tax. Mine had the part as above and yup, it broke, when I disassembled the gun the first time. I bought the steel replacement from Numrich. It dropped right in and the gun shoots fine now.
They make a nice, inexpensive shooter with very mild recoil.
A similar H&R. Fun little guns. Not worth much, but they work well and mine is fairly accurate.
Accurate enough to hit a 10" steel plate at 30 yards almost all the time.
No, not all of them are from the H&R, it was self declared .32 Day at the range.
I labeled this pic as 8", maybe it is, dang memory.
Accurate enough to hit a 10" steel plate at 30 yards almost all the time.
No, not all of them are from the H&R, it was self declared .32 Day at the range.
I labeled this pic as 8", maybe it is, dang memory.
tbob38
Member
A penny video was done by mixup98.
Monac
Member
Name73393, Harrington & Richardson was originally a maker of small defensive revolvers, starting in the 1870's. They also made pistols for casual target shooting ("plinking") and in the Great Depression of the 1930's, that part of their sales became more important than the self-defense guns. H&R did more to pursue this shift than their competitors and after World War 2 this paid off very well. The market for cheap defensive pistols was flooded with war-surplus or GI bring-back military pistols, but this was not the case for 22 target pistols. H&R finally had enough money to put a solid-frame, swing-out cylinder revolver into production, and this did very well for them, because that type of revolver was seen as sign of superior quality, like a Colt or a Smith & Wesson. Your gun is a direct descendant of that circa-1950 design, although many changes were made along the way.
H&R thought of it mainly as a 22 caliber gun, for either 22 Long Rifle or 22 Rimfire Magnum. The only other caliber they ever offered it in was 32 S&W Long. This was more powerful (although only moderately so), and allowed H&R to pitch the gun as useful for self-defense. Although this was now a smaller part of the market, it was still useful to do so. Your gun is one of those.
(BTW, by the 1980's, the situation had reversed. "Plinking" was declining, because it was harder to find a place to do it, if nothing else, and demand for self-defense guns was rising. H&R's 32 Long guns were too low-powered to benefit much from this. So H&R funded the development of a new cartridge called 32 H&R Magnum. It was about as powerful as standard 38 Special loads, although not the high velocity "+P" loads, IIRC. They also introduced a strengthened 5-shot version of your gun to fire it, one type of which is shown in Walkalong's post. This did not prove popular enough to save H&R, and they went bankrupt in the 1990's.)
The finish on your gun is called "electroless nickel", which means it is chemically applied, rather than being bright, shiny, electroplated nickel. It is a very good finish, physically tough and with good rust resistance. Also, yours has a 4 inch barrel, a large grip, and a rear sight that can be adjusted left or right. H&R also made a small-grip, 2-inch barrel, fixed sight version and those sold in larger numbers. Maybe this was because the smaller guns were cheaper, or because they were easier to conceal if people wanted to carry them. I like your type better because it is much easier to shoot well.
32 S&W Long has not been a really popular cartridge for many years, but it has a dedicated following because it is very pleasant to shoot, very inexpensive to reload, and has an excellent reputation for accuracy. Also, there is more interest in collecting H&R revolvers than there used to be because so many other guns have become very expensive to collect. What these two factors mean is that at a local gun store or gun show, it is difficult to sell this kind of H&R for very much money (or even at all), but if you can tap into the national market via one of the Internet gun auction websites, the extra money can be worth the extra effort (or service charge). Guns like this, if they are in decent shape and not badly overpriced rarely go unsold. I used to look for them. (I have since gotten a very early version of your gun, but in blued steel, and have stopped looking. Before I found it, yours was the model I was looking for.)
PS - Your gun is ordinary steel, not stainless. Although the electroless nickel finish looks like stainless steel, H&R never made stainless steel revolvers.
H&R thought of it mainly as a 22 caliber gun, for either 22 Long Rifle or 22 Rimfire Magnum. The only other caliber they ever offered it in was 32 S&W Long. This was more powerful (although only moderately so), and allowed H&R to pitch the gun as useful for self-defense. Although this was now a smaller part of the market, it was still useful to do so. Your gun is one of those.
(BTW, by the 1980's, the situation had reversed. "Plinking" was declining, because it was harder to find a place to do it, if nothing else, and demand for self-defense guns was rising. H&R's 32 Long guns were too low-powered to benefit much from this. So H&R funded the development of a new cartridge called 32 H&R Magnum. It was about as powerful as standard 38 Special loads, although not the high velocity "+P" loads, IIRC. They also introduced a strengthened 5-shot version of your gun to fire it, one type of which is shown in Walkalong's post. This did not prove popular enough to save H&R, and they went bankrupt in the 1990's.)
The finish on your gun is called "electroless nickel", which means it is chemically applied, rather than being bright, shiny, electroplated nickel. It is a very good finish, physically tough and with good rust resistance. Also, yours has a 4 inch barrel, a large grip, and a rear sight that can be adjusted left or right. H&R also made a small-grip, 2-inch barrel, fixed sight version and those sold in larger numbers. Maybe this was because the smaller guns were cheaper, or because they were easier to conceal if people wanted to carry them. I like your type better because it is much easier to shoot well.
32 S&W Long has not been a really popular cartridge for many years, but it has a dedicated following because it is very pleasant to shoot, very inexpensive to reload, and has an excellent reputation for accuracy. Also, there is more interest in collecting H&R revolvers than there used to be because so many other guns have become very expensive to collect. What these two factors mean is that at a local gun store or gun show, it is difficult to sell this kind of H&R for very much money (or even at all), but if you can tap into the national market via one of the Internet gun auction websites, the extra money can be worth the extra effort (or service charge). Guns like this, if they are in decent shape and not badly overpriced rarely go unsold. I used to look for them. (I have since gotten a very early version of your gun, but in blued steel, and have stopped looking. Before I found it, yours was the model I was looking for.)
PS - Your gun is ordinary steel, not stainless. Although the electroless nickel finish looks like stainless steel, H&R never made stainless steel revolvers.
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ThomasT
Member
I have read about the doohickey breaking in an article in the Backwoodsman magazine. I am so glad you used the proper gunsmith term for this part and didn't call it something goofy like "thingamajig". Thats what separates the pro's from the rank beginners.
Jean Harris used one of these guns chambered in 32 long to kill the Scarsdale Diet doctor Herman Tarnower. IIRC she shot him once in the hand and once in the chest. Don't underestimate this round. Its no powerhouse but can still be deadly and provide a decent level of defense.
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