H&R 949 .22

They were inexpensive guns, discontinued in the mid-80s, IIRC. Despite being all-steel, the quality is only so-so. Ive owned a few and seen others that had worn timing issues. If its got low-mileage, they are OK plinkers, but not well suited to shooting thousands of round a year.

That one appears to be in good shape. Value should be in the $150-200 range normally, but in the crazy current market, you might be able to get $3-350 for it.

NIGHTLORD40K said:

Ive owned a few and seen others that had worn timing issues.

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I've had 2 Harrington&Richardson .22 revolvers. As stated above , they tend not to be miracles of timing. Got sick of getting peppered in the face.
Neat old guns in their own way , but a tad crude.

Waveski said:

I've had 2 Harrington&Richardson .22 revolvers. As stated above , they tend not to be miracles of timing. Got sick of getting peppered in the face.
Neat old guns in their own way , but a tad crude.

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Were they swing out cylinders, pull pin, or top breaks? I have a suspicion that the swing outs have more issues than the pull pins or top breaks. Also, the 9 shot models seem to have more timing problems than 6 shot models do.

My 2 H&R's were some of the most popular .22 models , a 999 Sportsman and a very nice looking ".22 Special".

Both were , as you suggested , swing out cylinder mechanisms , and I think both were 9 shot. The cylinder crane and especially the cylinder spindle on those revolvers are light weight and not very precise. Lock=up is not tight either. I thought I might become a minor H&R collector , but after shooting those two for a while I became disillusioned. Oh , and - the da triggers were truly awful.

Easy to sell a nice looking Harrington Richardson as there are collectors of them , and there are those who have a sentimental "That was the first gun I shot when I was a kid" type attraction. Those folks are getting up there in the years.

Waveski

My 2 H&R's were some of the most popular .22 models , a 999 Sportsman and a very nice looking ".22 Special".

Both were , as you suggested , swing out cylinder mechanisms , and I think both were 9 shot.

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Are you sure about the H&R revolvers you had because I'm pretty sure the Model 999 Sportsman was a top break design. To me that was the main attraction of the gun; a relatively inexpensive .22 revolver that was also a top break.

Both of mine were solid frame 9-shots, Model 929 if I recall correctly.......

It kinda broke my heart, because I thought it was a neat design, but I had to pass on a clean-looking top break Sportsman at a LGS once. It had a broken hand and wouldnt index the cylinder at all. Not sure what the availability of parts then or now is, but I didnt want to mess with it.

bannockburn said:

Waveski


Are you sure about the H&R revolvers you had because I'm pretty sure the Model 999 Sportsman was a top break design. To me that was the main attraction of the gun; a relatively inexpensive .22 revolver that was also a top break.

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You know , as I near the end of my 68th year I find I make more and more dumb mistakes. Of course the Sportsman and the .22 Special are top breaks. that's part of why I acquired them.
The other statements I made in reference to the mechanical characteristics , looseness and so on , were accurate.

On a side note , after passing my two H&Rs on to collectors I satisfied my need for a top break by acquiring a nice old Iver Johnson Sealed 8. Not exactly a Colt or S&W , but sturdy and satisfying.

Sorry for the stupid brain fart , made in haste early in the morning while gulping coffee and heading out to ride a greensmower at my part time job. Haste makes waste.

Waveski

I'm right there with you in terms of what is euphemistically called "advancing age"! To tell you the truth I had to look up the Model 999 Sportsman just to be sure about that which I was speaking of! As I posted previously I wanted a top break .22 but my thoughts about getting one were much like your own experience with them: somewhat light duty components, loose fitting cylinder, and a DA trigger that was off the charts! Once I started looking at S&W K frame .22s, there was no going back to an H&R.

milemaker13 said:

Here is a pic.

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Looking through my internet glasses, that looks to be in real good shape. If the cylinder locks up nicely and doesn't spit lead, it should be a fine plinker. About the only thing you can do for the trigger is cut 1 to 1.5 coils off the trigger return spring, but H&R revolvers aren't so easy to work on compared to S&W or Ruger.

I have a top break 999 and it isn't loose and doesn't spit lead. Although, my ol' shootin' buddy had an H&R Trapper revolver that spit lead so bad that you didn't want to be standing next to it on a firing line.

bannockburn said:

Waveski


Are you sure about the H&R revolvers you had because I'm pretty sure the Model 999 Sportsman was a top break design. To me that was the main attraction of the gun; a relatively inexpensive .22 revolver that was also a top break.

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Your correct. The 999 Sportsman's Deluxe is top break. I have one. Very loud for a .22, Cylinder gap?

Terry G said:

Very loud for a .22, Cylinder gap?

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Oh yeah - I forgot about that part - quite loud. I think that part of the "face peppering" I referred to earlier was powder and carbon escaping the gap.

Bannockburn , I like my top break I.J. , but you are right about the S&W K frame .22 standing out from the old top breaks. I have one from the 1st year of production , 1931 ; the action is still sweet.
But I digress.

The 949 unloads through the loading gate on the side with the ejector pin just like an old single action. Mine has been very reliable and pretty accurate to boot. Yes you can pull the cylinder pin and remove the cylinder but no need to do so except for cleaning.

NIGHTLORD40K said:

Both of mine were solid frame 9-shots, Model 929 if I recall correctly.......

It kinda broke my heart, because I thought it was a neat design, but I had to pass on a clean-looking top break Sportsman at a LGS once. It had a broken hand and wouldnt index the cylinder at all. Not sure what the availability of parts then or now is, but I didnt want to mess with it.

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I don't look at Numrich much, but one reason I've been leery of buying H&R's is the lack of parts or warranty. Given how many of these H&R revolvers were made over that company's impressively long history, there probably is a market for an aftermarket parts manufacturer to make hands, ratchets, and trigger springs.

Ah, yes, the 949. The gun for parents of the kid that was a bona fide TV Western nut in the 60's and 70's. Fortunately for me, my Dad was also a TV Western nut, I remember watching Hoppy with him at the age of 4, (reruns, he was in HS when they came out) and since he knew guns, he got a Colt .22 Frontier Scout instead of an H&R. I spent many enjoyable hours shooting it up at the cabin. He did buy an H&R later, a 999, as a replacement for the IJ Sealed 8 that I took apart at the age of ten; My mom found it as a Ziploc bag of parts and threw it away before I had a chance to reassemble it. It had been her Dad's gun, given to my Dad as a wedding present.

I had a 949 H&R.

I used it for Raccoon hunting for shooting coons out of the tops of the trees while my bud held the light.
It was very accurate with 22LR and mine had the 22 mag cylinder with it, that was not near as accurate. I have often wished I wouldn't have sold it, but I also didn't have it long enough to know if it would have had timing problems with use.
This particular one was extremely accurate with 22 LR rounds. Trigger was a little stiff but I was able to deal with it.
It loads and unloads through the side gate like a standard SAA, as 12Bravo20 said.
It is slow to unload and reload and IIRC it held 9 shots.
This is a really old H&R 22 special, it is a top break. I hate the saw handle grip but it still shoots with decent accuracy with 6 of the 7 chambers. It's was made in 1925.

The sights on it are microscopic and it is hard to shoot because of it. The grips feel really weird but it does shoot pretty decent for as old as it is. 22 specials came in 22LR and 22 special, both. This one is a 22 LR. I used to shoot 22 longs out of it but I can't buy them any more so subsonic 22LR is all it sees.

I was not aware that they ever made the 9 shot Model 949 with the 22 magnum cylinder. As far as I could ever find out, H&R only made their 6 shot revolvers with interchangeable cylinders.

The 6 shot H&R 649 did come with both cylinders. other than being 6 shots, it looks just like the 9 shot 949 that had the 22lr cylinder only.

That was a long time ago and I may be wrong on that. It may have been only a six shot.

When I was a kid , early 60's , my older sister decided to clean my room while I was away. She tossed several cardboard boxes full of Superman , Batman and Sgt. Rock comic books.

The ziploc bag of parts and the boxes of comics both looked like junk to someone. Tragic , truly tragic.

I still have a H&R 949 that I keep in my day pack when checking my trail cams and re-fitting my ground blinds. It comes in handy for the occasional rabbit or squirrel that is stupin enough to get within range of my old eyes and iron sights.

I had one of those little revolvers a few years back. Bought it off the father of my fiance at the time for $60 and 1300 rounds of ammo for it. Quite the steal.

One thing I learned quickly is some of the HR revolvers have a hammer lock that prevents the hammer from moving. If you look at the bottom of the butt and see a keyhole, make sure you know where the key is. The key turns a rod that connects to the bottom of the hammer to allow it to move or not. Fortunately if yours is a locking model and don't have the key, the rod can be turned by hand if you have the grips off.

I've had a H&R 949 since I was 15. Was given to me as payment for painting a house. It cost $49 dollars at Carter Country, but the guy threw in a nice western holster since I had to paint around his wife's rose bushes. I shot it often and carried it everywhere, it has never been babied. I taught my daughters to shoot it and recently had my grandson shooting it with shorts. Though the machine work is rough compared to a Smith or Colt, my only complaint is trigger pull when shooting double action. I've owned several handguns in the 46 years since I got my 949, and can't see parting with it unless to pass it on to my grandson in a few years.