Found a unicorn

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Ironhand54

Ironhand54

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Back in my college years there was a gun shop in town that I frequented. One gun they usually had was a H&R 999 top break revolver in 22lr. I wanted one bad but I was a broke college kid.

Fast forward too many years and a friend has one in the display at his shop. The price was kind of high, even for a minty gun so I passed.

Finally today I asked to handle it. Imagine my delight when I found that it was not a 999 but a 777 .

Made in 1938, the 777 was a special order gun built for target shooting. They were hand built with special hardened parts, a special short cylender, and target grips.. It is a single action with a tuned action. They had their own serial numbers and only about a thousand were made. Mine is serial U134.

All of a sudden the price looked cheap and I forked over the cash. Looking forward to seeing what it can do.

Ironhand
 

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That is an excellent find! Back then, during the Great Depression, many people could not or would not spend the money on a Colt or Smith & Wesson. H&R stepped up its game to offer better quality (but still reasonably priced) target pistols than they ever had before. I have no clue if this strategy paid off for them, but some of the best H&R's ever were made then, like this 777. I think the "Eureka" was another high end model.

This thread has some basic information about the 777 from Bill Goforth: https://www.thefirearmsforum.com/threads/h-r-ultra-sportsman-777.70975/
 
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Great pistols. I have both a 199 SA only, and as new in box 999 the 199 would put two to three in the same hole at 25 yards!
 
Ooooh shiney! Nice find! Cant go wrong with a triple 7

Ive got a lowly H&R Premier 7 shooter

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BigBlue 94 said:
Ooooh shiney! Nice find! Cant go wrong with a triple 7

Ive got a lowly H&R Premier 7 shooter

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Click to expand...

That Premier is a hard thing to find too, Big Blue 94, particularly in such fine shape. Because 22 ammo is so cheap, 22's tend to get shot to pieces over the years, especially guns that were not expensive to start with. That is a very late production Premier, as I suppose you know; it has the last version of the grip frame. I doubt H&R made a lot of those. Thanks for showing us one!
 
Monac said:
That Premier is a hard thing to find too, Big Blue 94, particularly in such fine shape. Because 22 ammo is so cheap, 22's tend to get shot to pieces over the years, especially guns that were not expensive to start with. That is a very late production Premier, as I suppose you know; it has the last version of the grip frame. I doubt H&R made a lot of those. Thanks for showing us one!
Click to expand...
I didnt realize it was hard to find. It has been very well taken care of but the cylinder does not lock up tight. Evidence of bullets shaving on the forcing cone says it was shot a bit like that too.

Its the only 7 shooter and only top break i own!
 
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