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My LGS has a display case of small, old revolvers marked as "non-functioning" guns. Some function, and some don't. They just aren't tested, and the gun store doesn't want to sell them as functioning firearms.
They are forlorn examples of what used to be called "suicide specials". Small, inexpensive guns chambered for modest calibers such as .32 S&W.
A lot of these guns are in bad shape with rust, grime, missing parts, chipped grips, and awful-looking improvised repairs. There's always a guy at every gun show with a table full of these sad-looking little relics.
Anyway, curiosity got the best of me, and I played around with these guns until I found a couple that functioned correctly, and didn't look too bad. I grabbed a couple for 50 bucks each to take home and clean up. I guess that not every purchase has to make a lot of sense.
First gun is a Harrington & Richardson "The American Double Action". The gun is a .32 S&W, but the caliber isn't marked anywhere, so from my research, it is one of the early ones, and was made between 1895 and 1904-ish.
Second gun is a Hopkins & Allen Model of 1887 with folding hammer. It is also a .32 S&W and I believe is from probably the early 1890s.
They took a LOT of cleaning, but I got everything clean, freed up, and moving a ton better. I also polished them both up with Flitz and it really helped the appearance.
Here are the pics of these two humble little revolvers:
They are forlorn examples of what used to be called "suicide specials". Small, inexpensive guns chambered for modest calibers such as .32 S&W.
A lot of these guns are in bad shape with rust, grime, missing parts, chipped grips, and awful-looking improvised repairs. There's always a guy at every gun show with a table full of these sad-looking little relics.
Anyway, curiosity got the best of me, and I played around with these guns until I found a couple that functioned correctly, and didn't look too bad. I grabbed a couple for 50 bucks each to take home and clean up. I guess that not every purchase has to make a lot of sense.
First gun is a Harrington & Richardson "The American Double Action". The gun is a .32 S&W, but the caliber isn't marked anywhere, so from my research, it is one of the early ones, and was made between 1895 and 1904-ish.
Second gun is a Hopkins & Allen Model of 1887 with folding hammer. It is also a .32 S&W and I believe is from probably the early 1890s.
They took a LOT of cleaning, but I got everything clean, freed up, and moving a ton better. I also polished them both up with Flitz and it really helped the appearance.
Here are the pics of these two humble little revolvers: