H&R 1900 .410 Family gun help

[A-190]

I have inheritanced my dads H&R .410 single shotgun, model 1900. It was a present to him from his father in 1930. Some where through the years it has lost its "top lever" latch that opens the weapon.
I have been looking for that one part since January. Have it at a local gun smith and he has had no luck.
I have scoured the gun shows, Numrich doesn't have it...
Ebay doesn't have it...nor does Gun broker or auction arms......

Other than that the shot gun is in good shape for its age.........
This thing is more sentimental than anything but I and my brother did have fun squirrel hunting with that thing back in the 60's.
If anybody here has a led or other suggestion..........I could use the help.

 

[BEARMAN]

My suggestion is to get the shotgun back from the gunsmith. If he doesn't have the part and his sources don't have the part ,he will never have the part , he doesn't have the time to search gun shows to find a $10 part to fix a $100 gun.. Once you get the gun back , remove the part from the gun and take a picture of it and keep it in your wallet with some dimensions , diameter of shaft , length of shaft, etc. You will have enough info , so when you are at a gunshow and you find something in a parts pile ,you have a better idea if it will fit, buy it if it is cheap enough even if you don't know if it will fit. There may be a few models that had a similar lever and if you are just looking for a Model 1900, you may never find what you are looking for. The other thing you could do, is remove the barrel and stock and the damaged part and take the receiver and part with you to gun shows, there is always a guy with a pile of parts and you just have to rummage through all the junk to find what you need. When you find something that looks like it might fit , try it in your receiver. Also on some of the single shot shotguns the frame was the same for all the gauges and on some the larger gauges had one frame size and the smaller gauges had another frame size . So you may be looking for a top lever for a .410, or a 20 or 28 gauge or larger and for more than a MODEL 1900( it was probably patented in 1900 and made for 30 years) so your parts availability may be going up. GOOD LUCK.

 

[BEARMAN]

double post?

 

[A-190]

Great suggestion, yeah I kinda figured the gun smith wouldn't waste a lot of time for this little part, and I really cant blame him and dont, I do know he has tried and thats all I can ask for.

Thanks again

 

[Dakoma]

If it is just the lever for opening the gun Make one,should'nt be to hard,Drill,grinder,set of needle files and some sandpaper.