H&R SPORTSMAN Research

[Bullseye]

Thanks 32 magnum, I thought I would post a little collage of my sportsman.
It has a little bit of freckles from being put away without a wipe down many years ago and there is a small chink out of the bottom of the grip but it has aged and is barely noticeable. I wanted to replace it and keep the original grip with the pistol. Is there a link to this No 3 type you could provide or a picture? I like the classic old western style grips, much better than this big old log. My grip is probably in great shape compared to many other originals.
It is nice to hold, but to me, it just looks ugly.

View attachment 610177

 

[Lookin2]

H&R 999 question

1. Serial Number (partials are welcome, but entire numbers will help more)?
N5507
2. Firing pin on hammer or mounted in frame?
Hammer
3. Safety rim on cylinder? PATENT APPLIED FOR; one patent number; two patent numbers?
? I think yes- I can't see the back of the bullets. No markings
4. Cylinder release: 1" long lever on right side -or- small push button on left side of frame right in front of cylinder.
Small push button on left
5. Location of Manufacturer's address - on top of barrel -or- on right side?
Right side
6. DA or SA?
DA
7. Adjustable or fixed front sight? If fixed - soldered in slot or pinned in slot?
Adjustable.

I got this from my father in law a short time ago. Cleaned it and took it to the range. Had some misfires on every set of 9. One or two. I took off the handle and it appears that everything is metal (no plastic). You will probably know more from the serial number. There are some slight marks on the rims of the bullets when I take out the misfires. I was using Winchester Wildcat 22LR ammo. Any advice on something that I can fix? Can you tell a build date by the serial number?
Thanks in advance, Dave

 

[KevininPa]

Unfortunately,........

.........32 Magnum has passed on and will be sorely missed. I hope someone else might be able to help you with your answer Lookin2. Though he was the best source of info for H&Rs, NEFs and Charters, there are still some very knowledgeable people here.

 

[Gordon]

Boy the great ones are dropping like flys ,
With the wrong way we are headed they will certainly be missed! Adios 32 Mag !

 

[1madss]

The H&R community has had a bad year. First Jamesjo and now Jim Hauff. I did not want to believe it, but after a search it is confirmed for me that Jim did pass in October. He always so helpful to me in getting information and repairing my 999 and seemed a genuine kind soul.


I don't much info but here is what I had found as far as manufacture dates:



Mfr years for H&R/NEF firearms
Year starting S.N. Prefix
1940 A
1941 B
1942 C
1943 D
1944 E
1945 F
1946 G
1947 H
1948 I
1949 J
1950 K
1951 L
1952 M
1953 N
1954 P
1955 R
1956 S
1957 T
1958 U
1958 V
1960 W
1961 X
1962 Y
1963 Z
1964 AA
1965 AB
1966 AC
1967 AD
1968 AE
1969 AF
1970 AG
1971 AH(snap on forend)
1972 AJ
1973 AL
1974 AM
1975 AN
1976 AP(first transfer bar on model 155)
1977 AR
1978 AS (Transfer bar added to all models)
1979 AT
1980 AU
1981 AVAX
1982 AWAY
1983 AXAZ
1984 AYBA
1985 AZBB
1986 BABC

 

[Lookin2]

.........32 Magnum has passed on and will be sorely missed. I hope someone else might be able to help you with your answer Lookin2. Though he was the best source of info for H&Rs, NEFs and Charters, there are still some very knowledgeable people here.

I'm sorry to hear that. Thanks for the information...

 

[pcr1]

Can anyone tell me where I might find replacement parts for an H&R Sportsman. I believe it is a First Model, Seventh Variation. It functions in double action but will not cock in single action. I'm looking for a replacement sear and hammer. The serial number starts with the letter A.

 

[Jaymo]

According to the date code list above, it looks like my 949 is a 1979 model.
Good to know.

 

[Hemi1935]

I picked up an H&R Sportsman yesterday and was wondering if you could help with dating it . The serial # is 30593 firing pin on hammer address on right side pinned front sight 1 piece grip , let me know if you need more info

 

[1madss]

I've been curious myself about the pre-40 guns and SN. I went back through the thread and found that Jim had actually explained it in Post #56.

"There are a couple verifiable dates to go along with variations: the first is October 1932 - which is the first month of production for the SPORTSMAN named revolvers; another is January 1, 1940 when the 'A' prefix was first used in the serial number"

"It now seems that the SPORTSMAN took a couple years to "take off" in sales (not unreasonable considering it was a fairly expensive item initiated in the early and middle years of the GREAT DEPRESSION) - so only a few over 20K were made in the first 3 1/2 years of production and then over 70K more were produced after March of '36 up to Jan. '40 (a period of 3 3/4 years)- as the highest known serial numbers are close to 90,000 before the 'A' prefix starts to show up"


I don't know how many times I've read this thread and went right past that info.

Here is a summary of the pre-40 guns that were listed in this thread so far:
21952 - mid to late 1934
29011 - late 1934
4844X - late 1936, early '37
49209 - 1937
54XXX - last half of 1936 or early 1937
61839 - 1937
678xx - late 1937
70520 - 1937-38
80892 - early 1939
89606 - very late 1939 or very early 1940



Hemi1935 - This would lead me to believe that your gun was manufactured in late 1934 or 1935. But that is just my relatively uneducated guess.


If anybody had any info at all on these guns feel free to jump in a leave what you know. Can't let this get away.