Question about an H&R 922

[420Stainless]

A friend's father left him a few nice guns and a H&R Arms 922. He doesn't know much about guns so he asked me to look it over and see if it was safe to shoot. I had to confess I couldn't say for sure if its was ok or not and told him to check with a gunsmith. It is a 9 shot double action revolver with a 5-6" barrel (appears to be .22lr) but the cylinder doesn't swing out. Instead, it looks like it has a single action style loading port (no gate). The cylinder locks up nicely and aligns with the barrel bore at full cock everytime. But while examining it, I noticed the cylinder rotates freely in the clockwise direction with the hammer all the way down. Is this proper for this type of revolver? It also has a half-cock position that appears to allow the striker portion of the hammer to clear the cartridge rims for loading.

I am assuming that this was a low end revolver that may have originally come with some kind of loose rod to eject the empties out of the port as there doesn't seem to be any convenient mechanism to eject from the cylinder. It appears to be in decent condition with 90% blueing and no noticeable wear to the bore.

Any info someone could give me to relay to my friend would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Old Fuff]

The 922 was an inexpensive .22 plinker or about middle range quality. As you noticed you load it through a slot in the recoil shield. To unload it push the latch under the cylinder pin and pull the pin out. Be careful to not drop the cylinder. Then use the cylinder pin to push out the empty cases (or loaded rounds if necessary). If you wish you can reload the cylinder while it is out of the frame. Then put the cylinder back into the frame and return the pin to its original position. All of this is a bit dificult at first, but you'll soon get the hang of it.

 

[JBP]

What your friend has is a 1st issue H&R 922 (I have a 2nd issue). This is the standard setup for the early H&R's. I also have a H&R Trapper in rimfire (.22 short/long, not 22LR) with the same setup as the 922. I use a thin screwdriver to eject the rounds after firing.

 

[420Stainless]

Thank you very much for the info Old Fuff and JBP. I've only very recently been getting interested in revolvers, but haven't studied any of the older actions. When I first saw this one I assumed it was a single action just from the way it was put together and was surprised to discover it was double action. Not the nicest of triggers, but on the whole it is rather pleasant to the eyes and the hand. I hope my buddy will let me have a try at finding out if its a good shooter.