H&R 732

What you could accurately call “The Harrington & Richardson Arms Company” was incorporated in 1888 – prior to that there was “Wesson & Harrington” then “Harrington & Richardson Company” – but for most folks what is referred to as H&R began in 1888. And they produced a myriad of revolvers, shotguns, rifles, and even a semiautomatic pistol – they even imported and sold H&K’s HK4 from 1968 to 1973. They even had some military contracts ( Reising sub machine gun / M-1 / M-14 / M-16 ) but by the late 1970’s they were struggling. They never really “modernized” the revolver line and consumer preferences left them with lagging sales. In a nutshell – the original H&R Company was gone in 1986 . . . Kind of a shame – almost everyone in my generation ( or close to it ) started with a 410 or a 20 gauge H&R break action shotgun . . . Wiki has a page on H&R – HERE – interesting stuff . . .

Now let’s take a look at this little darling, shall we?? – I wish I had taken a picture or two before I scrubbed on it – Oh Well . . .

This particular example came out of the last years production of the 732 by H&R – it is chambered in .32 S&W Long – which is actually a decent little performer – in Privi Partizan’s loading pushes a 98 grain RNL ( round nose lead ) at 787 FPS with 128 Ft Lbs of muzzle energy – or there is Fiocchi Shooting Dynamics loading of a 100 grain lead wadcutter at 730 FPS with 120 Ft Lbs of muzzle energy. I admit you are nor going moose or deer chasing with it but at close range applied liberally to the face . . . I think you get the idea . . .

Say Bruce – I got one of them H&R revolvers in my closet / sock drawer / tool box – how can I tell how old it is?? Is it worth anything??

First off let me say congratulations – you have a real piece of Americana in your hot little hands!! – How old is it? – look at the chart below – if that doesn’t get you there let me know and we can figure it out – Worth anything? – The condition you see of the one pictured here is an exception condition wise – it’s a solid NRA excellent – remember – condition is king – they were not expensive to begin with and most had little to no care / cleaning / proper storage – on average – not a lot of value -if somebody really wants a particular variant of one of H&R’s revolvers and they find one in decent condition – obviously they will pay a little more for it – but realize they made these ( and other models ) by the rail road box car load!! Every hardware store, general store, mercantile store, gas stations, and yes even drug stores had H&R displays!! The average “What will you give me for it?” price – with everything else in the middle of the road – condition / numbers produced etc. – $75 to $80 dollars – remember folks -someone’s buying an old firearm – not sentimentality!! – but they are fun to shoot!!

A little glamour shot for you! This one is in nice shape – Bore is shiny and the rifling is sharp / cylinders have no pitting at the exit ends or crud ring / lock up is good and tight / D/A trigger pull is smooth / S/A trigger pull is crisp / very faint turn lines . . .

Alright Bruce – enough Barbra Striesand!! – does it shoot??

Several lifetimes ago I had one just like this one – same prefix on the serial number even – how long ago you ask ? – I bought it at an OTASCO store on main street in a small southern town – and they had a big display cabinet full of H&R “stuff” – good times !

They are just the cutest little things – just fractionally smaller than a S&W 642 but with six shots instead of five – and at the average ranges you are more than likely going to use it – ain’t 2 cents worth of difference between .32 S&W Long or .38 Special except you have less recoil / muzzle blast and quicker follow up shots with the .32 S&W Long!!

Quick story – Many moons ago was shooting with a ( iirc ) deputy and his skinny ass girl friend – who he later married – he wanted her to learn to shoot his Model 10 snub nose – ( he worked a lot of night shifts ) the safest place was directly in front of her – gun way too big ( she was all of 4′ 10″ and 92 lbs soaking wet! ) – hands way too small – I dug my little H&R out of my pocket and told her “try this” – it fit her pretty good and she could hit with it – she hollered “headed for Otasco” as she jumped in his pickup and went to town – came back with one and a couple three boxes of ammo – and had a total hoot with it – she was thrilled because she could get a grip on it ( small hands ) and hit with it – as far as I know she probably still has it – LOL! The fact that it is so small is my only complaint – hard to get a consistent grip on it – but in an Uncle Mike’s pocket holster it just disappears into your front pocket . . . Folks just keep looking around – these little diamonds in the rough are out there . . . Let me me drop this pic in here just to show you some of the variants H&R made – I have never seen one “in the flesh” and yes I want one!! – LMAO . . . I’m not sure where the H&R marketing folks thought they were going with it – maybe a get your inner pirate thing going – hellifino . . . but I do want one!

Got some range time in with my littlest Glock – don’ know if I will get that posted this weekend or not and I’m working on a chicken & bok choy with mushrooms soup recipe post as well – it’s pretty good for a cold winter meal and it’s something different from “chili again??”

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!