Out of the Closet – H&R 926 “Defender”

H&R?? – it sure looks like Schofield !! or a top break Smith !! Nope – it’s not a 100 plus years old revolver – but produced in 1978 in a real power house cartridge – .38 S&W – LMAO!

38 S&W on the left – 38 special on the right

H&R was still producing top break revolvers when they sold out to Marlin Firearms in 2000, which is pretty amazing when you stop and think about it. But they worked – were simpler ( and cheaper ) to produce – and within strength limitations – they worked.

This particular example is chambered in 38 S&W – which was originally produced in 1877 as a black powder cartridge and is still being used today in India. There are only 3 or 4 companies still making the cartridge and it is loaded on the light side – 146 grain bullet @ 689 fps – the reasoning behind that being that there are a lot of old revolvers out there still today and the condition on a lot of them – well let’s just be charitable and class them as marginal . . . The 38 S&W was used by the British military loaded with a 200 grain bullet in their revolvers until the 1960’s. ( the old wheel guns guns were phased out in favor of Hi-Powers chambered in 9×19 – which is another story for another time ) It was called 38/200 – which in the US we would think 38 caliber bullet over 200 grains of black powder ( I imagine that would move along at a pretty good velocity – LOL ) but the British used at as a designation for bullet weight – different strokes different folks . . .

I hope to work up some reloads for it – not so much to improve performance but to defray cost – damn stuff is about 80 cents a round!!

All that aside – at just a touch over 27 ounces it it a real soft shooting revolver . . .

Size wise it is pretty much a full size revolver . . .

With a front sight adjustable for elevation – the sight is pinned at the rear and the screw has a lobe on it – think camshaft – it’s easy to adjust . . .

The rear sight is adjustable for windage – the sight rides in a slot and there is a screw on each side to secure it – just check those once in a while to make sure they are snug . . .

Disassembly for cleaning is a snap . . .

Just push in on the tab and slide the cylinder off . . .

You can get to the cylinder face and clean the barrel from the force cone end – disassembly to this point with no tools!

And talk about nice bore condition . . .

Looking “out” the muzzle . . .

Looking towards the force cone – tiny traces of lead – not bad at all . . .

And about midway through . . .

Very good condition – either not shot much or kept clean – or both – which ever it is I’m glad as it makes for a really nice find . . .

These are still common enough that they are not really “collectible” per say – H&R produced a tremendous number of them during WW2 – Smith & Wesson and Colt were building for direct contracts and did not have any room to spare for stateside “stuff” – the biggest demand for these were from industry security forces guarding the “means of production” and they were built by the thousands – getting handed from officer to officer at shift changes – lots of holster wear. There is a niche group of collectors that look for the various plant/industry markings on the ones utilized for those purposes – folks will collect just about anything . . .

Harrington & Richardson produced a variety of firearms over the years – and for the most part a simple premise was followed – easy to shoot – rugged – simple to maintain – a solid product performance level for the money – or simply put – value. So many of today’s firearms are way more blingy or glitzy than they need to be . . . Folks guns are simply tools . . . when you start adding lasers and flashlights and radar and sonar and the GPS systems and microwave ovens and ice makers to them. . . Well you get the idea – if it does not add to functionality what are you hanging it on the gun for?? The vast ( and I emphasize VAST ) majority of money that people spend doing things to their firearms would be better spent on training – and PRACTICE . . . Damn it Bruce! – I knew you were going to say that P word again!!!!

What can I say . . . Have YOU been to the range this week ??

What’s in YOUR closet?

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