Saturday Random Stuff

Gonna try and clear this stuff out today – it’s piling up faster than I can get rid of it . . .

I do support BLM . . .

Trying to work my way through the pile of stuff – lot’s more to come – might even get a dedicated BLM post up – Ya just never know . . .

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

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!!

Friday Music – #1 Songs Week of July 4th -Part 3

2000 . . .

2001 . . .

2002 . . .

2003 . . .

2004 . . .

2005 . . .

2006 . . .

2007 . . .

2008 . . .

2009 . . .

2010 . . .

2011 . . .

2012 . . .

2013 . . .

2014 . . .

2015 . . .

2016 . . .

2017 . . .

2018 . . .

2019 . . .

2020 . . .

What were you listening to on your favorite July 4th ??

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

Out of the Closet – H&R 922

An oldie but Goodie – Manufactured in 1950 . . .

It really was not in bad shape as found – cleaned it thoroughly – slathered CLP on it – let it set for a week – then re-cleaned – came out nice . . . ( ran the bore scope down the barrel but didn’t grab any pics – but the bore is real clean )

6 1/2 inch barrel ( barrel length is measured from the force cone ) – target grips and front sight . . .

Enough weight that there is virtually no recoil – it’s a .22 – what are you expecting??

The neatest part – it has the plastic grips and they are not all beat up – most had wood grips and the ones with plastic grips intact are hard to find – not rare by any stretch and the wood target grip models are more numerous – it’s just fun to find one with the plastic grips intact . . .

A good look at the “target” model front sight . . .

And the precision rear sight – LMAO !! – actually at arms length the notch rear and front blade work good together . . .

And in favor of keeping costs down – no loading gate – less steps to produce the pistol . . .

When the cylinder is indexed the chamber are off set from the loading gate . . .

Double action trigger pull is somewhere between 14 lbs and OMG !! – Single action is a decent break at just over 4 lbs . . .

Take down is simple as can be – push the little lever and pull the pin and out drops the cylinder . . .

In keeping with the style of the times – it’s far easier and cheaper to replace a center “bushing” ( not an extractor on this model ) than the entire cylinder when worn . . .

And if you get a stubborn case that won’t “fall” out – the cylinder pin can be used to push it out – simple as it gets . . .

Can hardly wait to shoot it – the hardest part will be finding the right brand and bullet weight that it likes – no doubt in my mind the old darling will achieve “minute of bunny rabbit” accuracy at 25 plus yards – the burning question is can I ??

Folks – check your closets – there a gazillion or so nice old guns out there – all looking for a little bit of TLC . . .

What’s in YOUR closet??

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