Let's see yer' wimpy little pop guns

[pokute]

I enjoyed showing off my Grizzly's, but I've also got some wee ones. I'm partial to the H&R 199:

That's an early model up above, and a late one below. Walter Roper designed the action and the grips for these guns. The one problem with them was the narrow, sharp edged finger rest. In 1938, a few months before John Harrington died and the company deflated, they were selling an adapter for it, which I have exactly one picture of in an article by Roper in American Rifleman Feb/1939. Had John Harrington not died, the next iteration of the 199 (and of course the USRA single shot, aka model 195) would have had a rear sight extension over the grip, and a channeled rib to adjust the sight radius. Roper was intent on beating the European Free Pistol game with the new 195/199. Instead, he wound up designing and selling some very, very fine grips.

 

[pokute]

By the way, that earlier gun has a factory experimental Be/Cu frame mounted firing pin. There was quite a bit of excitement generated by the availability of Be/Cu in the early 30's for firing pins and springs.

 

[pokute]

Something I foolishly sold:

 

[Ian]

Checkering without a border is for masters and studs, not ordinary mortals. Fine grips indeed.

Is that last one a double-action single shot?

 

[pokute]

Checkering without a border is for masters and studs, not ordinary mortals. Fine grips indeed.

Is that last one a double-action single shot?

During the depression, only the masters were left in the barn.

That last gun is the 3rd Model "Perfected" double-action S&W Single Shot, designed by... Walter Roper! The barrel was a result of much back-and-forth with Harry Pope, and featured a tapered bore, and a swaging breech that crimped the brass and bullet to fit the gun. I shot that gun a lot before my accident with my eyes, and would have an audience at the range as I slowly shot the X out of a 25 yard target. Probably put 6000 rounds through that antique, and it never showed a bit of wear. Sold it because after my vision stabilised, it was too damn hard to see the sights, which were only slightly better than those on an SAA.

 

[pokute]

Sometime later, H&R tried to capitalize on the work of their lost masters by making these dandy celluloid grips:

I have to admit it, I like 'em! I have a fountain pen to match!

 

[pokute]

"Action" shots:

 

[RicinYakima]

You, Sir, are a gentleman of fine and discriminating tastes! My 199, early without the metal behind the trigger guard, and Roper's grips, circa 1931.

 

[pokute]

Another interesting variation! With possibly a trigger-guard from a 22 Special, and a set of Roper "filler" grips that were NOT one of the standard factory styles.

There were eventually 11 different factory grips, and Roper made many experimental "filler" grips that would ultimately find their way onto a lot of Colt and S&W guns owned by competitive shooters. Your grips have a little riser at the back in imitation of the S&W frame hump.

Some day, when people start collecting these things in earnest (and one sold for well over $3k recently), a lot of unusual variations are going to appear. If you ever look at USRA pistols (H&R M195), no two are alike.

 

[RicinYakima]

I've owned about 15 target .22 revolvers in my life, from original .22 Bekaerts, .22 Outdoorsman, Officer Model Matches, etc. Nothing fits my hand better than this little revolver, nothing has shot better with .22 SV match ammo. Plus it has a single set trigger so you can practice trigger control and never even cock the hammer. All the other revolvers are gone, and I don't miss them.

 

[pokute]

Woah, wait... It sounds like you got one actually built by Walter Roper if you got the set trigger. Congratulations! That explains why the trigger guard is different!

 

[Bret4207]

I be darned! And here I thought I was the sole fool left that had an admiration for the H+R's! Nice gun porn!

 

[Intheshop]

Checkering,

Love watching vids on building really fine shotguns,and to a slightly lessor extent rifles.Was watching a Perazzi (sp) factory tour the other day....heck,wifey walked in and was slackjaw even?Anyway,the segment on hand checkering was awe inspiring.40 sumthin Italian woman was doing the wrist on a 20K$ OU,she was FLYING!

I have a really nice "kit" a dear friend forced on me in return for sumthin?Didn't want money,so he snags this kit.I like checkering but it borders(ha) on mind numbing.Once you get the hang of it,goes along OK,for me.

Imagine a full-on Pro stock drag car vs a Prius.That's her vs me....left a serious inprint on my grey matter.

 

[smokeywolf]

I'm always amazed when someone sells an old gun that's rare and in good shape. That S & W DA single shot is just beautiful.

I've only sold one gun in my lifetime (so far). I parted with a Volcanic carbine in order to raise startup capital for Mrs. smokeywolf's business. Money-wise, it turned out to be the right thing to do.

 

[pokute]

I'm always amazed when someone sells an old gun that's rare and in good shape. That S & W DA single shot is just beautiful.

I've only sold one gun in my lifetime (so far). I parted with a Volcanic carbine in order to raise startup capital for Mrs. smokeywolf's business. Money-wise, it turned out to be the right thing to do.

Yeah, well, I've had to sell off twice. Once when my wife lost her job (with good reason) and our income was halved overnight, and again when I filed for divorce and suddenly found myself owing lawyers tens of thousands. If I created a thread showing all the things I had to sell off... Well, I'm not so much a masochist as to do that.

Yes, the single shot was certainly one of the top half dozen or so.

 

[smokeywolf]

I'm pretty familiar with that divorce situation, but can happily say, the third time was a charm.

 

[pokute]

I be darned! And here I thought I was the sole fool left that had an admiration for the H+R's! Nice gun porn!

The '22 Special', the 195, 196, 197, and 199 are, without reservation, the finest series of revolvers (plus a single shot) ever made. The early ones with the "keyhole" barrels were designed, like the S&W target revolvers and single shots, for the shooter to add weights and shades and such. When High Standard discovered that what shooters really wanted was a REALLY heavy gun (the models C, D, and E were progressively heavier barreled models of the B), the H&R's were doomed, and the death of John Harrington sealed the deal. As RicinYakima discovered, Roper was just on the verge of switching the single action H&R's to set triggers. There are probably a couple of dozen set trigger H&R pistols kicking around.

The original match target Woodsman was too light for most shooters. If you look closely at the smiling champions of the 30's proudly holding their MT's close to their hearts, you will see an awful lot of old cloth electrical tape holding big hunks of drill rod in place along the front of the barrel!

 

[pokute]

I'm pretty familiar with that divorce situation, but can happily say, the third time was a charm.

Which shows that there is no limit to masochism, once you get started down the road.

 

[Rick]

Divorce wasn't a problem, I just squeezed her through the door and loaded her in the back of the truck. Dropped her off across town and by the time she hit every restaurant getting back she no longer fit through the door. Problem solved.

 

[RicinYakima]

Roper had an interesting life, worked for S&W for 40 years, retired in 1931 and did nice work for H&R. His two books published in 1945 and the one in 1949, Experiments of a HANDGUNNER, deserve a wider audience. I don't know when he died, but would have been 79 in 1949.