H&R 12 ga. SHOTGUN

1scooby1

I have aquired an H&R 12GA. single barrel shotgun. The serial # is 38252. It is marked HARRINGTON & RICHARDSON ARMS CO.;
WORCESTER,MASS.U.S.A.PAT.FEB.20&27.1900.
PAT.FEB.20&27.1900
PAT.MAY 14, 1901 also appear on the same side of the receiver above the barrel lock. Can anyone provide any history, value, ect?

Bert H.

Harrington & Richardson (H&R) was a second tier firearms manufacturer. They were in business for well over 100 years before closing up shop sometime in the mid 1980s. They were better known for making a plethora of inexpensive handguns (mostly revolvers).

Your old single barrel 12 ga. was primarily sold by hardware stores, and mail order stores (like Sears & Roebuck). I believe that they were made up to about WW II. Today, they are not considered to be "collector grade" guns, and typically sell for well under $100. Most of them are not safe to shoot with modern shotshells.

b.goforth

these patent dates indicate this is most likely the "model 1900", which was manufactured between 1901 and 1915. the model 1900 has a removable hinge pin and as the factory called them a two piece take down. in 1909 an improved version was introduced "model 1908" (factory called the model 1908 a three piece takedown). the model 1908 remained in production until 1942, although it did have a at least one name change during that time (after 1931 it was called the No.8 standard)

the only difference between the model 1900 and the model 1908 is the method of take down (removable hinge pin on the model 1900) and the model 1908's ability to handle smokeless powder loads. the model 1900 should be consider a black powder only shotgun and not fired with modern ammo.

there are no known H&R factory serial number records on these early shotgun so the only dating that can be done for now is the era of manufacture;
model 1900= 1901-1915
model 1908= 1909-1930
no.8 standard=1931-1942
the replacement for the no.8 standard was the "topper m48" introduced in 1943.

H&R's single barrel shotguns manufactured between 1901 and 1986 are covered in detail in my soon to be published book on H&R firearms.
bill