Age of a H&R top break

[somethingbenign]

Was hanging with a buddy and he showed me a old revolver he inherited from his father. H&R and other information printed on the top of the barrel, 32 S&W CART printed on the left side of the barrel, and the serial number on the bottom of the grip as well as the left side under the grip panel. I did some searching and narrowed it down between 1905 and 1940 but still a pretty wide gap. Serial number is 244xxx.

 

[Col. Harrumph]

No shirt, no shoes, no mask, no pics: no service. Life useta wuz simpler.

 

[Jim Watson]

I give up.
I ordered books on HR and IJ just so I can look such stuff up. I hope they are more informative than SCSW.

 

[somethingbenign]

No shirt, no shoes, no mask, no pics: no service. Life useta wuz simpler.

Sorry owner was uncomfortable with me posting pictures online. Told him I'd at least try to find something out.

 

[Jim Watson]

I understand people being reluctant to show pictures of their high end guns, I just yesterday read of a fraud offering a nice pistol for sale with a picture of a gun from across the country. But a H&R? Help us out.

 

[somethingbenign]

I hear ya. I'll pester my bud a bit and see if I can get his blessing as long as I keep the serial numbers out of it. I was just too hopeful in the wizardry that goes on around here with how little I had.

 

[TTv2]

I give up.
I ordered books on HR and IJ just so I can look such stuff up. I hope they are more informative than SCSW.

Is the H&R book worth the money? I like .32 S&W revolvers and find the HR top break I have to be a good gun and would love to buy more at the prices they cost. Would Bill Goforth's book be a good resource for me to have?

 

[Col. Harrumph]

I've found his IJ book to be a well written and well illustrated, valuable resource. I know nothing about his HR book.

 

[Jim Watson]

I ordered the Vorisek books, the Goforth is hard to find and probably expensive when found.

 

[Monac]

Gun Show Books has both the Goforth Iver Johnson book and the Goforth/Hauff H&R book: https://www.gunshowbooks.com/

The H&R book is $90 (plus at least $5 shipping). This is because it is a 628 page hardcover. It is extremely comprehensive, and goes through the end of pistol production at the successor company, New England Firearms. It also includes H&R rifles and shotguns. It is the last H&R book you will ever need.

The Goforth Iver Johnson book is also very good, although not as massive as the H&R book. It is $50 plus shipping. It is a 232 page softcover.

You could try Ebay or the various used book websites to see if you can get cheaper copies.

BTW, I cannot recommend the Vorisek Hopkins & Allen book if your main interest in H&R is the Safety Police revolvers. For some reason, he barely mentions them. The rest of the book is excellent, especially on their "Suicide Special" type pistols. Charles Carder did a good specialized monograph on the Safety Police guns.