H&R 22 Special

[Buly34]

Hi, new member here just joined today and looking for some help!

I recently got an H&R 22 Special from my grandfather, serial #595xxx. Overall it is in great shape, but the cylinder has some scratches that I would like to make less noticeable. Any advice on how to do so without damaging the finish? Also from what I could find on here this is likely from the early 1940s, or is that way off?

DBC60301-97C6-4C49-BAAF-E82CF9184A41

• Buly34
• Aug 30, 2020

A26C3DD5-D045-4010-8CA3-027F020C521D

• Buly34
• Aug 30, 2020

2775A4D5-0590-4349-B89C-EC86360514D7

• Buly34
• Aug 30, 2020

thanks!

 

[beag_nut]

T'was my revolver I would leave it as is. That looks to be in wonderful shape. And the long barrel makes it even more special. If absolutely necessary one could apply some Brownell's Oxpho Blue to the scratches. And ONLY to the scratches. If that is beyond your capability, then send it to me, with no guarantee of a return(!). I REALLY like its looks!

 

[Buly34]

T'was my revolver I would leave it as is. That looks to be in wonderful shape. And the long barrel makes it even more special. If absolutely necessary one could apply some Brownell's Oxpho Blue to the scratches. And ONLY to the scratches. If that is beyond your capability, then send it to me, with no guarantee of a return(!). I REALLY like its looks!

If there is any risk of making it worse I won’t mess with it. Do you happen to know if that time era is roughly correct? I saw there were a lot of rare models but this seemed to be a late model one from what I found.

 

[JTHunter]

Buly - if I am seeing those scratches correctly, they appear to be circling the cylinder as if something was protruding from the frame. You might want a good gunsmith take a look to see if something is out of place at either the bottom of the frame (under the back edge of the cylinder) or under the top-break upper frame. That latter might require the removal of the cylinder to take a closer look. I believe that is more important than the cosmetic looks of the pistol as it looks fine otherwise.
Good luck !

 

[Buly34]

Buly - if I am seeing those scratches correctly, they appear to be circling the cylinder as if something was protruding from the frame. You might want a good gunsmith take a look to see if something is out of place at either the bottom of the frame (under the back edge of the cylinder) or under the top-break upper frame. That latter might require the removal of the cylinder to take a closer look. I believe that is more important than the cosmetic looks of the pistol as it looks fine otherwise.
Good luck !

Yes I first thought the small ring was part of the design but realized it is scratches. I think either my grandfather or someone before him must have done it while removing/installing the cylinder. The lock tab on top looks to be the exact piece that created the mark. My guess is someone was rotating it while putting it back on? Shame because its the only real flaw on the piece.

 

[ontarget]

First, welcome to THR. Lots of great knowledge here.
Second, I would probably just oil it up and shoot it as is. Every mark on a gun tells a little bit of its story.

 

[Pat Riot]

Welcome to The High Road

Personally, I wouldn’t bother trying to cover those scratches. You might just make it look worse. Besides, it has character. It was your Grandfather’s gun. I am sure he would just want you to shoot it and enjoy it.

I wish I could help you with your question on when it was made.

 

[theotherwaldo]

I've got its twin brother. Wonderful little gun. I've used up most of my .22 longs on it.

 

[WestKentucky]

Definitely seems to line up with the topbreak locking strap. I would clean it carefully and look for anything out of place, possibly a spring protruding from the hinge and dragging the cylinder. The issue with using a bluing solution to repair a finish is that they CAN react to the original bluing and make a funky look. I have seen touch up jobs go bad and people often end up wishing they had never tried it. Sometimes they end up doing a faux color case hardening look using the bluing solution.

 

[Buly34]

Definitely seems to line up with the topbreak locking strap. I would clean it carefully and look for anything out of place, possibly a spring protruding from the hinge and dragging the cylinder. The issue with using a bluing solution to repair a finish is that they CAN react to the original bluing and make a funky look. I have seen touch up jobs go bad and people often end up wishing they had never tried it. Sometimes they end up doing a faux color case hardening look using the bluing solution.

I had it apart and nothing is noticeably out of place. I think someone previously caused the damage by not having the cylinder properly seated and rotating it fully.

 

[WestKentucky]

I had it apart and nothing is noticeably out of place. I think someone previously caused the damage by not having the cylinder properly seated and rotating it fully.

Good! Best bet is to get a bluing pen or similar item which will help to hide the scratch by darkening it. It is NOT bluing, but rather a color of sorts that blends in with bluing. I have used one several times to touch up little things like that to make them less noticeable. If you find an actual cold bluing solution and try to use that, then make sure that you test an area that is hidden such as under the grips on the frame. My H&R 999 did NOT react poorly with BC cold bluing solution, but I absolutely cannot speak for their finishes over the course of time because their methods likely changed.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

I think your pretty close on the time period. The earlier models has a saw handle grip on them.
This is my 1925-1927 22 special. I can't remember but maybe in the mid to late 1930s they went to the grips like your revolver has.

The gun was called the 22 special but there was also a 22 special caliber. So you have to be careful with that,

The 22 special caliber of 22 ammo I believe had a little larger diameter case and it wouldn't fit in a 22 long rifle chamber, but the 22 long rifle would fit in the 22 special chamber.
These guns could be either caliber. My 22 Special revolver in the picture above is chambered in 22 long rifle caliber.

There was a member here that had a lot of knowledge and information on the H&R revolvers and would date them for us if we sent him the S/N, I can't remember who he was. He could tell you what span of years your Grandfather's revolver was made.

 

[BigBlue 94]

Ill second the 40s timeframe.

Not an expensive gun, but definitely a neat one. I have an H&R premier top break 22 myself. 7 shots I believe.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

My 22 special 1925-1927 is a seven shot top break also.
I see Bully's is a 9 shot. The saw handle grips on mine are the harded grips to handle I've had my hands on an the sights are microscopic.
Seriously hard to shoot.
Bully's looks much more user friendly.

 

[Gordon]

".22 Special " is usually the .22 WRF which is a shorter more lightly loaded .22 Win Mag . I have a Colt Police Positive Target in .22 Special , it shoots the same ammo as my 1890 Winchester pump .22 WRF . It is indeed a couple thousands larger bullet and case

 

[Jim Watson]

Yes. But if you had a Remington pump for that round, it would be marked .22 Remington Special.

 

[Gordon]

Yes. But if you had a Remington pump for that round, it would be marked .22 Remington Special.

you can still, sporadically get .22 WRF from CCI and maybe Winchester. The Remington .22 special rounds are long gone. I don't believe there was much or any difference. The original specs for it were 45 grains at 1400 fps from a 24" barrel . My pistol gets a 920 FPS from 6" barrel and my pump about 1325 FPS from the Winchester ammo I have over a thousand rounds left . I have a couple hundred CCI rounds but they say "not for pistol" .
The Colt Police Positive .22 WRF is on the bottom

 

[Buly34]

you can still, sporadically get .22 WRF from CCI and maybe Winchester. The Remington .22 special rounds are long gone. I don't believe there was much or any difference. The original specs for it were 45 grains at 1400 fps from a 24" barrel . My pistol gets a 920 FPS from 6" barrel and my pump about 1325 FPS from the Winchester ammo I have over a thousand rounds left . I have a couple hundred CCI rounds but they say "not for pistol" .
The Colt Police Positive .22 WRF is on the bottom
View attachment 939510

nice collection!

 

[Dudemeister]

I used to have one just like it, but traded it to my son for his Taurus PT92.

If you' really set on getting rid of the scratches, you can try to re-blue the area. Someone mentioned Oxpho-Blue, which is a great blueing solution, but it won't match the finish on that gun, it will actually look too blue compared to the light-grey bluing they used to do in those days. The closest I've come to that old "rust blue" look, is Birchwood Casey Perma-Blue. It will require multiple applications until you get it to the right shade, but it won't come out looking blue.

 

[Jim Watson]

The Colt Police Positive .22 WRF is on the bottom

My boss had one of those, Police Positive Target .22 WRF. Neat little gun, enough bigger than a Smith HFT to be more shootable but no ammo in those days.

 

[Gordon]

My boss had one of those, Police Positive Target .22 WRF. Neat little gun, enough bigger than a Smith HFT to be more shootable but no ammo in those days.

I did'nt want to say it BUT the .22WRF has startled me with being way more powerful as a game killer than the .22LR for me. It does so with less blast than a Stinger , which is pretty good too, but different in it's small animal killing power. The .22 WRF has as much velocity as all but the ultra .22 LR loads BUT has a flat nose 45 grain bullet. For a couple years I had a problem with feral cat explosion from daft neighbors. I wanted a quiet way to make the DRN from under 25 yards. This was in Ca. and no suppressors . I found my old 1890 Winchester pump in .22 WRF with the Winchester repop load smashed the biggest cats (or raccoons) bone structure and you got a rope of blood entrance and exit ! All with a mild report in its 25" barrel. The Police Positive Target in same cal is similar in effect for Raccoons and skunks around the house at close range. I load that load in .22WinMag s chambered guns too.

 

[Jim Watson]

Neat.
Elmer Keith said he wished they had brought back the .25 Stevens instead of magnumizing the .22.