HARRINGTON & RICHARDSON Young America Safety Hammer

Item Description

FIREARM HISTORY AND FEATURES:

H&R 1871, LLC, or more commonly known as Harrington & Richardson, is an American firearms manufacturer that was in business from 1871 till 1986.
Since that time, the H&R brand and all of the company’s remaining assets have been acquired and owned by various other firearm manufacturing companies like Marlin Firearms and Later Remington Outdoor Company.
Over its years of operation H&R produced various models of revolvers, single-shot target pistols, single-shot and muzzle-loading rifles, and single-shot, pump-action and semi-automatic shotguns.

H&R built flare guns during WW I and a variety of military firearms during WW II including the Reising submachine gun, and a .22 training rifle for the USMC called the Leatherneck in several models.
H&R was granted a contract to produce the M1 carbine during the Korean War, and also manufactured M16A1 rifles during the Vietnam War and is one of only four manufacturers (along with Colt, FN, & GM Hydramatic Division) to have ever made an official M16 variant for the U.S. Military.
H&R was also awarded one of three contracts to produce the M14 rifle between 1959 and 1964, and became the largest producer of M14s, manufacturing over 500,000 rifles in total.

‘Young America’ is a series of H&R double-action, solid frame, compact revolvers manufactured from 1884 to 1941.
Approximately 1,500,000 Young America revolvers chambered in .22 and .32 calibers were made.
Standard barrel lengths were 2.5″ and 4.5″, while 5.5″ also existed but in small numbers. The First model, designed for black powder cartridges, was manufactured from 1884 to 1904 and was later replaced with the Second model designed for smokeless powder cartridges, which were produced from 1905 till 1941.
Variants of Young America revolvers include ‘Young America Bulldog’, chambered in .32 Rimfire, and the ‘Young America Safety Hammer’ with a bobbed hammer, patented in 1887.

FIREARM CONDITION:

This gun is in very good to excellent, used condition. It is mechanically sound and functional.
The overall nickel-plated finish is still in excellent condition with no discernible scratches or wear marks.
There is only some extremely light wear along the edges of the trigger guard.
The original grips are very good except for a very small chip to the bottom, left grip panel.

FIREARM SUITABILITY:

This firearm is designed for extreme concealed/pocket carry for self-defense.
It certainly meets this criteria when it comes to weight and size, but I would be cautious about carrying a .32 S&W revolver, especially one with only 5 rounds and no easy/fast reload, as your main self-defense firearm.

The very old .32 S&W cartridge may be quite difficult to source easily, and possibly also relatively expensive.

This revolver may be best suited as a “plinking” or fun, target-shooting firearm, or as part of a collection.