Harrington and Richardson model 1904

**blondie** · November 16th, 2010, 09:07 PM

Hi Everybody,
I am a new member from Canada. I own a revolver made by Harrington and Richardson model 1904. The barrel is 4.5 inches long and the caliber is .38 and the serial number is 7979. I got it from my father many years ago. He bougt it from a military before 1940. I would like to know more about the history of this revolver. I have contacted the company and they do not have any information concerning that type of gun. I am not interested to make money with it but just learn more about it. Thanks

**imashooter2** · November 16th, 2010, 11:08 PM

A PM to member "32 Magnum" pointing to this thread might help. He's an H&R expert.

**knight0334** · November 16th, 2010, 11:37 PM

MODEL 1904 LARGE SOLID FRAME DOUBLE ACTION (SMOKELESS POWDER)

- .38 S&W cal., 5 shot, 2½, 4½ or 6 in. barrel, hard rubber target logo grips, pull pin cylinder release, blue or nickel finish, marked with company name and address on left side of barrel and on top strap in two lines "H&R DOUBLE ACTION MODEL 1904 .38 CAL.", after 1930 listed in catalogs as: H&R MODEL 4 DOUBLE ACTION No. 83 .38 S&W CALIBER 5 shot. Mfg. 1905-1941.

Take note, the chambering is ".38 S&W", not ".38 S&W Special". They are different cartridges.

**32 Magnum** · November 17th, 2010, 09:51 AM

Blondie,
Knight0334 has given you our current Blue Book "blurb" on the Model 1904/04.
Here's a bit of back ground info:
This model was designed to replace the AMERICAN DOUBLE ACTION, which had been in production since circa 1883 and was considered "obsolete." The Model 1904 was first catalogued in 1905 and featured some modest changes to the lock work and frame from the ADA. It is generally believed that the 1904 was less costly to produce, but was intended to be as reliable and sturdy as the ADA. For some reason, unknown at this time, this model never caught on, was produced and sold in limited numbers and never replaced the ADA, which remained in production, as a parallel model, untill both were discontinued around the start of WW2 (1942 or so.)
The 1904 was offered in: 6 shot .32 S&W Long or 5 shot .38 S&W, both Nickel plated and blued finish (the blued version seems to have been favored as more of these show up); with 2.5, 4.5 and 6" octagonal barrels; solid frame with pull pin cylinder release, DA/SA, and had a "different" grip frame than the ADA and had two piece, black hard rubber panels with the H&R "Target" logo and shaped to fit into a semi-cicular cut-out at the top.
At some point, the H&R began to mark the top strap as Model 04 for the .32s and Model 1904 for the .38s.

**blondie** · November 17th, 2010, 10:28 PM

Thank you all for your quick answers. I did not know that the model number was corresponding to the calendar year. My revolver is chrome or nickel and the barrel is octogonal. Do you think that there is a lot in circulation today? Mine is still working but I do not use often. We do not have the possibility to transport that kind of pistol here in Canada. Even if it is registered, it is very difficult to obtain authorization to move it from one place to the other without a good reason.

**knight0334** · November 18th, 2010, 10:08 AM

Originally Posted by blondie

Thank you all for your quick answers. I did not know that the model number was corresponding to the calendar year. My revolver is chrome or nickel and the barrel is octogonal. Do you think that there is a lot in circulation today? Mine is still working but I do not use often. We do not have the possibility to transport that kind of pistol here in Canada. Even if it is registered, it is very difficult to obtain authorization to move it from one place to the other without a good reason.

Some gun manufacturers gave a model number to a gun that corresponds to a year. Winchester and Marlin are most noted for doing that. The 1904 is based on a couple models that were made prior.

There are some 1904's still out there. Maybe not as many as other mass produced guns, but you can find one if you know where to look.

**32 Magnum** · November 18th, 2010, 07:14 PM

Blondie,
Your 1904 is NICKEL plated. In this case the Model number corresponds to the year production began. From the serial numbers that I've seen, I would roughly estimate that the production of 1904s didn't exceed 200,000 pieces - seems like a lot, but the American Double Action 2nd Model runs to over 700,000, while the first Model (black powder) appears to have been produced in at least 300,000 pieces.
I have purchase all the 1904 Model pieces in my collection from on-line auctions. However, in Canada, you are going to run into cross border problems. Perhaps you can speak to a licensed gun dealer up there to find out what the deal is????? Good luck.