![]() 38-caliber double-action pocket revolver in addition to full-size sidearms. Among other noted users, Frank Hamer-the famed Texas Ranger who finally stopped Depression-era outlaw duo Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, killing them from ambush near Gibsland, La., on May 23, 1934-carried a small-frame, five-shot. By then the company had plenty of competition in the small-frame revolver niche from such respected makers as Hopkins & Allen, Forehand & Wadsworth, Iver Johnson and Thames Arms. Presumably for protection against such ne’er-do-wells as notorious con man Soapy Smith and cohorts, scores of gold seekers carried the low-cost H&R hammerless double-action revolver. A period of especially brisk sales for H&R accompanied the 1896–99 Klondike Gold Rush to the District of Alaska and Yukon Territory. and other favorite targets of highwaymen were also fond of carrying a top-break small-frame double-action revolver or two. Messengers and detectives with Wells Fargo & Co. In photographs of settlers bound for the Cherokee Strip land run in 1893 one can spot, in addition to the standard Sharps or Spencer rifle, small-frame double-action revolvers in many a holster. Among those pocketing the hammerless five-shooters was famed Texas Ranger Frank Hamer, photographed here during the 1934 hunt for Depression-era outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, which ended with the duo’s deaths that May 23rd.Īs the Old West gave way to the turn of the century, such small-frame double-action revolvers appealed to many a ranch hand who, given weight considerations and tamer times, had grown weary of lugging around heavier hardware. H&R’s small-frame double-action revolvers proved especially popular with ranch hands and lawmen weary of lugging heavier hardware. The latter’s version was nicknamed the “lemon squeezer,” a moniker eventually applied to all hammerless double-action models. Introduced in 1887, the design caught on.Īlready at work on a similar design, H&R soon patented its own hammerless revolver with enough internal differences to avoid any infringement on S&W’s model. Another of S&W’s revolutionary double-action revolvers was its small-frame safety hammerless revolver. 45 S&W Schofield models, which ejected empty cases out of the cylinder on opening to reload-a welcome time (and, potentially, life) saver. (Left: Internet Archive Right: Reading Room 2020 (Alamy Stock Photo))Īmong H&R’s leading competitors, Smith & Wesson had pioneered the top-break action in the United States with its larger. Dubbed the “lemon squeezer,” the latter proved a popular, lightweight pocket gun. Side-by-side advertisements illustrate the progression of H&R’s small-frame pocket revolvers from the 1870s new model at left, pitched in the pages of Harper’s Weekly, to the later hammerless model praised at right in a 1908 brochure. By decade’s end the company’s top-break models had become the mainstays of its line. H&R entered the scene with its five- or six-shot Model 1880 solid-frame double-action revolver in. As a shooter no longer needed to cock the hammer before each shot, such revolvers were considered the “semiautomatics” of their day. By the late 1870s the double-action revolver came into vogue. Small-frame pocket “wheel guns” were popular in the Old West, most often as an extra measure of life insurance. The H&R line expanded and improved over time, making both solid-frame and top-break revolvers. Starting up production in 1877, H&R produced untold millions of revolvers, from early single-action models using rimfire cartridges to later double-action models using. Richardson had forged the namesake partnership destined to become one of the longest surviving firearms manufacturers in the region, though not until 1888 did Harrington & Richardson Arms Co. By 1876 Harrington and former Wesson employee William A. Four years later Wesson branched out on his own and sold his shares to Harrington. Wesson of Smith & Wesson fame) formed a short-lived partnership under the name Wesson & Harrington. Harrington and Frank Wesson (brother of Daniel B. In 1871 Massachusetts-based gunmakers Gilbert H. Often overlooked in the history of firearms out West was the H&R line of revolvers, innovative spur-trigger models with origins back East. ![]() The ‘Lemon Squeezer’ Proved a Popular Backup Gun Close ![]()
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