H&R TOPPER MODELS
over 30 years ago I bought a Deluxe Topper 488 chrome/nickle plate receiver shotgun with a 410 barrel I have been told that a 30-30 winchester barrel was also available for this gun, as well as some other caliber rifle and shotgun sizes ,any information and or source of such barrels would be apreaciated
Jim Olsen
Jim Olsen
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the H&R shotguns were NOT available with rifle barrels. there were combo guns made in the 1970 with different barrels but they were rifle recievers fitted with extra shotgun and rifle barrels. they looked the same as other H&R shotguns but were a bit more beefier. one of the rifle reciever may sometime fit other shotgun barrels without fitting but a shotgun reciever can be dangerous when fitted with a rifle barrel. which is why the present H&R 1871 will not fit any of their barrels to original H&R frames and they are correct in doing so.
simply put shotgun reciever are a NO for rifle barrels
rifle recievers are yes for shotgun or rifle barrel
bill0 -
reply to b.goforth
thank you for your quick reply to my posting, it was much appreciated
my deluxe topper M 488 has a nickle plated receiver, with a swing lever to open the receiver. the serial # appears to be 000227.
the fore stock is a snap on type.There are no other markings, do you know of a way I could tell if it is a combo gun, able to take the 30-30 and 22 rifle barrels
olsenboat0 -
The earlier H&R Topper Models 058 and 158 were combination shotgun/low pressure rifle barrel sets. The earliest ones had a snap on forearm, this changed to a screw on bolt fairly early on.
The combinations, if I recall, were 30/30; 22 Jet; 22 Hornet; 20 gauge; and 12 gauge with 20 gauge and 30/30 being the most common. I have a Model 058 combination with a 20 gauge and a 30/30 barrel.
I thought all serial numbers started with either an N (New England Firearms) or a date code like AA, AB, AC etc where the second letter corresponded to the date. I have an AZ serial number which corresponds to 1985.
None of these barrels will fit a modern H&R Handi Rifle nor will the Handi Rifle barrels fit an older model. The modern Handi Rifle is manufactured in rifle (SB2) frames and shotgun (SB1) frames and H&R will not fit a barrel to an SB1 frame although they did come with low pressure rifle calibers originally.
There is a forum dedicated to the H&R handi rifles that lists a lot of information, try;
http://www.go2gbo.com/forums/index.php/board,126.0.html
Dan R0 -
the model 488 was manufactured between 1951 and 1955 almost 12 years before the combo gun were introduced in 1963. the first combo was simply called the 4 in 1 but was changed to model 158 combo later. the serial number letter code in use during the production of the model 488 were; 1951=L, 1952=M, 1953=N, 1954=P and 1955=R
your gun was never offered as a combo. in 1940 H&R started using a letter code to denote the year of manufacture. they started at A=1940 and after skipping a few letters finally reach the end of the alphabet in Z=1963. then they started over with AA and by the end of production in 1986 had reach BC=1986. new england firearms company started the whole thing over again in 1987=NA.
what most people don't know is in 1987 a company called new england firearms and later called H&R 1871 are not the same company as the old H&R Arms co. NEF did purchase the old factory building in Gardner, MA and its machinery. they wanted people to think they were a contintion of the old company but they were not, they never supported the old H&R Arms Co products. the products they produced were not of the quality of the old H&R company. NEF/H&R 1871 went through a lot of name changing until they were purchased by Marlin in 1999 and quality improved a whole lot. since then Marlin has been purchased by the partent company of Remington, the Gardner factory has been closed and every thing moved to one of Remington's locations.
the old H&A Arms Co. closed its doors in 1986 and none of the companies using the name or simular names had nothing in common with it. i have included some information on the products of NEF/H&R 1871 through 1999 in my up comming H&R books but only a product list and serial number date chart through 1999. i believe marlin still used the serial number system started by NEF in 1987 but i have not idea of what serial number system is used after remington took over.
bill0 -
I don't mean to hijack this thread, but it seems that several of the posters who've replied are H&R experts. If you could answer a question for me I would greatly appreciate it. I have a H&R Topper 158 16 ga, snap on forearm, with no serial number....other than the identifying gauge/choke info, the only information on the frame is the patent info " AB-U.S. PAT. 2876576". I have had this gun since the early 1970's. I would like to buy a 30-30 barrel for this frame. Can this frame be safely used with the 30-30 barrel....or will I have to have the barrel fitted to the frame by a gunsmith? Or should I just look for a complete from the factory H&R Topper 30-30?
Thanks...0 -
the answer is the same as i gave at the beginning of this thread and none of the other information seem to have sunk in. YOU CAN NOT USE A RIFLE BARREL ON A SHOTGUN FRAME. your model 158 in 16 gauge is not a combo (rifle) it is a shotgun frame.
the manufacture date of this model 158 with the letter codes AB is 1965.
combo's models were offered with a 20 gauge and a very few early ones in 410 bore. if you have a model 158, 058 or that was purchased as a shotgun DO NOT PUT A RIFLE BARREL ON IT.
bill0 -
These are a few of the H&R Barrels I Have collected over the years
H&R 155 / 157 / 158. Started with a 1984 Combo 158 in 20 Ga wtih 22 Hornet. These are factory Barrels, some factory prototypes. Some may not be for the Models listed. NOT FOR SALE
218 Bee
22 Jet
22 Jet Magnum
219 Zipper
22LR (prototype) Neat
22 Mag (prototype)
22 Hornet
22 Hornet Imp Ackey (prototype)
222 Remington
223 Remington
38 Spec
357 mag
357 Maximum
30-30
9 MM (insert for 12 ga ) Marked H&R
32-20
35 Rem
410 Rifled (prototype)
44 Mag
45-70 (prototype)0 -
b.goforth; Thanks for the info....but I could do without the sarcasm. Not knowing what type of frame I had (shotgun only vs combo rifle compatable) was a legit question. Since you said the "combo" variant was introduced in 1963, I thought the frames were standardized from then on to accept rifle barrels as part of the 158 series. Maybe I read too much into your response. What you said about the shotgun only frame not being safe to use with a rifle barrel made sense and was extremely helpful from a safety stand point. 0
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