Info on H & R single shot shotgun
I have a shotgun that I bought a few years ago that I hope someone can answer some questions on. On the left side of the receiver is stamped HARRINGTON & RICHARDSON ARMS CO. WORCHESTER, MASS. USA. PAT. FEB. 27, 1900. It has a low 9*** serial number stamped on the barrel, on the lower receiver end and on the receiver behind the trigger. Stamped on top of the barrel, on the receiver end is 410-44 CAL. I would like to know what year this was made, if not 1900. I would also like to know what it might be worth. The blueing is gone on the barrel and receiver and is gray colored. The stock is cracked but a decent black friction tape job was done on it. Plus it is missing the rear butt plate on it. I would really like to know is what that 410-44 CAL. means, thats stamped on the barrel. A .44 mag shell will lock up in it with no problem but I will not run one through it. Hope to have some pictures up soon. Thanks for any and all help or info.
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coltwalker44bp,
I would NOT fire a .44 Magnum in that shotgun. What you have appears to be a gun that is intended for .44 shotshell:
http://www.fourten.org.uk/mwpre410.html
"Pre-Historic .410s - The .44 Shot Cartridges
By Marshall Williams."
Here is an excerpt from that page:
"The gentleman's question was an interesting one. He said that he had an old break-open, single-barrel shotgun which looked like a .410, but its barrel was marked ".44 cal." He wanted to shoot the little gun and needed to know what kind of ammunition it used and where he could find some.
His question came at a particularly opportune time. I had just done a little research on that very subject and was able to tell him that his gun had been made to use the nearly forgotten .44 shot and ball cartridges which were the predecessors of and inspiration for the .410 shotgun shell. Unfortunately, I also had to inform my new friend that no shootable ammunition is available; the little cartridges have been obsolete for half a century.
Long before the .410 bore shotgun shell arrived on the scene, a number of small shot guns were available which used a variety of .44 shot cartridges more or less interchangeably. These guns included not only the fairly common little break-open single barrel guns like my friend's, but smooth-bored Winchester lever action rifles, Colts Lightning slide action rifles, a few Colts big frame revolvers, Stevens single-shot, break-open pistols (commonly called "pocket shotguns"), and the last and possibly most famous gun to use the .44 shotshells, the Marble's Game Getter. Indeed, the Marble's Game Getter is so closely associated with the .44 shotshells that old cases often were marked ".44 GG.""
If a propper examination shows that your shotgun is sound, then you may benefit from this article:
http://www.fourten.org.uk/mw44.html
Shooting the .44 Shotgun
By Marshall Williams.
...which says, in part:
" The correct case for the .44 shotgun is essentially the basic .44-40 case. The rim diameter is .525 inches, and the base diameter (diameter just forward of the rim) is .471 inches. These dimensions are almost identical to the .410. The problem is that the .410 case is nearly straight at .471, while the .44-40 case tapers to a diameter of about .457 inches just .9 inches ahead where it has a small shoulder and then a short neck with a diameter of just .443 inches. Thus, a .410 case, even if shortened, should be too fat to go very far into the chamber. Overall length also is a problem. The .44-40 case is about 1.31 inches, while the .410 cases are 2, 2 1/2, and 3 inches long."
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EDIT: You are welcome, coltwalker44bp. Someone else can tell you more about your shotgun. They will want to see pictures, in order to help with their evaluation. I would like to see some, just because I like guns.[;)]0 -
BIGLOOP22, The article was very interesting. When it talked about using Black powder, for loading, this was what I was thinking. Using .44 Mag shells would blow it up. I just used one to check the fit. Thanks. 0 -
I have a few of these guns H&R as yours.A stevens tipup,H&A drop block,and stevens breakopen. They are 44XL shotguns.I Load for them using 44WCF brass 13 Gr.pryodex and T/C 44 shot capsules.tks.[:D]hedge 0
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