Guns Illustrated 2011. Dan ShidelerЧитать онлайн книгу.
to the Model 732 but in chrome finish with white plastic grips.
H&R Model 900: An economy-grade nine-shooter chambered for .22 rimfire. 2-1/2-,4- and 6-inch barrels with blued finish and plastic grips. Introduced 1962 and dropped one year later.
H&R Model 901: Similar to Model 900 but with chrome finish and white plastic grips.
Model 929 Sidekick: This was H&R’s first swing-out cylinder model. Introduced in 1956, it merited mention in the editorial section of the 1956 Gun Digest, one of the very few times that august publication deigned to do so. Barrels were 2-1/2-, 4 and 6 inches. Blued finish with checkered plastic grips. Discontinued 1985.
New England Firearms Model R73: Based on the older Model 732, this was a 3-inch-barreled fi ve-shooter chambered in .32 H&R Magnum. Blue or nickel finish with hardwood grips. Introduced in 1988 and dropped in 1999. The scarcest of H&R’s tacklebox guns.
New England Firearms Model R92: The last incarnation of the Model 929. A .22 rimfire nine-shooter with blue or nickel finish and hardwood grips. Introduced in 1988 and dropped in 1999.
REMOVABLE-CYLINDER MODELS
H&R Model 532: A five-shooter chambered in .32 H&R Magnum. Blued finish with hardwood grips. Introduced 1984 and dropped one year later. A remarkably difficult gun to find.
H&R Model 622: H&R’s plain vanilla tacklebox gun. A .22 rimfire six-shooter with blued finish and plastic grips. 2-1/2-, 4- and 6-inch barrels; introduced in 1957 and dropped in 1963.
H&R Model 623: Similar to the Model 622 but in chrome finish with white plastic grips.
H&R Model 632 Guardsman: A .32 S&W Short or Long six-shooter with 2-1/2- or 4-inch barrel and blued finish with black plastic grips. Centerfire version of the Model 622. Introduced around 1950 and discontinued around 1957.
H&R Model 733 Guardsman: Similar to the Model 732 but with chrome finish and white plastic grips.
H&R Model 922: Similar to the Model 622 but with a nine-shot cylinder and 4-, 6- or 10-inch barrel (the latter being called the “Trapper Model”). Introduced as early as 1919 and reintroduced around 1950 without the 10-inch barrel option. Wood (early production) or reddish-brown or black plastic grips. Discontinued in 1985.
H&R Model 923: Similar to Model 922 but with nickel or chrome finish and black or white plastic grips (walnut on early models).
When Marlin acquired H&R 1871/New England Firearms in November of 2000, they dropped all handgun models permanently. The only lasting reminder of the tacklebox gun is, oddly enough, the .32 H&R Magnum cartridge, an excellent little number that was first chambered in H&R’s Model 532.
Most H&R tacklebox guns can be had for under $200, even in Excellent or Mint in Box condition. The few models chambered for .32 H&R Magnum may go as high as $275. At these prices, I’m tempted to buy as many of these little boogers as I can find. If I run out of places to store them, I suppose I can always buy more tackleboxes.
MUZZLE LOADERS BY WM. HOVEY SMITH
The numbers and varieties of muzzleloading guns offered to American consumers continue to evolve. Some companies have reduced or eliminated traditional muzzleloaders to concentrate on newer muzzleloader or cartridge guns. Nonetheless, CVA has upgraded their entire line of muzzleloaders, Dixie Gun Works is importing two new Davide Pedersoli guns, Pedersoli continues to introduce new guns, Thompson/Center Arms has a new drop-barrel in-line and Traditions has new lightweight rifles and a hunter’s pistol.
Although Knight Rifles has discontinued gun production and is looking for a buyer, the company maintains a repair and accessory sales offi ce in Ohio. Some Knight guns were offered through Sportsman’s Warehouse at discounted prices, and these guns sold out within days.
Navy Arms Co. no longer sells muzzle-loading guns, and CVA and Thompson/ Center have almost completely discontinued their side-lock rifles and smoothbores. However, there is still moderate interest in replica military smoothbores and shotguns.
WHY USE SMOOTHBORES?
Smoothbore muzzleloaders are a mystery to many shooters who hunt with in-line rifles. Users of the newer muzzleloaders often don’t understand how an unrifled gun can shoot accurately enough to kill anything but small game with birdshot.
I don’t shoot everything with smoothbore guns; I also hunt with muzzleloading rifles and pistols. I have taken ducks, geese, swan, quail, dove, guinea fowl, pheasant, squirrels, rabbits, deer, hogs, bison and a blue wildebeest with smoothbores. If there is something that I have not shot with a smoothbore, it is only because I haven’t gotten around to it.
Smoothbore guns come in and out of the market. Some of those that I describe have not been made for decades. With the demise of Knight Rifles the most advanced muzzleloading smoothbore ever made, the TK-2000, is out of production. The bright side is that Davide Pedersoli and others still offer traditional military and sporting muzzle-loaders for reenactors and hunters.
At present, Davide Pedersoli has a variety of sporting and military smoothbore guns that are sold by several importers; MDM has a 209-primed break-action shotgun; and Thompson/Center Arms’ Custom Shop sells a muzzleloading turkey barrel for Encore-frame guns.
One source of original guns, a few of which are sound enough to be shot, is Atlanta Cutlery, who imported thousands of muzzleloaders from the Royal Arsenal of Nepal. Many were made in India or Nepal and are smoothbore versions of English-designed rifles, including the Brunswick and Enfi eld patterns.
Author with Earnst Dyason and buffalo.
SMOOTHBORE GUNS, LOADS AND GAME TAKEN
Abbreviations: T7=Triple Seven, SG=Small game, P=Pheasant, D=Ducks, G=Geese, S=Swan, Tk=Turkey, BG=Big Game Notes:
1) Powder is GOEX FFg black powder unless otherwise designated.
2) With the Austin & Halleck and TK-2000 I use 1-1/4-ounce by volume of HeviShot for waterfowl or the approximately equivalent 1-3/8-oz of lead shot for turkey.
3) Atlanta Cutlery sells guns only as collector’s items. Many are unsafe to shoot. Only exceptional guns that have been shot with proof charges should be used.
4) Powder charges are increased for round ball loads used on big game.
A JAPANESE MATCHLOCK
Tanegashima, or Tagie for short, is a Japanese matchlock that I recommend to anyone who wants the maximum hunting experience but does not want to clean much game. I have not been lucky enough to have a deer in front if it when it was inclined to shoot.
With a patched .50-caliber round ball and a load of 85 grains of FFg black powder, this gun will shoot 4-inch groups at 50 yards once its numerous eccentricities are mastered. Matchlocks, this one included, also sometimes fire spontaneously. This is the heaviest charge that I can use in this gun with a degree of comfort.
BROWN BESS MUSKET
Bess, a .75-caliber fl intlock musket, was imported from Japan by Dixie Gun Works and is now made by Davide Pedersoli. This “Indian Gun” variation of the Brown Bess musket has a shortened browned barrel, robust lock and is .75- caliber or 11 gauge. The instant I saw it, I thought that this gun had the potential of being a serious waterfowler. This proved to be correct, and it has taken a variety of game. One accomplishment was killing the first “fl intlocked” swan in living memory at Lake Mattamuskeet, North Carolina.
Bess has also taken two deer with single shots. Shooting round ball with a gun that has no rear sight takes skill in that the face must be positioned in exactly the same spot on the stock for consistent results.