Hi, gang. ASSRA member for about 8 years. Got an H&A a friend wants me to ID and possibly sell for him, but I am stumped. I’m looking for anyone really well-versed in Hopkins & Allens. Please don’t guess on this stuff; the local guys and I have been around the block a hundred times on it and we’ve got more guesses than you can imagine. The closest we’ve come to real facts is my copy of Frank de Haas’s book “Single Shot Rifles And Actions.”

I believe this gun to be a very early H&A Junior falling block rifle (small action). It came as a .32 rf with a 22” round barrel. The front site blade is missing from the fore-aft slot in the barrel. The barrel markings are (first line) MADE BY THE HOPKINS & ALLEN MANFG. CO. NORWICH CONN. U.S.A. (second line) THE MERWIN HULBERT & CO. JUNIOR (although the die for the “O” in “CO.” in this line is broken and reads sooooo much like “CC.”). The barrel is retained by a take-down screw (with wire loop) from under the frame. Receiver has been reblued to a matte black. It has been converted to centerfire. The bluing on the original barrel is thin and faded in spots, and it has been relined in the original bore (.32) but not chambered. My friend made a second barrel, approx. 1/3 octagon, 2/3 round  in .25-25 (aka “The Golf Pencil”) to shoot (yes, he’s a little imbalanced, just like the rest of us Single-Shot loonies; and a word of warning – he never got the .25-25 to shoot). 

deHaas states that these guns came with 24” or 26” barrels, so yes, it is possible 2” of the barrel were cut off and the slot cut; I can’t tell from the photos in the de Haas book how the front sight was mounted in the barrel. Can anyone with an original H&A to tell me?

Most of the gun’s appearance and features match the photos in de Haas’s book except for some notable issues/questions:

a) In the de Hass book, the first three photos in Chapter 32-Part 3 (page 207 & 8 in my edition) purport to show a “New Model Junior or Model 922 action”, “Model 922 rifle” or “New Model Junior action opened”. The actions all have three screws, more or less in a line from rear to front of the side of the frame, some coming from the right, some from the left. Each of these photos shows an action with the center (extractor) and forward (finger-lever) screws much closer together than on my rifle. Then, on the next page (209), the see-through diagram and the (poor) photo of the disassembled action show the center and forward screw holes that match the separation on my action. Anyone have any insight into the variation? Is it possibly a diffrence between the .22 rimfire and .32 RF rifles/actions?

b) And this one really has me scratching my head. Again in the de Haas book, on page 208 is a chart that describes the diffference in the actions. It states that the small “M/922” action is 1.00” thick, and the “Medium action” is 1.20” thick. My gun has an action 1.20” thick (!). Yet compared to the photos, it is definitely not the medium action shown on page 211. (The front of my action, where the take-down screw comes up through the bottom, is much shorter on the Medium action). Anyone have any info on this???

c) It has the number “135” on the front of the receiver and the original barrel shank, where de Haas said it would be. COULD THIS POSSIBLY BE THE REAL SERIAL NUMBER???

Any H&A experts out there?

Thanks, Marcus

Thanks Moodyholler. By the way, either of those 922s marked on the barrel "MERWIN HULBERT", then what model it is?

And the serial numbers - couldn't be that you and I are just lucky, could it?

Again, thank you. This data helps. It doesn't answer the questions, but it tells me there may not be any answers ... 

M.

Forgot to say-the dims in Dehaas book will not be the same as yours, as the H & A burned down in 1900 and was a total loss- The dims stated are from the H & A "junior", which was re-designed and put back on the market in 1901-after the fire caused a loss of all tooling, so none of the parts will interchange with the early, pre-fire model. Hopkins and Allen "went public" and sold stock to re-build, even the name was changed to "Hopkins and Allen Arms Co."

96wa6
No expert here, but it sounds like I have the brother of your rifle. Its also marked Merwin Hulburt & Co JUNIOR.  It's in .22RF, has a brass
front sight in a slot, 22 inch round barrel, 1/2" screw spacing and serial no. 2206.
Regards, Joe Feldman