I have what I believe from overall length, 38 inches, and from rebounding hammer, to be a H & A Model 922.  It has a full octagon 22 inch barrel, heavy steel crescent buttplate with "tang" forward on top the stock, extractor finger to the left of the chamber and carries SN 2390.  Action is 1.0" wide.  The take-down screw is in the same location and looks like that on a Stevens Favorite.  Behind the rear sight on top the barrel is stamped "22 R. F."  So, is this a Model 922?  About when was it manufactured?  Is it chambered in 22 WRF or 22 S, L, LR?  It's in anything but good condition!!!

For sure it is a falling block.  The chamber is now so loose that I bet a .22 WRF would fit in and the extractor might even catch the rim.  I'll try to add a picture or three.  The take-down screw is borrowed off a Favorite, too short, but at least shows where the screw is.

And another

Not sure that is a mature 922, suspect it is an early one as they settled on a 6 o'clock extractor for mine which is a 17,000 range serial no. or it is a Junior.  The high quality rear sight on yours looks identical to the sight on my 2938 (38 S&W calibre) Medium Frame and my 32 WCF Hopkins also marked Merwin (a major stockholder in H&A) which also has a 9 o'clock extractor but different shaped from yours notably with a taper pin from the left frame for the 38 but not for the 32.  There was more than one pattern and patents for the taper pins and apparently were used in the more expensive rifles with the  bottom screw retained in the lighter cheaper rifles (I think?).  Yours may be the Junior model which is confused with the 922 but apparently slightly more improved.  I am still confused so dont feel alone.

The H&A firm was started about 1867 makeing Bacon pattern revolvers and muff pistols, later made the 722 and 822 and 832 rifles then apparently borrowing from the Davenport rifle patents, the 900 series.  After a couple of corporate reorganizations, went belly-up and sold out to Marlin in about 1917 where the plant made M1917 BAR's and possibly Colt type machine guns since the potato digger in the Texas Military Forces Museum in Austin was made by Marlin (the old thing can still rock and roll).

For more confusion, get a copy of Frank de Haas's book which could use an update on the topic.

James

Pulled out my copy of Jos. Vorisek's little book to refresh my fallible remembery.

The model with the taper pin thru the side is an XL Junior.  According to Vorisek, made from 1880 to 1908. I'm less sure about that.  The Junior is a scaled-down version of what we now call the "medium frame". Both are very close to the Davenport-designed Bay State, a late 1880s child, made only for a couple of years.  (I've got one, chambered .32 Long Colt CF).  H&A bought Bay State out in 1890, so I'm inclined to think that the Junior and Medium frame started in 1890 as H&A products.

In 1900 the H&A plant burned to the ground, and to keep going they bought the Forehand plant.  The 722/822/922 seem to be new designs brought out after the fire.  Probably because they had to make new tooling anyway, so they improved the design.   And I also think that, despite Vorisek's dating, the XL medium and XL Junior probably disappeared in the fire, since the tooling was certainly gone. 

Vorisek did his best, I'm sure, but he also got some points wrong.  For instance, he describes the 922 as an upgraded model using the same action as the 822, which it is not.  The 822 is a rolling block, while as we see the 922 is a falling block. Given that he was certainly well and truly taken up with the blizzard of H&A handgun models to sort out, he can be forgiven, IMHO.

BTW from this source and also a catalog reprint I have, the O.P.'s rifle seems to be a 2922, the very top of the line. 

My two complete H&A rifles:
Upper one is the XL Junior.  Lower is a model 1932, modified to shoot .32 S&W centerfire.

Here's close to what they looked like from the factory:

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dave

Before you go hunting for alternate wood for it, take what you've got and run it through a dishwasher, using trisodium phosphate (find it in the paint dept. at Tru Value Hardware) and the hottest water you can set for.  This is the modern equivalent of the oldtimers' trick of boiling the wood in a TSP solution. You will be amazed how much dirt and old oil it will get out.  Dry for a week, glue up any cracks with PVA, then refinish with ordinary boiled linseed oil.  The 932 in my picture got that treatment, and it improved from looking like junk to tolerably nice.    I've done at least half a dozen stocks this way.  Does no harm to the wood, or the dishwasher.

uscra112 wrote on Jan 21^st, 2014 at 10:18am:

Does your wife share your opinion about not doing harm to the dishwasher ??