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JSB30
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H&A 932
Aug 29th, 2016 at 5:06pm
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Got my Hopkin Allen 932 out today to play with. Cal 32-20 WCF
  
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JSB30
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Re: H&A 932
Reply #1 - Aug 29th, 2016 at 5:08pm
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One more. Using 4.7 Unique and a 90 grain bullet.
  
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Rebel
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Re: H&A 932
Reply #2 - Aug 29th, 2016 at 6:28pm
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I would have thought this is a 1932
Do you know the difference? I have what I think is a 1922 because of the checkering.
Is it a conversion to centerfire?
Aaron
  

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Re: H&A 932
Reply #3 - Aug 29th, 2016 at 7:03pm
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I don not know what a 1932 is. I think cal is original. It does not have a cal marked on it. It does not have H&A name on it either. It is the same one that DeHaas has a picture of in H&A rifles in  Single Shot Rifles and Actions. It has a trade name of Murdock on it.
  
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uscra112
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Re: H&A 932
Reply #4 - Aug 29th, 2016 at 8:22pm
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A "1932" was a mid grade 932. The last two digits are always the caliber, and they were always rimfire as far as anybody knows.  932 had a round barrel.  1932 had an octagon barrel, better wood, and some of H&A's "checkering", for which they hired left-handed bears.  That one looks comparable to the top-line 2932 shown in a reproduction catalog that I have.  Really decent wood, and better and more extensive checkering.  Nice find!   

They are ridiculously easy to convert to .32 Colt centerfire, or with a reamer to .32 S&W.   Only problem is the extractor, which doesn't extract very far.  Needs a strong fingernail or a tool to get the fired case all the way out.  

The lack of H&A rollstamps is fairly common.  H&A sold guns wholesale to anybody who would market them, and the marketer used his own stamps.   My 1932 is marked "Enders Royal".  

In catalogs they did offer the 2938, which was chambered for .38 S&W centerfire.  The only other centerfire they cataloged  in this action was the .25-20 Stevens, in the "Schuetzen" model 3925.  I can't find any evidence that they ever offered them in .32-20, but given their usually desperate condition they might well have for a gun to be marketed by a reseller.   Or this one might be a gunsmith rework. 

Also in my catalog they claimed that the 2932 was rifled with their "patented increase twist".   I'd love to see if that is true, and the O.P.'s rifle might provide the answer.
« Last Edit: Aug 29th, 2016 at 9:07pm by uscra112 »  

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Re: H&A 932
Reply #5 - Aug 29th, 2016 at 9:44pm
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Phil,
here are my two H&A 22's
Can you identify the models?
The second one with the side takedown has some case left on the upper tang.
Aaron
« Last Edit: Aug 29th, 2016 at 9:52pm by Rebel »  

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Re: H&A 932
Reply #6 - Aug 29th, 2016 at 9:49pm
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Phil,
32-20 seems a bit much in these frames.
My H&A/Merwin & Hulbert 32-20 is in a larger frame.
Whatcha think?
Aaron
  

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uscra112
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Re: H&A 932
Reply #7 - Aug 30th, 2016 at 12:30am
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Yah, I kinda think .32-20 is a bit much in the small frames.  The only thing holding that barrel in is the takedown screw.  

The one with the takedown screw on the side is what was called a "Junior".  Basic design ran from 1887(?) to 1898(?).  I don't know if there were premium versions of the Junior.  Mine has a round barrel, where yours is octagon.  Maybe.  Just make things difficult, Charlie Carder says there were Juniors made 1898 to 1900 that had the takedown screw on the bottom like the post 1900 version.  So your Junior is definitely pre 1898. If the barrel is marked Merwin and Hulbert it is pre-1896.  M&H was the marketer for H&A, but they went bankrupt in '96.

The first photos look like a 1922.  Sometime around 1898 they lengthened the frame of the Junior and moved the takedown screw to the bottom front. After the 1900 fire these were renamed 922/1922/2922.  Octagon barrel but rather plain wood says 1922, since 922s had round barrels, and the 2922 would have much better wood.  

Cornell Publications has a number of H&A catalogs, and a reprint of the Vorisek book.  Maybe also the Charlie Carder book.
« Last Edit: Aug 30th, 2016 at 1:16am by uscra112 »  

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Re: H&A 932
Reply #8 - Aug 30th, 2016 at 12:46am
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Thanks Phil,
Aaron
  

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Re: H&A 932
Reply #9 - Aug 30th, 2016 at 8:50pm
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I think the 1922/1932 was characterized by that reverse curlicue in the end of the guard lever that the OP's and Rebel's first rifle has, and a noticeable perch belly in the lower line of the buttstock.  The 922/932 has the full curve in the end of the lever like Rebel's second rifle and a straighter buttstock.

The 1922 I had for a while wasn't checkered.  My incomplete .32-20 is the earlier version small frame with the crossways barrel retaining screw, and the Merwin and Hulbert barrel markings.  When the new version came out, the company must have realized that a smokeless cartridge might get into the chamber and dropped the chambering.

The design does look neat.  A mid size frame version, cast of modern alloy with a screw in barrel and tight tolerances in the parts, would make a pretty nifty rifle, with chamberings on the order of the "Little Sharps."  I wonder that somebody hasn't tried to market one.
  
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Re: H&A 932
Reply #10 - Aug 30th, 2016 at 10:16pm
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Something else noticable is the varying distances between the extractor screw and lever screw between the different models.
They are closer together in the first two of Rebel's pictures, and spaced further apart in the last three pictures.
« Last Edit: Aug 30th, 2016 at 10:21pm by BP »  

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Re: H&A 932
Reply #11 - Aug 30th, 2016 at 10:51pm
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The design similarities between a Hopkins & Allen and a Walker-Hepburn are amazing.
Not sure who copied who.
Chuck
  
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Re: H&A 932
Reply #12 - Aug 31st, 2016 at 2:07am
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Bent_Ramrod wrote on Aug 30th, 2016 at 8:50pm:

The design does look neat.  A mid size frame version, cast of modern alloy with a screw in barrel and tight tolerances in the parts, would make a pretty nifty rifle, with chamberings on the order of the "Little Sharps."  I wonder that somebody hasn't tried to market one.


It would be if the new maker adds a bit of angle to the block mortise so it will chamber a tight cartridge better, and do something about that miserable extractor.
  

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Re: H&A 932
Reply #13 - Aug 31st, 2016 at 5:38pm
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Reshape the lower forward portion of the extractor so that the lever bumps it, slightly before the lever reaches its forward stop, and the lever roller reaches the bevel on the spring. And use a spring that matches the stiffness of the original. The extractor still has the original short travel, but is much snappier.
By altering it so the lever drives the extractor, when you change the length of the link to make it a centerfire because someone told you it's so easy to do, you don't have to worry about having just screwed up the orginal geometry of the extractor timing.
This is for the action that has the closer spaced lever and extractor screws as shown in Rebel's first two pictures.
« Last Edit: Aug 31st, 2016 at 5:52pm by BP »  

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Re: H&A 932
Reply #14 - Aug 31st, 2016 at 6:15pm
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Exactly !  Might cost a little bit more, but it would make a better rifle.   The original design was cheap to make, and H&A was all about cheap.   Roll Eyes
  

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