Exercised an old revolver this weekend...

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Magnum Wheel Man

New member
had a buddy & his son over this weekend... only gun my buddy has, is a Ruger .380, which is a little snappy for a young boy... he asked if I had something we could shoot with him...

looking for something appropriate, that I hadn't shot in a while...

I cleaned up & took out an old Hopkins & Allen Safety Police, in 38 S&W... with a 6 inch barrel, & target grips... & my mild "range" handloads...

gun was a hit to shoot for everyone, we mostly shot it single action, as the safety police has a very heavy double action trigger ( which I thought was fine for safety with a young shooter ) I like having guns like this to add a little history lesson to the shooting sessions...

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aarondhgraham

New member
You do have some unusual handguns,,,

You do have some unusual handguns,,,
But what I really admire is that you shoot them.

Aarond

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M

Magnum Wheel Man

New member
...when I actually find time to shoot ( unfortunately, I often spend more time mowing & trimming on my shooting range, than I spend shooting on it )... so I encourage friends to come over & "force" me to have to go shooting ( maintaining that Century farm keeps me busy otherwise ;) )

I mentioned that this was the type of revolver that was used by police during Jesse James time frame... ( at least roughly ) I think this gives the kid a bit of perspective on how old the gun is :)

& Trailboss is my friend, keeps these old guns shooting... MRS is particularly found of shooting the old 32 & 38 S&W revolvers... with my mild loads, they are neither loud, or recoil much
 
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Bob Wright

New member
Here I am trying my best to save up for Colt New Frontiers and y'all keep posting pictures of enticing old useless guns that are a hoot to shoot. Trying to drain my treasury.

Bob Wright
 
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James K

Member In Memoriam
Not quite in Jesse James's day; James died in 1882 and the H&A Safety Police did not come out until 1908. It was a fairly short lived gun, since H&A went out of business in 1915, but they were fairly popular. Apparently few were really used by police, the name being more hype than a statement of actual usage by law enforcement.

The neat thing about the H&A is the way they addressed the problem of a loaded revolver firing if dropped on the hammer. Iver Johnson used a transfer bar (as does Ruger today), while Colt was just coming out with its "positive" hammer block and S&W was making a different type hammer block.

H&A put the hammer on an eccentric cam, so it lowered to contact the frame-mounted firing pin when the trigger was held back, but rose to the safe position when the trigger was released.

Jim
 
M

Magnum Wheel Man

New member
JAMES... note my ( at least roughly ) that I figured 30 years or so was close enough...

I also took the time to show them how the hammer rises, after the trigger is let off, & explained how the "safety" portion of the "safety police" worked
 
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bedbugbilly

New member
I had a H & R Safety Police that I got from an estate in the 60s. It was pristine and a beautiful little revolver. The darn thing was chambered in .32 Colt Short and when I got it, there was a partial box of old cartridges with it - I'm talking old! I looked and looked for 32 Colt Shorts and the several gunshots that I haunted never could come up with any.

I sold it a few hers back as I couldn't see keeping it if I couldn't find ammo. Now that I reload - I wish I had it back. Mine had the factory grips on it which appears to be what you have as well - they extend beyond and enclose the bottom of the grip frame. A well made revolver. I don't know what calibers they were made in but I'd love to have one in 22 rimfire.
 
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James K

Member In Memoriam
Billy, I hate to make you feel worse, but the .32 Caliber H&A Safety Police was chambered for the .32 S&W, not the .32 Short Colt. So it looks like you were searching for the wrong cartridge and traded the gun unnecessarily.

Jim
 
M

Magnum Wheel Man

New member
they made them in 22... but those are rarer than hens teeth... I've never found one that was in good shape, let alone one in my price range... I'd love to add one to my collection...

one issue with the early 22's, is a lot of them will take modern high velocity 22 LR ammo, which is much too hot for the old iron guns, cylinders cracked, & guns loosened up horribly... I have several nice top break 22's as well ( though no Safety Police model's ) I always shoot Colibri or Super Colibri ammo in mine which uses lighter weight bullets & just priming compound to fire the bullets, just to make sure I don't damage anything...
 
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bedbugbilly

New member
James K - it's been a few years and I'm older! :D I think I may have mis-spoken on the cartridges. I believe you are indeed correct on that and I screwed up in remembering it? Damn I hate getting older! At the time, I didn't think it would be that hard to get ammo for it but I do remember that each time I ordered it (and it was indeed 32 S & W short) - and I always took in the old cartridge box with me - their supplier would send the wrong cartridges. I finally got frustrated with it and stopped trying to find the right cartridges. I had a fellow come along who wanted it pretty bad - I only gave $20 for the pistol when I bought it - it was pristine - and I sold it for a very good profit - so it wasn't all bad.

Do I wish I had it now? Yep! But hey, I have plenty of vintage Smiths and other pistols to shoot so I enjoyed looking at it when I had it - it moved on to a new home - the buyer was happy - I was happy so as I have found out over the years . . . it's just better "not to look back"! :)

I will add that when I read posts like the OP put here - I greatly enjoy hearing about others enjoying their vintage handguns. Always a pleasure to read about such things and seeing someone else enjoying them! :)
 
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James K

Member In Memoriam
Those Safety Police revolvers were pretty good guns and should have had a good future had not the company gone belly up. The whole story seems obscure, but I think one aspect has not been mentioned. In 1915, they contracted with Belgium, then largely occupied by the German army, to manufacture $3 million worth of Model 1889 rifles.* Those rifles are scarce today, and there are various explanations. A few years ago, there was a report that Dutch divers found a sunken ship filled with rifles, and brought some to the surface, where they were found to be H&A-made Model 1889's.

*My theory, FWIW, is that H&A actually completed at least a large part of that order, and shipped the guns, but that the ship was torpedoed by a German submarine off the Dutch coast. The Beligians would not pay, since they never received the rifles, and no insurance company would insure a shipment of arms going to a war zone. H&A was out of luck and out of business.

Jim
 
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