Approximately 1,500,000 Young America revolvers were madebetween 1884 and 1941. SN 4743
Harrington & Richardson, located in Worcester,Massachusetts, was founded in 1871 by Gilbert H. Harrington, theinventor of the top-break revolver, and William A. Richardson. By1876, H&R had become sufficiently established to be representedat the National Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, where thecompany exhibited 24 of its pistols.
In 1880, H&R achieved another significant milestone inbecoming the sole American licensee for the manufacturer of qualityEnglish Anson & Deely double-barrel hammerless shotguns, and in1900, the company introduced its own top-break single barrelshotgun. In the years prior to the First World War, Harrington& Richardson's product line expanded to include other shotgunsand revolvers. In addition, H&R produced an improvedsemi-automatic pistol patterned after British Webley & Scott,as well as the Handy Gun, a top break single-shot pistol that wasavailable in various calibers and small-bore shotgun gauges.
During the First World War, the company received a contract forshoulder-type flare guns. This was the first of many militarycontracts that H&R would receive from the U.S. government,marking the beginning of a long association of arms production insupport of American troops. After the war, Harrington &Richardson redesigned its handgun line. Among the arms introducedduring this period was the U.S.R.A. single-shot target pistol,which featured a short hammer fall and crisp trigger pull. TheU.S.R.A. pistol became the standard of the U.S. Army pistol teamand was used to set a new U.S. pistol record in 1932. Prior to theSecond World War, the company manufactured .38 caliber revolversfor British police use. These pistols, which were also available onthe U.S. commercial market, were the first firearms ever carried byBritish "Bobbies".
In addition to these revolvers, H&R also produced handcuffsand leg irons for police use. When the United States went to waragain in 1941, H&R produced the Reising .45 caliber submachinegun under contract with Eugene Reising, the gun's inventor. Thesedelayed blowback arms, which fired from closed bolt, were moreaccurate than conventional "slam fire" submachine guns such as theThompson, but Army acceptance tests showed that the Reising's closetolerances caused function problems when not cleaned regularly orwhen operated in dirty conditions. With Thompson productionearmarked for Army and Lend-Lease purchases, the Marine Corpsadopted the Reising, in both conventional wood stock and foldingmetal stock models, to supplement its insufficient submachine guninventory. Reisings saw action on Guadacanal, where theirperformance was problematic due to the near impossibility ofkeeping them clean under jungle combat conditions.
The Marines received their last Reisings in 1943, after whichthey were withdrawn from front line use as additional Thompsons andM1 carbines became available. Approximately 100,000 Reisings weremanufactured, including some for Lend-Lease sales to the SovietUnion. A semi-automatic civilian version was also produced for useby defense plant and prison guards. After the war, H&Rdiscontinued production after attempts to sell Reisings to policedepartments failed due to the ready availability of surplusmilitary arms. During the Korean War, Harrington & Richardsononce again turned its production lines to the manufacture ofmilitary arms.
On April 3, 1952, H&R received an order for 100,000 M1rifles plus spare parts, and the first deliveries were made a yearlater. The company's experience as producer of firearms enabled itto begin production without the start-up problems experienced byother military contract arms producers, including InternationalHarvester. Unlike other M1 manufacturers, H&R also madeextensive use of subcontractor-produced parts and components intheir rifles.
The end of hostilities in July 1953 meant that mostH&R-produced rifles were added to postwar inventories. Thecompany continued to receive additional contracts for the M1, andby the time production ceased in 1956, H&R had produced 428,600rifles. The end of production did not mark the end of the company'sassociation with John Garand's rifle, as H&R later received acontract to rebuild 50,000 M1 rifles in 7.62mm NATO caliber for theU.S. Navy. In late 1954, Harrington & Richardson received anadditional contract to conduct an engineering study aimed atproduction of 500 T48 rifles, an American version of the Belgian FNFAL .30 caliber rifle which was under consideration as a possiblesuccessor to the M1 as the U.S. military's standard battlerifle.
In 1957, the Army adopted the Springfield Armory-developed M14,which was based on John Garand's original M1 design. These riflesbecamethe first multi-purpose American infantry rifle, replacingthe M1 rifle, M1 carbine, Browning Automatic Rifle, and M3submachine gun. As with the M1, the Army issued contracts for theM14 to Winchester and H&R to supplement production atSpringfield Armory. H&R's tool-up and manufacture beganquickly, with the company utilizing machinery left over from M1production, but problems arose with subcontracted parts. To furthercomplicate manufacturing efforts, inspectors discovered cracks insome receivers. H&R's M14 production came to a halt as the Armychanged both metallurgical and heat treatment specifications forthese rifles. With problems now corrected, H&R was able to makeup for lost production time and get back on schedule by August1961.
By the time production ceased, Harrington & Richardson hadmanufactured over 500,000 M14s, making the company the largestmanufacture of these rifles. H&R also produced the M16 "blackrifle" under contract with the Department of Defense, as well asthe M4 survival rifle, a .22 Hornet/.410 combination gunmanufactured for use by U.S. Air Force flight crews. Harrington& Richardson exists today, but under a new name, the NewEngland Firearms/H&R 1871. In addition to producing a completeline of pistols, rifles, and shotguns based on their earlierdesigns and ranging from inexpensive to presentation-grade models,the company is a U.S. distributor for British-made Webley &Scott shotguns.