I was in Hudson today and had a few minutes to play with, so I stopped into Undercover Arms for a quick browse.
My eyes were instantly drawn to an old Hartford Arms pistol (.22 semi-auto)
Not being familiar with them, I was intrigued with how much it resembled my First Model Colt Woodsman, but it also looked remarkably like a High Standard Model B.
The women running the store didn't know much about it, other than it was acquired in trade and had been lingering in the case since before the store moved to their new location.
The bluing had seen better days, but overall it wasn't banged up with nicks and scratches, so it looked like good honest wear, but not abused.
The tag info said it was made sometime between 1952-1955.
On a whim, I purchased it because I just happened to have the cash in my pocket.
Anyway, got it home, took it apart and did some cleaning.
It wasn't very dirty, but it was pretty dry and in need of some lubrication.
I compared it side-by-side with my Woodsman and was surprised to find that the magazines are actually interchangeable between the two, which my online research later confirmed.
I couldn't find a lot of info, but here's what I discovered so far; It's also known as the Model 1925 and they were made by Hartford Arms & Equipment Co. in Hartford CT, from 1925 to 1932. They only made about 5000 pistols before going bankrupt during the Depression. Their assets were then purchased by High Standard, which explains the resemblance to early High Standard models, because it was essentially the same gun with some slight modifications.
I found a .pdf of an original HS "B" manual and the take down procedure is identical.
http://www.histandard.info/manuals/letpistols/0292D200R.pdf
Some of the other info I've found makes reference to 3 variations of the Hartford Arms pistol, but I couldn't find any explanation of what exactly these variations are.
Also, all the references I found state that the pistols came with 6.57" round barrels, but for some reason my specimen has a 5" barrel. ????
Don't know if it was an odd special order factory piece, or if it was later modified by someone else, perhaps we'll never know, but I like the look of the slightly shorter barrel.
Anyone here know anything about these pistols that they could add ???
I found these photos online, mine is in better shape with more bluing remaining than this one, also the barrel on mine is 1.5" shorter.
My eyes were instantly drawn to an old Hartford Arms pistol (.22 semi-auto)
Not being familiar with them, I was intrigued with how much it resembled my First Model Colt Woodsman, but it also looked remarkably like a High Standard Model B.
The women running the store didn't know much about it, other than it was acquired in trade and had been lingering in the case since before the store moved to their new location.
The bluing had seen better days, but overall it wasn't banged up with nicks and scratches, so it looked like good honest wear, but not abused.
The tag info said it was made sometime between 1952-1955.
On a whim, I purchased it because I just happened to have the cash in my pocket.
Anyway, got it home, took it apart and did some cleaning.
It wasn't very dirty, but it was pretty dry and in need of some lubrication.
I compared it side-by-side with my Woodsman and was surprised to find that the magazines are actually interchangeable between the two, which my online research later confirmed.
I couldn't find a lot of info, but here's what I discovered so far; It's also known as the Model 1925 and they were made by Hartford Arms & Equipment Co. in Hartford CT, from 1925 to 1932. They only made about 5000 pistols before going bankrupt during the Depression. Their assets were then purchased by High Standard, which explains the resemblance to early High Standard models, because it was essentially the same gun with some slight modifications.
I found a .pdf of an original HS "B" manual and the take down procedure is identical.
http://www.histandard.info/manuals/letpistols/0292D200R.pdf
Some of the other info I've found makes reference to 3 variations of the Hartford Arms pistol, but I couldn't find any explanation of what exactly these variations are.
Also, all the references I found state that the pistols came with 6.57" round barrels, but for some reason my specimen has a 5" barrel. ????
Don't know if it was an odd special order factory piece, or if it was later modified by someone else, perhaps we'll never know, but I like the look of the slightly shorter barrel.
Anyone here know anything about these pistols that they could add ???
I found these photos online, mine is in better shape with more bluing remaining than this one, also the barrel on mine is 1.5" shorter.
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