Grandpa's H&R Premier 22 Rim Fire

[MeanStreaker]

Grandma Doris and Grandpa Bill lived almost their whole lives on the family farm. Over 300 rolling acres outside Scio, OH. A lot of my favorite childhood memories took place there, including most of the shooting Dad and I would do. Either just plinking out in a field, or hunting groundhogs in the pastures to keep the cattle from breaking their legs from those varmints' destruction.

They auctioned the farm about eight years ago to move closer to my parents when they finally (in their 80s!) were not able to keep up with mending 150 year old fences and antique tractors. Grandpa passed away a couple years ago at age 94 and is buried in his family's plot that goes back aways, less than a mile from their land.

Grandma Dorie, who turned 89 yesterday, found a few old firearms that were obviously well cared for but saw a lot of use. Sometimes I wonder just how many cattle, hogs, whatever, were butchered with these. Grandma said she couldn't even guess. They had sat forgotten in some corner of a barn for a long time and had accumulated decades of grime and dust. I'm now the proud guardian of a Marlin 1897 lever action, a VERY antique (with plenty of surface rust) tiny single shot .22 with no markings where the barrel swings out sideways to load, and this H&R Premier 22 Rim Fire top-break 7 shot revolver pictured below.

I haven't broken any of them down, but I've wiped off the grime, run many patches down the barrels, and applied oil as a preservative. While I don't plan to shoot it, the revolver locks up well, and the double and single actions seem to work smoothly. In the little bit of research I've done, most of these seemed to have been nickel-plated, where this one was blued.

I look forward to passing them to my kids someday.

If anyone is a H&R expert, I'd appreciate any info you have, even though I know this model isn't that rare or anything.

Thanks for reading. I took some pics and felt like sharing all this somewhere. :D

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d170/MeanStreaker592/HandR%20Premier%2022/smallLeftSide.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d170/MeanStreaker592/HandR%20Premier%2022/smallRightSide.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d170/MeanStreaker592/HandR%20Premier%2022/smallTopBarrelMarkings.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d170/MeanStreaker592/HandR%20Premier%2022/smallLeftBarrelMarkings.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d170/MeanStreaker592/HandR%20Premier%2022/smallLeftSide2.jpg

[DocH]

After the clean up,that little H&R looks to be in really good shape after lying around in a barn for so long.Heck,I'd shoot and enjoy it. Congrats on getting these firearms,they are a treasure for sure.
I have my great grandmother's S&W .32 hand ejector that was the first gun I ever shot when I was eight years old. It's nickel with a few blemishes here and there,but I still shoot it. I've used it as a dog training gun.
The Marlin is a great find also.Have fun with them.We're only here once and not for very long.;)