Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! This H&R Ultra Sportsman No. 777 was H&R’s swing at making serious target revolvers in 1938-1939. They built it right in the middle of the Great Depression when most folks couldn’t afford beans, let alone precision shooting gear. H&R had always been the budget gun company. Cheap, reliable revolvers for working people. But somebody decided they wanted a piece of the target shooting market that Smith & Wesson and Colt owned. The Ultra Sportsman had adjustable sights, target grips, and decent build quality.
H&R knew how to manufacture efficiently, and they used that to sell target features for way less money than the competition. The No. 777 name was pure marketing. Triple sevens meant luck and perfection – the kind of thing that appeals to competitive shooters looking for any edge they can get. Problem was the timing. Nobody had money for fancy guns when unemployment was sky-high. The Ultra Sportsman line got axed pretty quickly. That makes surviving examples like this one fairly rare. It’s a neat piece of American optimism from when optimism was hard to come by.
“Harrington & Richardson Ultra Sportsman Double Action Revolver.” Rock Island Auction Company, https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/5012/131/harrington-richardson-ultra-sportsman-double-action-revolver. Accessed 12 Jul. 2025.
Writer | TheFirearmBlog
Writer | AllOutdoor.com Instagram | sfsgunsmith Old soul, certified gunsmith, published author, avid firearm history learner, and appreciator of old and unique guns.
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