Hopkins and Allen XL series antique status date?

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appleorangefish

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Hey guys
I'm considering pickup a Hopkins & Allen XL no. 3 in 32 RF.
From my understanding, most of them are classfied antique, while others are prohibs because they are manufactured after 1897.

What is stated in the FRT is:

"Hopkins & Allen" trade name was used by the Hopkins & Allen Manufacturing Company of Norwich, Connecticut, U.S.A. from 1868 to 1898.
"Hopkins & Allen" trade name was used by the Hopkins & Allen Arms Company of Norwich, Connecticut, U.S.A. from 1898 to 1917.
Click to expand...

This matches my understanding of the history of H&A, that the original H&A Mfg. Co went bankrupt in 1898 and restructured as H&A Arms Co couple years after that.

So that basically means any XL series that read "Hopkins and Allen Arms Company" are prohibs or restricteds.
But for the XL series that read "Hopkins and Allen Mfg. Co", is there a way to tell which ones are pre-1898 vs the ones made in 1898?

I can't find any information on serial number ranges, even though the majority of "Mfg. Co" revolvers should be pre-1898... Does anyone have any experience in getting these letter'ed?

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The short answer to this is no, there is no known serial number range for ANY of the H&A model firearms.

While you are correct in your history that they went bankrupt in 1898 (due to losing their most valuable contract with Merwin and Hulbert failing), you are missing the fact that their factory then burnt down in a horrible fire shortly after in 1900. The fire destroyed all of their records along with most of their tooling which is why they then bought out the struggling Forehand and Wadsworth and produced revolvers with their machinery under the moniker "Forehand Arms" for a time until they got back on their feet with the resumption of certain items as well as the introduction of their magnum opus, the Safety Police.

As to lettering, hopefully someone can come along with some experience. It is not as easy as H&R or Iver Johnson who have clear and well published manufacturing dates. Also contrary to what many believe, H&A produced very high quality guns, they made every one of the Merwin and Hulbert revolvers which are renowned for their incredibly precise machining on par or above many Colts and S&W of the day. Their Safety Police revolver was also a very clever design with a double sided barrel latch, easily removable cylinder design and camming hammer.
 
I think I have a letter for one of these guns. actually im almost certain I do. Either my brother does or I do we have both owned them. Im not going to remember this thread in a few days but if the OP wants to PM me on Wednesday when I have access I can post a copy here. It is for an Hopkins and Allen XL double action .32 RF but I will have to confirm which model it was for as I cant recall if its marked "Hopkins and Allen Arms Company" or "Hopkins and Allen Mfg. Co
 
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