So I saw my first inherently unsafe pistol today

[gunthorp]

Interesting relic. I might use the topic to get mom to share a range date with a safer gun.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Doodle]

Oh we shoot on her property from time to time

[dV8r]

So my mother inherited this h&r model 923 22 from my recently deceased grandfather. She brought it over for me to check it out functionally. It arrived as she received it in a leather holster. I removed it from the holster and it was loaded. Attempting to unload it i realized this pistol has no half cock position and no method of positively ejecting the cartridges. So I removed the cylinder completely from the pistol by removing the center shaft of the cylinder and carefully working it out. I then used the removed shaft to punch each round out of the cylinder. Afterwards i reassembled the pistol and noticed this gun no manner of safety preventing the hammer from exerting pressure on a round underneath it. All I had to do was push on the hammer slightly and i could see the spur come through and contact the cylinder in the crack between the cylinder and the frame. So to sum up... to load it: Move the hammer just enough to rotate the cylinder freely and load the 9 rounds individually but don't drop the hammer or it could fire. To store it: Leave the hammer on an empty chamber...but once again don't drop the hammer while you're rotating the cylinder or it could fire... So I would never leave this one loaded. To unload it: Remove the cylinder, (this is more than i would ask my aging parents to do.) Hold the hammer back slightly to unlock the cylinder and shimmy it out. Also once again don't drop the hammer. The cartridges' rims do not recess into the cylinder so if you drop the cylinder trying to shimmy it out of the frame and it lands on one of the edges of those cartridges with the weight of the cylinder behind it, it could fire. What a piece of junk... I told my mom to keep it around just to keep it but don't bother trying to shoot this one. Thoughts?

I do not see this as unsafe. However it is a gun that the owner/user must know how to use it and use it as designed. It is the way a lot of early guns were manufactured. Not unsafe, just "different" from what we are used to. After all us humans are creatures of habit. :)

[pgray79]

Ill buy it if you are interested in selling it for parts.

[Snub44]

...my country grandma had one like BugDude's under her matress...her "house gun" ...nobody ever touched it but to oil it...she got a lot of comfort out of it being there...seeing this thread brought back some good memories...

[Exacto]

Chop saw.

[Secret Spuk]

Perhaps not up to todays standards... But probably very little from the revolvers manufacture date would be up to todays standards. Sometimes it's easy to lose perspective. The gun is what it is... it's up to you to make it a safe experience.

[gasmitty]

Note the "Ex member" status under the grotesque avatar. He had a difficult time abiding by forum rules, and when politely prompted to comply, went in the opposite direction.

Closing this thread.