By Mike Nesbitt | Contributing Editor
A right side-view of the new H&A rifle with a 22” octagonal barrel
C. Sharps Arms Company of Big Timber, Montana, well known for their copies of the famous Sharps rifles, has introduced a reproduction of the old Hopkins & Allen Model 922 rifle.
This is very good news to shooters who have the ‘wants’ for a good single shot .22, and it is especially well suited for young shooters who would like a rifle ‘somewhat like Dad’s’ bigger bored BPCR single shot.
The best news about this new Hopkins & Allen copy is the price, because it is certainly affordable.
The old Hopkins & Allen 922 falling block rifle was introduced about 1888, what we might say was just days after the .22 Long Rifle cartridge was developed. That rifle and the .22 Long Rifle cartridge made a very natural pair and they teamed-up together very well.
This story actually started for my partner, Allen Cunniff, and me while we were on our way to the Quigley Buffalo Rifle Match in 2018. We made our annual stop at C. Sharps Arms in Big Timber and there, standing in one of the racks near a work bench in the shop were two of the new Hopkins & Allen .22s. Those attracted me like a bee to honey and a moment later I had one of them in my hands.
“Are you re-stocking these for someone?” I asked.
“No,” Pat Dulin told me, “we’re thinking about making those and those two are our first two prototypes.”
There really are no good inexpensive single shot .22 rifles being made these days and the Hopkins & Allen style rifles should quickly make a fine showing on today’s market. Pat told me more, they made the two prototypes to see if the guns would be made and sold within a certain price range. At that time, things looked promising but more checking with jobbers and suppliers was needed.
Very nice color casehardening on the action, shown opened
Those two pilot models went on display in the C. Sharps Arms tent on the vendor’s row at the Matthew Quigley Buffalo Rifle Match and they drew a lot of interest. Then, as camp at ‘Quigleyville’ was being broke down, Pat asked me if I’d enjoy shooting one of the prototype rifles. That was quickly answered with “Yes!” and we headed back to the C. Sharps Arms shop where I could take responsibility for the rifle and to have a tang sight installed on the little gun.
For some of the shooting that Allen and I did with the prototype, the barrel sight was simply removed because the peep sight “fit our eyes” much better than the open sight. While shooting with the peep sight, some very impressive groups were fired while using target velocity .22 Long Rifle ammunition.
One of the things Allen did with the prototype Hopkins & Allen was to use it as a “camp gun” at our first Buffalo Camp, where the camp guns are used on the “meat hunt” which takes place on our trail-walk, shooting at game or animal shaped hanging silhouettes. That allowed Allen to do some “hunting” with the little rifle and he used the gun very well. The only way the single shot .22 could have had a better field test would to have been taken on a real hunt but I doubt that while actually hunting it wouldn’t have been fired quite as many times. And the Hopkins & Allen copy by C. Sharps Arms makes a very good camp gun.
In terms of accuracy, the accompanying image of the rifle over a target is all the proof on needs to conclude that this resurrected classic is capable of game-stopping accuracy.
All of our shots on the trail-walk for the meat hunt have to be witnessed by a scorekeeper or by another shooter. Watching Allen do his shooting and verifying his hits was very easy because with the sub-sonic .22 target ammo he was using, the impact of the bullets hitting the steel targets was louder than the reports of the rifle.
One of the groups fired with the prototype, the X holds a double
Allen didn’t get a perfect score on the meat hunt but he should have. After firing the few times when he’d miss, he’d turn and announce, “That was my fault…” We’ve all been there…
There is one departure from the original Hopkins & Allen rifles that won’t be copied by C. Sharps Arms. The original Model 922s were takedown rifles and the new ones by C. Sharps Arms are solid frame guns.
Here’s a description of this dandy little rifle even though a good picture might tell you more. The standard version will have a barrel by Green Mountain that is from 16” to 22” inches long. (The buyer gets to pick any length within that range at no extra charge.) The straight grain stock will have a checkered hard rubber butt plate and the length of pull will be 14”.
Back when the original Hopkins & Allen 922 was introduced, it was considered a full sized rifle. The length of pull can be ordered shorter at added cost or simply shortened after purchase if the gun is intended for a youngster or anyone who would find a shorter stock more comfortable.
Marbles front and rear sights are standard. The receivers are color casehardened and the octagon barrels are blued. These small rifles are being offered in .22 Long Rifle, .22 Magnum, and in .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire. That’s quite a package with some good choices and the price for the standard rifle is $830.
Here’s Mike, shooting the H&A on the trail
In addition, there are some options available. Those added cost options can include upgrades to fancier wood, a Marbles folding tang sight ($120), drilling and tapping the rifle for the customer’s scope, or adding engraving and checkering.
The old Hopkins & Allen company closed their doors in 1915 and, of course, the Model 922 hasn’t been made since. I think this new rifle can fill the gap of over 100 years which will give this fine little specimen a new life.
Before going into full production, 50 of the H&A rifles are being made to be offered to the shooters who “signed up” for one last year at Quigley.
By the time you read this, those 50 rifles will already be gone and we can easily expect to be able to place an order. Orders, of course, must be sent to C. Sharps Arms at info@csharpsarms.com or by calling them at 406-932-4353 and a $500 deposit/down payment is required when the order is placed.
