H&R Aetna No. 1

About the H&R Aetna No. 1

The H&R Aetna No. 1 is a single-action, spur-trigger pocket revolver produced by Harrington & Richardson of Worcester, Massachusetts, in the late 19th century. Chambered for the .22 rimfire cartridge with a seven-shot fluted cylinder, it was the smallest of the Aetna line, an early trade name used by the firm for its inexpensive solid-frame, octagonal-barrel concealment revolvers. Typically nickel-plated with hard rubber grips, it was marketed to civilians as an affordable personal-defense pocket gun during the post-Civil War boom in American handgun manufacturing.

Harrington & Richardson was founded in 1871 by Gilbert H. Harrington, a top-break revolver patent holder, and William A. Richardson. The 'Aetna' trade name placed H&R among the many Worcester-area makers flooding the late-1800s market with cheap, concealable pocket revolvers.

H&R Aetna No. 1 specifications

The Aetna was a trade name H&R used on its early solid-frame spur-trigger revolvers; the line scaled up through the No. 2 (.32 rimfire) and No. 3 (.38 rimfire). Specifications are typical of the model; exact dimensions varied across production.