H&A underhammer

I picked up an underhammer rifle, .36 cal with a 32" bbl. One flat is marked with the caliber, another has the serial number (1294) and the top flat is marked Hopkins and Allen Arms. I see no other markings. The guns is in near new condition and I was wondering if anyone could tell me who made it.

Numrich, now Gun Parts Corp., (https://www.gunpartscorp.com/) made them beginning in the the early 60's or possibly late 50's. They came in several calibers, different barrel lengths and variations as they evolved. They owned the Hopkins & Allen brand name so they used it on the underhammers. Numrich made the barrels and also sold muzzleloading barrel blanks. Their barrels were and still are excellent and will hold their own with many quality barrels today.

How common were underhammers during the percussion era?

Congratulations on your new rifle.

If your right and no one has messed with it, it uses a special threaded nipple.

While many percussion rifles use a 1/4-28 thread, yours does not.

It uses a 1/4-32 threaded nipple.

If you want to buy a spare nipple, follow this link to Track of the Wolf's catalog page and look down at the bottom of the list.
https://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/807/3


Because the nipple screws directly into thru the wall of the barrel and the thickness of the barrel will be different for different calibers you will see they offer several different thread lengths.
You should see three 1/4-32 thread nipples on page 3. There is another one that has a 1/4" long thread on page 2, 8 up from the bottom.

You can either measure the wall thickness of the barrel at the muzzle or unscrew the existing nipple and measure its thread length.
Buy the one that matches the best.
If your choice is between a new one that is longer or shorter, choose the shorter one. You don't want the threaded end sticking out into the bore.

Happy shooting.

Good advice. I know of one person who shot an incorrect nipple into his forearm.
The H&A undies were/are excellent, simple rifles. Not the beauty queens like a longrifle but simple and reliable. Also, inexpensive.
And, yes, undies were common 'back in the day'.

Guess I'll have to measure as TOW lists both 1/4 x32 and 1/4 x 28 for underhammers.

I bought the longest one they had and then ground it to flush with the barrel interior. You don't want to create a fouling trap with a short nipple either.

Mine was ordered back in the early 1960s and they are simple but fantastic shooters and hunters. Mine has taken bobcat, deer and squirrel.

warning wear a long sleeve shirt or cover over the arm that supports the rifle. if you don't you will find cap fragments in your arm. especlly if you use a musket cap.

Curlyhair said:

Guess I'll have to measure as TOW lists both 1/4 x32 and 1/4 x 28 for underhammers.

Click to expand...

Just phone and tell them what you have.

I developed a fix for that. I can now shoot mine in a sleeveless shirt with no ill effect to your support wrist. A brass flash deflector that is attached by a long screw nipple. The bottom of the deflector is milled to nest in the bottom barrel flat and a bit of either side adjacent flat to keep it from turning.
The hammer cocking spur was removed but did not need to be although it probably would have to be heated and bent back a bit more.
The T-handle wrench was made to remove the nipple through the deflector with a removable lid that covers the wrench slot.

I had a Numrich Arms .36 underhammer for years, and foolishly sold it( big mistake )
With mine, I could shoot .350 balls very well, but were difficult to load.
Get a bag of 00 buck (.330 diam. ) and you will have a year or two shooting. ( you will need thicker patching to get the best accuracy )
Forty grains of 3f and it is one flat shooting gun out to 75 yards.
That load has you .36 cal. rifle shooting over 2000 fps. :shocked2:
You will never get a better shooting rifle.
Does yours have the tang sight? If not get one made to get the best out of your rifle.
Best regards!
Fred

I've got a .36 H&A, I believe it's the "Off-hand" model but I might be wrong. It's accurate and I thought I'd paid too much until I see what they're selling for now. The fore-end split on mine, epoxied it back together and it's ok now, the only thing is the fore-end has a simple spring in it to force pressure against the ramrod, which got covered up and I'll have to figure out a way to add something to exert upward pressure. Or I may just leave it off as I don't hunt and don't use the wooden rod anyway.

They're ugly but paradoxically attractive in a non-conventional way. Very simple concept. Bare essentials only.

Good to know about the nipple size. I may have to order a couple. The rifle hasn't been fired much, which is the story on a lot of them, I believe. It's accurate and the trigger can be improved (not by me.)

Haven't seen one for sale anywhere. What are they selling for these days?

My H&A is old enough that there is no spring or any device to hold the ramrod in. When the rod became too loose I glued a tiny piece of leather to the inside of the forearm rr hole. worked like a charm.

I had one about 55 years ago. It was a .45. As I remember, it had a globe sight out front and a ramp in back, but no forearm. Damn thing used to break the trigger spring part of the guard/hammer spring all the time. I had a matching pistol, too but that didn't get much use.

I got my first H&A new in 1963 OR 64 I think.
Mine came with a 20” .36 caliber barrel, marked The Offhand
When new they/mine did not have a forearm or a way to install one.
It came with a scissor type .343 mold.

The rear peep sight that came with it.



The parts of it


At this time I have a rifle, shotgun and pistol.
By your serial number (1294) yours is older than mine.



William Alexander

Mine didn't break; it rather sort of "died". Primarily, it was the small leaf that acts as a trigger return. It will still power the hammer; I just have to come up with a novel way to reset the trigger. I do have a couple of workable ideas.

Tinker, mine also came with a tang peep, now sadly lost, globe front with inserts, the scissor mold you mentioned and a can of "bore cleaner". But I also received two leather rifle cases for it - only supposed to have been one - but I've had such things happen before.

You can buy the leaf spring from Deer Creek. Still in stock.

Hi Guys,
Reading this post and taking the age of persons that posted, although some people posted more than once, and others do not post their age, the overall age of geezers that like and enjoy the under hammer rifle, is 71.3 years old.
How did we find this amazing rifle way back then, and even today. It was not marketed too well, although the price was great.
What is also so neat, is that this simple rifle will kick the pants of most other rifles, that are worth ten times it's retail selling price.
Any newbie that bumps into one of these fine rifles, should grasp it for the many years ahead.
I will hang onto mine until I can't shoot anymore.
And yet, it still is the ugly duckling on the rack, waiting for the next target shoot, when it will smile again.
Fred