Below is a QUOTE of a Post I made several years ago in another Thread about a couple H&R doubles:

Originally Posted by keith
What grade are these H&R's?

Back in my doublegun infancy, I was at an OGCA gunshow and saw an H&R A Grade. First off, I didn't even know H&R had made doubles... they weren't listed in my Blue Book. Second, it had those dangerous Damascus barrels which were supposed to be unsafe to shoot. Why would I pay $450.00 for a wallhanger?

The seller told me that he had been the historian for Harrington & Richardson. I remember that both the engraving and Damascus were as breathtaking as anything I have seen since. Needless to say, this is one of the guns I most regret not buying.

I still regret not buying the H&R A Grade that I saw around 1992 at an Ohio Gun Collector Assn. Show in Cleveland. I had no idea what I was looking at, and the Blue Book of Gun Values I had with me didn't even list any H&R double shotguns. The gun I saw was very well finished and fitted with very extensive fine scroll engraving, lovely wood and checkering, and in very good condition. I seem to recall some engraving on the barrel breeches, and maybe a gold inlay or two. The name Harrington & Richardson was engraved on the top rib. The company name was not on the frame, so I actually wondered if someone had fitted H&R barrels to some fancy European shotgun. But as I said, at that time, I didn't even know H&R had ever built doubles. This was something like seeing the Ford Pinto name on a Bentley Rolls. To me, H&R was a maker of relatively inexpensive single shots and cheap revolvers. The barrels were a very fine Damascus, and back then, I was under the popular but erroneous impression that Damascus tubes were unsafe to shoot. I was also in the midst of building my house, so my gun budget was rather tight... especially for a Damascus wall-hanger. My non-buyers remorse lingers to this day.

I tend to agree with Kutter that the subject of this Thread was likely a 10 ga. H&R rebarreled to 12 ga using Belgian sourced tubes. It's interesting how they used the stepped and radiused transition from the larger breech to the smaller 12 ga. barrel diameter. I'd assume the work was done by W.R. Schaefer of Boston, hence the name on the rib. I suppose they could have been replacements for damaged barrels, or just a spare set in a smaller gauge made up for the owner to use his heavier 10 gauge duck gun with lighter 26" long 12 gauge barrels. Once upon a time, shooters could get replacement barrels made and fitted to a double for a fairly reasonable cost. I remember our late member Miller telling us that he had sent his F grade Lefever to either Italy or Belgium to have fluid steel barrels made, and the cost in the early 1960's was somewhere around $150.00. Those days are long gone, and even sleeving is cost prohibitive for lower grade guns. We'll likely never know what happened to the original barrels of this H&R.

Voting for anti-gun Democrats is dumber than giving treats to a dog that shits on a Persian Rug