Once upon a time: A sweet-shooting little .22 Long target pistol (VIDEOS)

The Hopkins & Allen New Model Target pistols date from an age where competition shooting was very hot and handguns that could punch paper at the range were in demand.

As shown off in the above from the VSO Gun Channel, the long-barreled single-shot was chambered in .22 Long (not LR) and, although it is a century old or more, it is still wicked accurate. Made from 1902 until World War I at H&A’s Norwich, Connecticut factory, the New Model came in a number of top-break variants with oversized target grips and barrel lengths of between 6 and 10-inches. There was even one with a detachable buttstock and an 18-inch barrel.

The single-action trigger is super light (they measure it breaking at about 10-ounces) and it has seen better days but with CCI Mini Mags it can still deliver.

For about a 20-30 year period from the end of the 19th through the first part of the 20th Century, single-shot rimfire target pistols with long barrels such as the above had a very popular niche. Hopkins, Stevens, Webley & Scott, and others were all chasing the popular top-break S&W top-break rimfire target pistols which set the pace.

For more on that, Dan Kull covers the 3rd Model Smith single shot, below.

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