Flare Gun Forum

Through the 1920's, when the USAAC was in search of a suitable projector for aircraft, they used a variety of commercial types. These were all typically the 25mm types (one inch) or 10 gauge pistols. They had no universal standard until the adoption of the M2.
Those longer barreled H&R pistols were intended to fire a parachute type signal as well, which used longer cartridges. This basic data sheet from the USAAC illustrates some of this pistol. Note the "A" signifies Alloy or aluminum, The bars version seen above was technical "B" for Brass.

I have 3 Mark III Brass examples. One is Navy marked, so they were probably made for more than just the USAAC. They are quite difficult to find.

I found vague reference to the US Navy purchasing other models outside of the Remington Mark-III. I only mention the Mark-III since I'm referring to post WWI. At some point, Remington stopped making the Mark-III and to supplement demands, was when the Navy purchased other models to supplement demand. The cease of production, that I gathered, was sometime in the latter part of the 1930's.
It is interesting to know about the Navy marked H&R pistol.

signalman wrote: ↑Sun 19 Aug 2012, 20:29 This is one All Aluminum example I just picked up, It has the VERY RARE long barrel like on the all Brass Mark III, I have never seen one of these before so I was happy to purchase it. Serial number is A257.

For info, I recently acquired an identical H&R Mark III long-barrel, S/N A195.

I came across this date code chart for the H&R flare pistols.

Note that A is not for alloy or aluminum and B is not for Brass. It it a date code.

Year​
Serial Number suffix

​ Year​ Serial Number

1940​ A​ 1953​ N​ 1966​ AC​ 1979​ AT​
1941​ B​ 1954​ P​ 1967​ AD​ 1980​ AU​
1942​ C​ 1955​ R​ 1968​ AE​ 1981​ AX​
1943​ D​ 1956​ S​ 1969​ AF​ 1982​ AY​
1944​ E​ 1957​ T​ 1970​ AG​ --​ --​
1945​ F​ 1958​ U​ 1971​ AH*​ --​ --​
1946​ G​ 1959​ V​ 1972​ AJ​ --​ --​
1947​ H​ 1960​ W​ 1973​ AL​ --​ --​
1948​ I​ 1961​ X​ 1974​ AM​ --​ --​
1949​ J​ 1962​ Y​ 1975​ AN​ --​ --​
1950​ K​ 1963​ Z​ 1976​ AP​ --​ --​
1951​ L​ 1964​ AA​ 1977​ AR **​ --​ --​
1952​ M​ 1965 ​ AB​ 1978​ AS​ --​ --​