Hartford Collar?

[Wainer]

I was just wondering what was the original purpose of the Hartford collar.
Was it just decoration or a special way of attaching the barrel to the
receiver back then? Don

[pete]

Wainer; It's a cosmetic touch but it's also a timeline marker. According to Sellers' book the Sharps business reorganized in 1874 and was moved from Hartford Conn. to Bridgeport Conn. in 1876. Sometime during that period the new owners did away with the collar supposedly to ease manufacture and lower cost. Hence the term Harford collar. After that the octagon simply flared into the round portion. I've also heard a theory that the collar was cut to cover up the uneven ends of the flats at the breech end. When a better way of milling octagon flats was developed which made the flats end evenly it looked fine and negated the necessity of cutting the collar. I tend to believe the economic reason.