Harrington & Richardson 635 10.5″ Pistol | PSA Retro Lineup Lands

Have we finally gotten a true copy of the famed Colt submachine gun? Not just a lower that takes Colt mags, but an extensive and realistic clone of the weapon? Colt has released 9mm carbines that take Colt mags, but they’ve never released anything like the original Colt SMG, aka the Model 635.

Harrington & Richardson 635 10.5″ Pistol

Colt might not have, but H&R, a brand now owned by Palmetto State Armory, certainly has. It’s true that full auto is off the table due to the Hugh amendment, so it’s more of a semi-auto clone. Adding a true stock would make the gun a short-barreled rifle and subject to NFA regulations.

The H&R 635 SMG is a large-format pistol featuring the H&R brace. It has the look and feel of a classic submachine gun with a semi-auto design.

The Colt Classic

Colt has called a few guns submachine guns through the years. They even called an incredibly short variant of the CAR-15 a submachine gun before the world simply decided that submachine guns should fire a pistol caliber.

Colt watched HK eat their lunch for years with police forces and tactical teams. The MP5 was the submachine of professional forces. Wanting some sweet SMG dough and having the CAR-15 series, it became a simple affair to create a 9mm Submachine gun in the format of an AR-15.

The gun used a closed bolt, which was important for reliability, accuracy, and safety. The closed bolt was a big reason why the MP5 was so beloved. The MP5 also has the Teutonic patented roller delayed system to lock the breech, while Colt used a simpler direct blowback design. There are some downsides to direct blowback, namely recoil, and we’ll address that a bit more later.

Colt needed a magazine, and anyone who has developed a firearm knows how tricky it is to design a reliable magazine. Colt wisely used modified Uzi magazines. They worked and could be easily produced for Colt. The magazine held 32 rounds of 9mm, which continues the tradition of submachine gun magazine capacities easily divisible by eight.

A Deep Look At the H&R 635

The H&R 635 is a product of the era it’s trying to imitate, for better or worse. It features a fixed carry handle upper receiver, those old plastic M4 handguards we all love so much, and an A1 birdcage muzzle device at the end of the 10.5-inch barrel. The HAR-15 brace finishes the gun off and gives it a fantastic overall appearance.

The HAR-15 stock looks like the old CAR-15 stock and really sells the gun’s retro look and feel. It’s thin and blade-like, with a QD port at the end for a sling. There is also a bayonet lug, and I want someone to design a bayonet that would actually fit this gun. We get the nubby A2 grip and a sling swivel on the brace and in front of the handguard.

We also have the massive brass deflector. It’s not just a brass deflector but also helps with the rather gassy output of a blowback weapon. This is identical to the original Colt guns. H&R paid excellent attention to detail.

To the Range

I was so excited to get and shoot this thing. It’s become an obsession. The gun comes with one magazine, and I already had two spares on tap and ready to go. I did a quick check to test the zero and found the gun to be dead on at 25 yards from the factory. I used the iron sights to drill one ragged hole into an FBI Q Target.

I took it back to 50 yards and repeatedly rang a ten-inch gong. Next, I have something called the minute of the bad guy test. I use a printed target from Sage Dynamics on normal letter-sized paper. I set it up at 100 yards and fired seven rounds. If the majority hit the target, it’s minute of bad guy accurate.

The H&R 635 delivered six of seven rounds to the target, with the one missing hitting low. It hits the minute of bad guy accuracy requirement. Like the Colt 635 this model uses an A1 style sight. An A2 rear sight is a bit much for a 9mm. However, I would have appreciated the A2 apertures. Specifically the wide one.

We get the A1 50 and 100+ meter peeps. Both feel way too small for a gun designed primarily for use within 25 to 50 yards. A more open aperture would be nice, but it’s a catch-22. A more open aperture makes this less of a clone. It might be more efficient with a flat top upper and red dot, but then it wouldn’t have the 635 charm.

Range Work Is The Best Work

The gun has blowback recoil that makes it more or less feel like a 5.56 caliber rifle. It’s not over the top or painful, but more than you’d expect from a 9mm. While the brace might help stabilize the gun, it will impact your shoulder with serious force from its thin rear portion. It could never be confused for a stock.

The 635 is easy to control, and I could easily blaze through Bill Drills, double taps, Mozambique drills, and more. Shooting behind and around cover wasn’t tough, and moving and shooting were a breeze.

The gun’s short length makes it effortless to drive between targets. I ran a series of drills with four steel targets spread about 10 feet apart. I easily scored four hits in less than four seconds.

The straight-stick magazines make reloads quick and easy. The hefty metal mags fall out when the mag release is pressed. They also insert straight up, so it’s intuitive. Just don’t drop a full magazine. It will spew rounds.

I only used 115-grain brass-cased ammo, specifically a case of Sellier and Bellot, and it blazed through it all without any failures. I never cleaned the thing, and you can tell. The Blowback operation is absolutely filthy, but the 635 ran like a champ.

A Retro Winner

H&R has a real winner with the 635 SMG. It’s an awesome clone of a classic submachine gun. The retro look and feel are accurate to the original to an NFA-free degree. This makes it tough to suggest the 635 for home defense.

I think most shooters would be better off with a flat top upper, an optic, a handguard with attachments, and a white light. The retro gun is accurate, reliable, and easy to shoot, but it’s not optimized for a defensive role.

It’s a retro fun gun, and that’s perfectly fine. My plan is to attend a local steel challenge match with this thing. I don’t think I’ll win, but I bet I’ll have tons of fun. That’s the exact intent and purpose of this gun: having fun. With that intent and purpose in mind, it scores at the top of the charts.

About Travis Pike

Travis Pike is a former Marine Machine Gunner, a lifelong firearms enthusiast, and now a regular guy who likes to shoot, write, and find ways to combine the two. He holds an NRA certification as a Basic Pistol Instructor and is the world’s Okayest firearm’s instructor.