By John Howe (His son)

Larry B. Schuknecht

Contrary to what some chat sites and Forums may say, Harlan was not related to the Howe of Griffin & Howe nor was he related to James Virgil Howe who was the author of The Modern Gunsmith, and in charge of the Small-Arms-Experimental division at United States Frankford Arsenal.

Harlan G. Howe was born in the month of May 1910. His first job that his son John knows of was as a Dental Equipment Installer for Mabee-Kanenbley Inc. which was located in Brooklyn, NY. While working at Mabee-Kanenbley he met his future wife-Ruth C. Modes who worked there as a secretary. After they were married he went to work for his father-in-law as an Industrial Electrician. He took an interest in guns at an early age and in 1927 at the age of 17 he went to Macy’s and purchased a Marlin model 39 in 22 RF for $17.00.

Once that he and Ruth moved into their home at 236 Marshal Ave., West Hempstead he finally had a basement where he could set up a shop and really get into gun making. The early rifles were sporters as well as some single shots. Mauser actions were his favorite. He was known for his fine checkering as well as his carved Oak Clusters. At some point in the mid to late 1940’s he went into a partnership with Holman J. Swinney to build custom rifles, the work being performed in Harlan’s shop. Click HERE to read more about Mr. Swinney. Swinney estimated that they made about 25 to 30 rifles together before Swinney left Brooklyn in 1954.

John Howe can not remember a time in the 1950’s and 60’s that there was not a knock at the front door in the evening with men holding their rifles; looking for Harlan to fix or repair them. In some cases in the evening a shot would ring out in the basement to ensure that the repair work was successful. Everything was done in the Basement shop- blueing, metal work, wood work and chambering for wildcat cartridges, etc.

During this time in the 1950’s Harlan built two 1/4 midget race cars from scratch using tubular steel frames, hand made fiberglass bodies, independent front suspension and hydraulic brakes; all unheard of at that time. One of the midgets still exists, number 20 in original condition with a Vespa scooter engine and adjustable steering ratio. It is still being driven to this day. To read more about #20 click HERE.

Then Harlan developed a new interest in Kentucky style rifles and pistols. In true Howe fashion everything except the barrels were made in the basement. Whenever a good piece of wood could be found, Harlan would choose the best way to cut it up into stock blanks. All of the metal work was done by hand usually of his own design with an eye towards history. Most of these barrels had his name hand engraved and inlaid with Silver Solder.

At some point there was a lull at home so my dad made a working miniature rosewood cap lock pistol complete with it’s own case for my mom. And if he was not working on guns, he thought he would try his hand at making a miniature running four cylinder D. O. H. C. racing engine. Everything was hand made with the exception of the timing gears, ball bearings and spark plugs. It took Harlan six years to complete it.

In addition to guns, Harlan also loved cars and purchased a 1929 Wills Saint Clare before getting married. Then during hard times with a wife and children he began using his father-in-laws car to get to work and home. Slowly after finally having a family car more interesting came his way. He was not a car collector, and most of his cars were bought as basket cases. He would rebuild a car and enjoy it for a while and when another came along, he would sell what he had to get the next one. these cars included a MG-TC, then a 3.4 Jaguar Sedan, followed by an Aston Martin DB24, a 1930 Alfa Romeo 1750 Super Charged. His favorite was a Ferrari 410 Super America. All of the cars needed much work and were purchased with very little money.

Harlan was one of those guy’s who could take something apart and rebuild it better than new, or look at a project and understand how to do it with what he had, and he had a high standard for his work. Harlan passed away in February of 1979.

Following are images of Harlan in his basement shop and some showing his work.

Following are three images of the four cylinder, overhead cam shaft engine Harlan built from scratch, the third shows the front cover removed with the timing gears exposed.

Below are images of Breech Loading rifles made by Harlan and sold by Auction Houses in the past few years.