The present invention provides a hydraulic shock absorber 10, with a cylinder 12 which is filled with a hydraulic fluid; a piston 14 connected to one end of a piston rod 15, which is slidably located in the cylinder; and a free piston 47 which is slidably located in the cylinder so as to partition the cylinder into a gas chamber 45 and an oil chamber 16A, and wherein a gas chamber cartridge 48 is inserted into one side of the cylinder 12 so as to be fixed thereto, and the free piston 47 slidably disposed in a gas chamber case 46 of the gas chamber cartridge 48, defining one chamber partitioned by the free pistion 47 of the gas chamber case 46 as the gas chamber 45 encloses a gas therein, and defining the other chamber partitioned by the free pistion 47 of the gase chamber case 46 as connected to the oil chamber 16A on the other side of the cylinder 12.