Just curious if anyone shoots the handi rifles and how do you like them? What is your favorite caliber? Are they accurate?

I have the 500 S&W on order and might get the 20ga rifled slug & heavy 243 barrel. Anyone shoot these calibers? Thanks!

I have an SB2, with barrels in 22 K-Hornet and 30-30. Have gotten unbelievable accuracy out of the K, with loads using 55-grain Winchester power points shooting one hole at 100 with 10 grains of AA-2200 powder. The barrel also likes a subsonic round I load: 1/2 grain of AA #2, a cotton pellet to hold the powder down, and an Alox-coated Lyman #225107, unsized and un-checked, seated to crimp groove. That is also a one-hole load at ~25 yards, using a 4X scope. Excellent on small game...
Not a lot of success with the .30-30 barrel yet, but haven't played all that much with that caliber (and it is never going to see a jacketed bullet...). Having a hard time finding a lead bullet that will fit the bore using my alloy.
I plan to do some more playing soon, with the Ohaus equivalent of the Lyman 31141. I will let you know if it works out...

Doubless, there are a bunch of cast bullet .30-30 Handi shooters at Graybeard if'n you want some recommended loads, IIRC, RV shoots real close to one hole groups at 100yds with his loads, he's got em pretty well perfected.

http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/phpbb2/viewforum.php?f...70979ca3d91183d8fb90

Well I have owned a .45-70 handi for some years now, and while I have never tried to make it group on paper, it will split logs, plow stacks of phone books, and destroy jugs of water as long as I can see them.
But mostly the thing is just SO HANDY! Honestly, it is such a joy to drag one through the woods or over the next bluff, and i'm very comfortable with the exposed hammer and single shot style.
Now if only they would put iron sights on some of the rifle calibers, maybe a nice bead front and a peep rear. LOP is a bit long for me, but i'm short, might grab a youth sized stock for it soon.

Bluepuma, you can send your frame in for fitting of a rifle barrel with sights instead of a scope rail, all ya got to do is ask for it on the order form. The asterisked barrels on the barrel list require a frame built 1999 or later. You can also get a Williams WGRS peep sight for your 45-70 that mounts in the 2 rear scope base holes. I've got this sight and a firesight on one of my 45-70s below...

http://hr1871.com/barrelAcc/index.htm

wrongtarget: That's a pretty neat looking package. I went ot the H&R website, but didn't see any of the rifles with the Mannlicher style forend. Say if I wanted to buy a rifle set up exactly like yours in .30-30, could it be bought as shown?

Doubless: I have started using Ramshot X-Terminator to replace W-748 in .30-30 and I'm getting better accuracy, not that the 748 loads were bad, the X-Terminator loads are outstanding. Similar speed as 748, but just a couple of spots ahead on the burn rate chart. I got it to use with the Laser-Cast 170 gr. GC, but it likes jacketed bullets as well.

KLN357, Thanks!! The mannlicher forend was available from H&R earlier this year for $35 shipped, they found a stash of em in their warehouse left over from an old production of them. They were available on complete rifles at one time in the past.

I got a Buffalo Classic a month ago.



Pretty nice gun. I am lobbing 405gr bullets at around 2000 FPS. Accuracy is good enough to hit golf balls at 100 yards or so. I didn't care for the OEM sights. Went for a scope instead.

ZM

Oh yeah. I almost forgot. Recoil is quite snappy!

Handi Rifles have great bores.
For a gun that cheap, they are getting the right barrel somewhere.
I heard it was Green Mountain.

The triggers are not good, but much better than a bull pup.

The accuracy is great. Just great.

The break action is not as nice from the bench as a falling block.

The recoil can be extreme from a 5 pound 45/70.

The scope mounts are cheap and good.

The hammer is hard to reach under a scope, so you need one of the hammer extenders.

quote:

The recoil can be extreme from a 5 pound 45/70.

That it would be, but you won't find a 5 pound Handi. They weight a minimum of 7lbs with the synthetic stock!! Even the Superlights which aren't available in 45-70, weigh 5½lbs.

http://www.hr1871.com/firearms/index.php?cat=4&subcat=36#21

I have the 243 with a 2x7x32 nikon monark that shoots pretty well for the money. It came from the factory with a trigger job. As i said, for the money, it does well.

Speaking of triggers, how are they before and after a trigger job? I've looked at them in the past, but I wondered with a hammer like it has, would it be handicapped by a heavy trigger. Looks like a very cost effective alternative for a Single Shot tifle and some of the classic cartridges are offered as well.

Trigger jobs are easy if you know what to do and how to do it. I've done at least a dozen so far, you can easily get down to a little over 2lbs with no creep and a crisp break with a little, and I mean little, honing. You can go even lighter if you dare, just go slowly or you'll be buying new parts which aren't all that expensive from Brownell's.

http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=52341

http://www.perkloafm.com

Guess I'll be the black sheep of the crowd. I had an SB2 in .223. Sent it back for a trigger job and to have a .243 barrel fitted.
Always had problems with ejection. H&R used to have a "forum" site where their guns were discussed at length. Ejection was THE major problem with a lot of the guns. There were several "fixes", none of which worked with my particular gun.
The trigger job, by H&R was great. Smoothed everything out. The new .243 barrel wasn't fitted correctly and I immediately had headspace problems (case separtations just above the web).
Always carried a 1/4" dowel to punch out the stuck cases. PITA to say the least.
I finally moved on to small caliber bolt actions, sold the NEF for cheap, and never looked back.

BEJ, Most of those forum members are now at Graybeard Outdoors....

http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/phpbb2/index.php?c=12

Some NEF/H&R rifles have rough chambers and a good polish will fix the problem along with keeping the chamber dry and clean. H&R should fix the chamber if polishing doesn't help, there have been a few that way reported at GBO. I have 24 barrels and 16 frames, have only had stuck cases when I forgot to wipe the chamber clean at the range when cleaning between shots. Also had a couple when shooting too hot of loads in sticky norma brass in a 7x64 Brenneke. Other than those, clean ejection is the norm for thousands of shots. Isn't just me either, it's the norm for anyone that knows how to keep em shootin good. FWIW, H&R is switching over to mechanical extractors now, they are using up the ejectors and sometime in the next year or so, all they'll offer is the extractor equipped barrels, should end the problem forever.

A friend of mine has a 30-06 barrel on his and is a little bit afraid of it.It worked fine when he bought it. He has shot about 2 boxes of shells through it and the action has started to open by itself when fired. Factory loads only ,no hot handloads. Has anyone else had this problem? Anyone knowlegeable enough to suggest what the problem is?

When the ejector sticks in the frame, it has nothing to do with a "clean chamber" or "knowing how to "keep 'em shooting good".
However, I digress. The "polishing the chamber" was one of the fixes I did straight away. Also, after a bit, I always FL sized cases. No neck sizing allowed because it just worsened the problem.
The gun was sent back to H&R for the ejection problem. Got it back and the problem continued unabated. Cases stuck religiously with Winchester "white box" ammunition.
I do agree with you, though, that most NEFs do not suffer from the extremes of this particular firearm.
Frankly, I go to range to shoot, not "wipe the chamber clean after every shot". I'm glad your NEFs are working great and hope they continue to do so.

Snowman,

Being in Canada you don't have access to a repair by H&R unless you can get the shop where you bought it to fix it, if that's possible. Pop opens are caused by insufficient latch engagement, seem to be most common on new rifles. They are terribly dirty when new and will need a good cleaning, inside and out, particularly the latch and latch shelf for good engagement. There are some tips in the FAQ at GBO that will help you fix the problem yourself if the cleaning doesn't help. The latch and shelf should NOT have any oil or grease on them, should just be clean and dry.

Come on over for a visit, we have several members north of the border.


http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=26264

quote:

Frankly, I go to range to shoot, not "wipe the chamber clean after every shot".

BEJ, I don't wipe the chamber after every shot, just after cleaning to make sure there's no solvent left in the chamber. There have been some reported at GBO that didn't get satisfaction after multiple returns to H&R, those that I recollect had the rifle and accessory barrels bought back by H&R, they have great CS if given the chance.

Some of the ejectors are pretty rough, but it doesn't take much to take the burrs off. I've converted several of mine to extractors which is also easy to do, albeit a spring driven extractor instead of the mechanical extractor coming on the new barrels.

http://www.brimstonepistoleros.com/Articles/hr-ejector-mod.html

A buddy and myself bought a pair of these a few months ago in 45-70 and we both love them. Mine seems to prefer the Federal 300gr Hot-Core. To say that they are a blast to shoot in an understatement, IMHO. The trigger could be a little better, I think, but it is OK for what you're paying.

I put a leather sling on mine and plan to carry it around during the off-season, as well as carrying it as a cab-rifle in my 4x4 during the season this fall.


Good luck.

I have a H & R in 25.06 and it shoots an inch or under at 100 yds with about every shell I've tried. It is therifle I will use for Antelope this year. I love it!!

Here is a H&R Custom 257 Roberts.
24"Octagon barrel, 24oz trigger, 7lbs-6oz. 3-9 Sightron scope. Shoots three shots under a 1/2" with several bullets. It has perfect off hand balance. With 75gr V-max 3450ft gophers badgers and coyotes beware.

That's sure nice looking Fred, bet someone put a lot of work and pride into it, and it looks worth it!!

I acquired a Handi-Rifle in .243 with the heavy barrel a few months back. I have not had any bad experiences or malfunctions with it as of yet, as stated in other postings the trigger pull is a little stiff. It is a short gun being only 38 inches overall and some slings will not shorten up enough. The accuracy is quite good even for the short barrel; it makes an excellent gun to carry in your vehicle. Good luck with one if that’s what you decide on.

10 years ago I had an SB2 in 280 Rem. That was a real accurate pc. I traded it for a Rem 700 because although it was accurate the chamber was horrible. The base of the cases expanded so large that they would not go into a sizing die. About that time I met 2 other guys with the same problem with their 280s.

Now, last year I bought a 308 SB2 and it has been very dissapointing. I can't decide whether I want to send it off for a different barrel or if I want to trade it off. Sean