45 Long Colt in a Handi Rifle

[tomf52]

Was looking at one of these in the Classic Carbine model with the walnnut stocks. An attractive little gun but having no knowledge of that caliber was wondering if the investment would be worthwhile for casting and shooting (paper punching). Could it be expected to be a reasonably accurate 50 or 100 yard gun? Thanks for any help here.

[Trey45]

If the 45 Colt handi rifle is built the same as the other NEF's and H&R's, you can expect acceptable accuracy with a little load development. I know at one time there was a problem with undersize throats in some handi rifles, I am not sure if 45 Colt fell victim to this factory shortcoming.

The caliber is certainly capable of good accuracy in the right gun, the Handi Rifles are built tough enough that if you wanted to shoot "Ruger Only" loadings in it, you could. Even cowboy loads in 45 Colt are enough to put brown down at reasonable distances.

I own 2 H&R Buffalo Classic rifles, one 45-70, one 38-55, I want one on 45 Colt too. If you end up buying the Handi Rifle, let us know how it shoots and how you like it?

[Jal5]

You could check out the Graybeard forum online too subforum on NEF/H&R firearms. There is more knowledge about these guns there than anyplace else I have found.

Joe

[onondaga]

I have the NEF SB2 ultra rifle with 2 barrels, .223 Rem and .500 S&W Mag. The .223 heavy varmint barrel was sub MOA right out of the box with several cast loads and factory ammo.

The .500 took a little work and finally polishing the barrel stopped the first shot high with a cold barrel problem. I have a pet load that uses the R.E.A.L. 250 gr sized to .501" that either my grandson or myself group less than 1 inch at 50 yd.

When I had the factory fit the second barrel I requested a trigger job which they did for free. Originally trigger was over 6 pounds pull and they brought it to 3.5 pounds and nice and crisp.

The 45LC you are considering has great potential with cast bullets, but I really like the .500 S&W Mag. I have the Dednutz one piece scope mount and Bushnell 1.5-4.5x shotgun scope with 4 inch eye relief for the recoil. My stock is the dark and light wood laminate Monti Carlo and weighted with lead in the butt stock.

Gary

[Catshooter]

I have the .45 Colt H&R barrel. I've only shot it at 50 yards with 260 & 315 grain Keiths over 20 grains of 2400. But both loads would cloverleaf at that distance.

These guns are being rechambered to the .454 and the .460, so strength isn't much of a concern for most.

Zero leading with either loads, boolits were air cooled wheel weights.


Cat

[geargnasher]

I have one of the "Classic Carbine" models, I understand they are discontinued now, but I'm sure you can find one, well worth having IMO.

Mine has a long throat, but that's fine because I can load it with long, heavy boolits and leave room for lots of SLOOOOOW powder, no crimp necessary. Think of it as a "baby" .45/70 fully capable of safely shooting Ruger-level loads. Out to 100 yards it's as accurate as I am with the right load and has yet to lead a bit, even with fairly hot plain-based loads. I have yet to get more than three to touch at 50 yards, but the front bead covers a paper plate at that distance and I don't see well anyway. I'm sure the gun is capable of it, I can make 3/4" diameter ragged holes with ten rounds at 25 yards with a half-dozen different boolits and multiple different loads. The key to longer range stuff is getting the right boolit design and the right velocity to stabilize it.

Overall I'm VERY pleased with mine, even thought the stock is very "clubby" in the wrist area. Very much fun to shoot and I wouldn't hesitate to shoot a deer with it inside 100 yards, even with SAA-level loads and 200-grain boolits. The wood is handsome with good figure and decent checkering, good enough for me to rasp the wrist to a better shape and rechecker that area.

The Graybeard site is a WEALTH of info on the NEF single-shots, it is to those guns what ours is to cast boolits.

I designed a custom boolit with this gun in mind, it works like a CHAMP as a dual-purpose NEF/revolver load:

http://accuratemolds.com/img/bullets/detail/45-260G-D.png


Gear

[cajun shooter]

As All the others have posted the Greybeard forum has an entire section dedicated to the Handi rifles in all the different calibers. When I first went to it I was surprised at the postings with all the info. I am going to tell you in a very friendly way that the cartridge is known as the 45 Colt and not 45Long Colt. There is no where in history that you will find it with such a name from the factory. It was given that name as a slang handle and it has stuck. It came about when the 45 Schofield round was issued to the Calvary. As it was bound to happen with both rounds being in supply together. The 45 Colt would chamber and fire the Schofield round but not the other way around. Many a Calvary unit would receive the 45 Colt round and be with out ammo as the Schofield was the gun they carried. No one can say who was the first to say no we need the 45 short rounds or send us the the long Colt as all our revolvers will not fire this one. I am not posting this to be a snob and if you wish to continue to say Long Colt that is your business. You will not be alone in that usage. I was watching a TV series called Cowboys and both of the guest who are very well known in the SASS shooting circles called the cartridge 45 Long Colt all through the show. One of them even stated that he had been shooting the 45 Long Colt for about 7 years now.It's a small point but we are losing our history one word at a time. Take Care and I hope you enjoy your rifle. I know that I am sorry that I sold my Buffalo Classic.

[Trey45]

Cajun, I like very much the way you get your point across and I couldn't agree with you more about the useage of the term 45 Colt, and not 45 Long Colt.

Was your Buffalo Classic a 45 Colt?

[cajun shooter]

No, It was the 45-70 and I am still kicking my butt over that but I did it to be able to purchase another cowboy gun so It was both sweet and sour. I thank you for the kind words as this is a thing that I have been trying to convey for a very long time. It goes with the schools not even offering American History to the students in several places now. It is a sad day when a person trying to obtain citizenship into this country and that person knows more about our history than a natural born American.

[TCLouis]

Funny one picks up calling a cartridge by a certain name back in the 60s they ain't likely to change because someone says something different.

[geargnasher]

If you cared you could change the habit. Do you know how many years I said "DexTron" before someone corrected me? Talk about feeling stupid when I actually read the bottle. I leaned to say it wrong from those around me growing up. Haven't slipped since.

Gear

[kmag]

Don't want to start a flame war so would like to state and a very friendly way that there was a 45 short colt which has a very thin rim. I have images of them but don't know how to post them. However if anyone here would like to contact Mike Venturino, I think he is a member here, I'm sure he can post the images and give you a little history on it. I think I have some old reloading manuals that lists the 45 Long Colt. I think he published an article within the past few years which covered this and had photos.

[cajun shooter]

As I said in my posting call it what you want. You will be wrong but I will not lose sleep over any person who chooses to do things wrong. If you can, show me where Colt called it by that name and second show me a factory box of ammo. As far as your books go I also stated that people have been wrong for years,but that does not make it correct. As far as that goes tell me how many movies or TV shows about the west have you seen where they carry nothing but the 1873 Colt. The S&W Schofields are never shown along with several others so does that mean it is the only gun carried. Study some history if you care to know the truth.