H&R handi rifles good or junk?

[MBTcustom]

I have kicked around the idea of buying an H&R rifle in 45/70 or .444 marlin for a while. The main things that worried me are
1. does it eject the spent shell or do you have to pull it out?
2. is the action strong enough to stand up to years of shooting a lot of boolits through it? (I have this addiction to single shot .22s, you see, and I end up shooting more out of the slow single shot than I do out of the auto loader, and I fear that the H&R would be no different.)
and most importantly,
3. Is the handi rifle, or buffalo rifle design accurate? Or does it take a lot of fussing to get a semi decent group at say 200yards.
I am, of course, looking for info regarding rifles that have already been broke in. Assuming that I buy one in 45/70 and shoot 100 PP boolits through it, what kind of accuracy can I most likely expect from GG GC or PP?

[mattbowen]

goodsteel;

All I have is one word to describe the Handi, and all you have to do is look at your user name.

I have one in 45/70 and I shoot it open sights and can hit a 32oz gatorade bottle at 100 yards, I love mine..

Matt

[camaro1st]

i have a stainless 243 and love it. 1 the ejector will hit me in the chest with the empty. 2 i think the action is plenty strong. 3 the gas check will fire out fine 5 shot at 1/2inch group

[troyboy]

You can get a barrel that is an ejector but all the current manufactured barrels are extractor. The extractor is a better option IMO. The sb2 frame that is currently made is strong enough for any level load that your shoulder can handle. The older ones that were on cast frames are trapdoor level only. Yes they are accurate, in fact they are held in high regard. Go here.

[Swampman]

I've had several Handis and I love them.

[geargnasher]

I have a Classic Carbine in .45 Colt, it's neat as heck. I'm in the middle of working up a heavy, 340-grain load for it for deer season. Mine is an SB2 with extractor, good setup that works flawlessly even with hot loads. Onandaga has a .500 S&W Magnum that he's killed deer with, he seems to like his. It's a light gun that will hammer you with hot loads, but mine's holding up just fine. My only complaints are the plastic forend cap and trigger guard, and the exterior fit-finish is rough, but what do you want for a $200 shooter? The quality of the working parts and internal machining is very good.

Gear

[onondaga]

My SB2 Ultra Handi in .500 S&W has been a great performer. I had first shot high problems with it when new but a bore polishing with a Hoppe's Bore Snake and Turtle Wax Chrome Polish and Rust Remover cured that completely.. These Handi barrels are not super honed match barrels, I would polish every one. I had the factory reduce the trigger pull when getting an accessory barrel and they did a super job for free.

I addressed the recoil problem by cutting a piece of 1/2 inch copper plumbing pipe to fit the butt stock hole for the receiver bolt in the standard stock. I filled the pipe with lead. With a scope and the weight, my all up weight is 9.5 lbs and recoil is not a problem even with hot loads.. The bullet I use is the Lee R.E.A.L. 250 grain sized to .501 and pushed to 1885fps. I like the light boolit and really 250 grains is not light for deer and bear. I use WC820 or H110 powder and BPI Original Ballistic filler to get 105% compressed loads. The rifle groups less than 1 inch at 50 yards for my grandson or myself. Accuracy with that bevel base bullet in Lyman #2 tumble lubed falls off over 1885 fps.

I am currently using an aftermarket stock instead of the gaudy striped laminated Monti Carlo stock that was standard. The composite stock has a butt compartment I filled with bird-shot and topped with Silly Putty. It weighs 10 pounds even with this stock all up.

A gas checked boolit could be pushed a lot harder and there are molds for the .500 up to 700 grains. I have also tried saboted 45 Cal pistol bullets to 2350 fps but accuracy better than 1.2 inches at 50 yards didn't happen and I require less than 1 inch at 50 yards for hunting.

I enjoy the versatility of the .500 S&W and personally consider it superior to the 45-70 for the modern shooter.

It works for me.

Gary

[JIMinPHX]

They have a few idiosyncrasies & the bore quality does vary a bit, but in general, I like them. I probably hunt with a Handi more than anything else. I think that for the price, they can't be beat. I'd rather have a TC, but for the price of a TC with 1 barrel, I can have a Handi with 3 or 4 barrels.

There are 3 different versions of the receiver. They vary by pressure rating. You can usually tell them apart by looking up the serial number. The one to get is the high pressure rifle cartridge version because you can fit any barrel on that one. Below that is the low pressure rifle version, that you can get some rifle barrels for & also shotgun or black powder barrels. The bottom level is the shotgun receiver. You can't get any rifle barrel put on that one.

Some of the barrels have ejectors that throw the spent shells & others have extractors that just pull the shell up so that you can pull it out by hand. People have been known to convert one type to the other. There are instructions posted on the internet that explain how to do it, but I haven't looked them up in several years, so I forget where I found them.

The down side to the Handi is that you need to send it back to the factory to get a new barrel fitted & headspaced. You can't just buy a barrel off the shelf at your local store & drop it right on like you can with a TC. Some guys over on the Grey Beard board swap barrels around between different guns & have ways of adjusting the headspace, but their methods make me shudder. Anyone with your mechanical skills & access to equipment should be able to do a proper job of it & not fool around with drill bits & Coke can shims like they do.

These guns need a little extra special handling to get the very best accuracy out of them. Resting on the receiver rather than the fore end & not over tightening the fore end screw are two of the biggies. On a gun with a good bore, I've managed to get down to a 3/8" group @ 100 yards with more than 1 type of bullet in my hand loads.

Those inexpensive little rifles are not junk.

[wellfedirishman]

They are great little guns for the money. I have a Buffalo Classic Carbine in 45 Colt and love it.

Here's a range report I did on it:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=99213

[MBTcustom]

500 S&W. kinda has a ring to it that gives me goose bumps

Anyone with your mechanical skills & access to equipment should be able to do a proper job of it & not fool around with drill bits & Coke can shims like they do.

Sounds like an interesting rifle! I may have to check 'er out.

[Taylor]

I have 3,Buffalo Classic-45/70,Buffalo Classic Carbine 45 colt and a handi in .223.I have nothing bad to say about them.Real fun to shoot.Good triggers and are quite accurate.

[Mk42gunner]

Has anybody had trouble with the transfer bar breaking on the newer H&R 1871 or NEF versions? The reason I ask is that I have been around three of the original H&R model 158's Two in .30-30 and one in .22 Hornet that all had the transfer bar break. My best friend had one of the .30-30s that broke when attempting to shoot a fairly good buck, of course this was thirty years ago.

This may be a thing of the past, my SB-1 N*** 3 1/2" 12 ga hasn't broken yet, but I always wonder...

Robert

[JIMinPHX]

About 10 years ago, I helped my brother replace a transfer bar in an older topper. It was a B-I-Itch to get back together until I figured out that I had to make up a little assembly aid pin.

That was a common problem in the old days. Some people tell me that dry firing caused it to happen. I haven't seen a whole lot of that sort of thing lately, but someone did recently tell me that some part that moves the transfer bar wears out on the Remington made guns after a few thousand shots. Apparently, they changed the geometry of something in there & now a hole is not where it used to be & that leaves less meat on the part to allow for wear. That was just one incident that I am aware of & I don't have all the details on it.

In general, I think that they are fairly reliable guns as long as they aren't horribly abused.

[Mk42gunner]

About 10 years ago, I helped my brother replace a transfer bar in an older topper. It was a B-I-Itch to get back together until I figured out that I had to make up a little assembly aid pin.

That was a common problem in the old days. Some people tell me that dry firing caused it to happen. I haven't seen a whole lot of that sort of thing lately, but someone did recently tell me that some part that moves the transfer bar wears out on the Remington made guns after a few thousand shots. Apparently, they changed the geometry of something in there & now a hole is not where it used to be & that leaves less meat on the part to allow for wear. That was just one incident that I am aware of & I don't have all the details on it.

In general, I think that they are fairly reliable guns as long as they aren't horribly abused.

Reassembling an H&R can be quite fun, I have found that it is easier if you have another gun there to look at.

Like I said, I was curious about the transfer bar because of past experience. All told the cost of the parts to fix it is less than ten dollars from Brownell's, unless you lose a shot at a deer like my friend did.

I never really understood why the original H&R came up with the transfer bar anyway. My very first shotgun was an H&R model 58 that didn't have one, seems like it had a rebounding hammer, but I can't be sure. I carried that gun a jillion miles when I was a kid with no problems as long as I kept my head down on the stock.

Robert

[Jal5]

Jim hit the nail on the head:
"They have a few idiosyncrasies & the bore quality does vary a bit, but in general, I like them. I probably hunt with a Handi more than anything else. I think that for the price, they can't be beat. I'd rather have a TC, but for the price of a TC with 1 barrel, I can have a Handi with 3 or 4 barrels. "

I have 5 now and started out because of the simplicity of the single shot and the price I could afford- 16 and 20 ga. shot guns, 50 cal. ML, 243 and 270 Win. I have taken deer with both the ML and 20 ga. slugs so far. The 243 is for targets, coyotes, etc. and the 270 will be used on my elk trip if that ever happens! Would like to find a 357mag barrel and 45-70 to complete my collection. I keep checking local pawn shops and LGS- the Handirifles appear there with some regularity. The 20 ga. and 270 barrels I picked up used on the GBO forum and fitted them to those receivers- the 270 is made up of a variety of parts purchased here and there online.

Joe

[Catshooter]

Like any gun, they vary.

The very first load I tried in my 45-70 Handi put three shots into an inch and an eigth at one hundred. Boolit, of course.


Cat

[Good Cheer]

And I sure do wish they made a .41 Mag.

[white eagle]

I have one
a 12 ga USH and it is a blast
relatively and figuratively
the utmost respect for the H&R Handi line
inexpensive,accurate and fun

[Hammerhead]

I have a 10-12 year old Handi in .357/30-30/.410 bore and a new classic carbine in .45 Colt.
The older Handi is all EJECTORS! I write 'EJECTORS!' because you had better be ready when it EJECTS!
The .30-30 is a real sweet gun for cast boolits because it has a very short leade. I can load right up to the lands with 115 LRN or 150 LFP. Cast boolit accuracy is fantastic.
The classic is an extractor model of course. I haven't put it through it's paces yet. Initial loads are shooting 1 to 1-1/2 inches at 50 yards with .45 auto SWC's and Trail Boss.

[cdet69]

What size o ring did you use to free float the barrel Onandaga?