H&R Huntsman 58 Cal

[omgb]

I just purchased an H&R Huntsman in 58 cal. I haven't received it yet but already some guys are telling me these guns are not safe. So, if any of you have some direct experience, please chime in. What is the issue if any?

R J Talley

[Tatume]

It appears that H&R made these with two different styles of breechplugs. One was threaded and the other was a slip fit with an o-ring. Which is yours?

[omgb]

I don't know yet.....the gun is still in OH

[Shooter]

I had one with the "O" ring breech, great rifle.
If you have a hang-fire, wait before opening, and open so the breech plug isn't pointed at your body.
That being said, the inline ignition makes hang-fires unlikely.

[leadman]

I have one of each. The one with the slide out breach plug I bought new in the mid '70s. The other I bought about 10 years ago from a gun shop.
It would be hard for the slide out BP to get out since the plug catches the top edge of the action unless the gun is worn badly. If there was a too heavy a load in it and it opened itwhen fired might be possible.
Do not load this up like the modern in-line guns as you will get alot of recoil and not very good accuracy. The rifling is slower than modern guns and pretty shallow.
I use 90grs of Goex 2F with a .570" Hornady roundball for hunting. I cast a .575" Lyman ronndball for target or plinking. The difference is the .570" rb loads much easier and still accurate enough for hunting. I use Crisco as a patch lube.
I tried some of the Hornady sabots with 45 caliber pistol bullets many years ago but they did not work out well.

I could hit the 300 yard rams at the range with the .575" RB but it would not knock it over.

I borrowed a mold many years ago that was an adjustable Minie boolit. Shot some and never want to do that again!! Think they were over 500 grs. The roundball weighs about 238grs.

I shot my first elk here in Az with the 70s gun with a .575" roundball cast from wheelweight. Not knowing much of anything about elk I listened to a co-worker that said they were hard to kill. The RB went thru the heart, put a second .570" RB in the head to finish it off.
I don't have the wrench to remove the screw in breech plug but saw where a guy made one out of a 10mm socket by grinding the sides down. The plug has a hole on each side of the nipple hole for a spanner type wrench to fit into.
Check out the gun for pitting in the bore and also that the trigger is not too light. there were some problems with the sear chipping as these are a sintered metal formed type of part. The triggers are usually pretty stiff.

[leftiye]

So long as the action doesn't pop open (= overload whether black or white powder and regardless of caliber/ctg), the breechplug doesn't even have to be fastened (hence the "O"ring gas seal - escaping gas is actually more dangerous). So long as the barrel doesn't let go due to thin walls (I did bulge a Cabela's 58 cal Hawken) you're home free.

[leadman]

I had the best accuracy with Goex 2f real black powder.

[John Taylor]

There was a story about one of the "O" ring breach plug coming out and making a mess of a mans thumb. Seems he had a misfire and put a new cap on and put his thump on the cap and twisted it to get it to seat all the way and the gun went off. I can not verify the story.

[Nobade]

Yep, I could see that happening. Of course if you have a rifle fire while your thumb is on the cap it's not going to do it any good anyhow.

[Nit Wit]

I had one in 1973, the breech plug is not thick so it can blow out if the action is open. What caused them to stop the first production was a fellow hog hunting. The cap failed to ignite the charge and in the excitement he broke open the action and the charge ignited sending the threaded breech plug between his eyes.
I liked mine and had good accuracy with minie bullets. Just be careful with misfires.
Nit Wit

[dk17hmr]

I have read that in the early days with the push in style of breech guys were modifing the frame so the breech plug could be pushed out when the action was opened.

I shoot round balls out of mine. Heres a thread from the last whitetail I shot with it back when I was still in Michigan.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...light=huntsman

[DIRT Farmer]

There were two problems with the guns, the breech plug as noted in missfires and having too long of a nipple in the breech plug which could cause slam fires when the action was closed.

Be careful and pay attention.

[wgr]

you can put a pen in the o ring type breech plugs

[Nit Wit]

I never had any issues with mine, sold it and upgraded. Still addicted, must have 50 or more muzzleloaders. The wife says I have a problem,I think she is right!

Nit Wit

[leadman]

I did forget that I had to shorten the nipple on my gun with the o-ring plug.
I always clean the passage in the breechplug when done firing and do remove the nipple when doing this. Crud can build up but I have never had a misfire with this gun.
I have fired as many as 50 rounds at the range with no problems. I always fire a cap before the first load and make sure the passage is open. It is nice that you can actually see daylight thru the BP.

[omgb]

Well, it arrived and.....it looked like a sewer pipe down that barrel. Red, gooy junk oozing out. I cleaned it, had to tumble the breech plug in stainless medium for 6 hours. The bore is very pitted. I will be surprised if it doesn't tear cloth patches all to heck. Anyone know of a good re-liner?

[omgb]

Well, it's now 2013 and I'm still shooting it. So far, no problems. The bore is pitted but I was able to fire lap it and with a REAL slug it shoots fair. Now I need to change it from a musket cap to a 209 primer. Anyone got any ideas?

[Nobade]

What does the firing pin look like? Is it pointy enough to fire a 209 primer?

-Nobade

[nekshot]

They are as safe as any other inline of their era. I have a sidekick (almost same thing) and I got a replacement kit from canada that uses 25 pistol cartridge. Works great, deer never knew gun was thought of as unsafe!

[nanuk]

They are as safe as any other inline of their era. I have a sidekick (almost same thing) and I got a replacement kit from canada that uses 25 pistol cartridge. Works great, deer never knew gun was thought of as unsafe!

This one?