H&R huntsman?

[izzyjoe]

I'm looking at an H&R huntsman in 45 cal, the bore looks pretty good but I'm just concerned about the breech plung being stuck. It has two small holes on the side of the nipple, I'm assuming there a tool to remove it, but I guess a fellow could make one if need be. I also assume this would be a PRB only because of slow twist. If I removed the breech plug is there any option to convert to 209?

[Hickory]

I had the 58 caliber with the screw in breach plug that shot fantastic.
Be sure to grease the threads with Rig Universal when seating the plug.
A good machinist can make the tool to remove the breach plug.

[arcticap]

If I removed the breech plug is there any option to convert to 209?

The only option that I can think of is an outfit that was doing custom conversion work to convert some single shot shotguns into smokeless powder muzzle loaders.

There's a company or two that make replacement 209 breech plugs for the 2nd generation Huntsmans for use with bare primers instead of the plastic 209 holders,
but I've never heard that they fit the old original models.
IIRC even the newer models came with 2 different breech plug sizes based on their production date.

I think that you would be looking at custom work since those guns were made in the 1970's and new break open 209 rifles are fairly inexpensive so there's not much demand.
A 209 breech plug would need to be precisely fitted for the firing pin to set off the primer.
Which BTW, some of the old Huntsmans weren't able to set off the percussion cap.
I had to shim the nipple of one .45 Huntsman with a thin washer in order to get it to fire.
I don't know if it was the original nipple or not since I bought the gun used.

To be honest, with an inline ignition there's not much need to use a 209 primer if loaded with patched round balls and any powder other than Blackhorn 209.
And more than a cloth patch is often needed for Blackhorn to ignite and perform well even with a 209 primer, it works better with sabots.
With my older inline that uses #11 primers, I've never had a misfire.
While musket cap and 209 conversion nipples/breech plugs offer some benefits, they're not absolutely necessary for reliable ignition.
That's why they make nipple picks to help keep the flame channel clear.

[Froogal]

Muzzle loader? I have a Harrington and Richardson Huntsman in 12 gauge bolt action, 5 shot.

[dk17hmr]

I have a 58 Cal huntsman with a push in breech plug that is awesome with PRB and pretty good with heavy mini balls. It has killed several deer. If I could find a 45 for a decent price I'd probably get one. The only killer for mine is the firing pin will get cruded up after about 8 shots and the firing pin will slow down enough to not set off a cap on the first strike.

[koger]

I have had 2 of these, they both shot great, luv the .45's! Mine had 1-48 twist and would shoot a PRB or a maxi slug, in a tight cloverleaf at 50 yds for 3 shots, all day long as long as I cleaned it between shots, using 3fffg black powder.

[izzyjoe]

That's what I was hoping to hear, I've heard of them, but never have seen one. I'll go back and check it out better Monday. It don't look to bad, and they are asking $200 for it, but it's a pawnshop so cash money talks. Hope I can get it for $150, I've done some research on the web about them, and not a lot turns up on a 209 conversion, but that don't matter to me, cause I have a lot of #11 caps. I hope it takes standard nipples, and not an oddball size. I would be using Goex or pyrodex, cause I have not tried black horn yet, personally I feel its a bit steep! Last time I bought goex it was $18 a lb. I think BH is $35 for less than a lb. I don't see any in my future!

[koger]

I use BP for all my target shooting and small game hunting, but I have 2 TC Omegas set up with real world BDC NIkon scopes, made for inline trajectory's, out to 300 yds. Zeroed dead on at 100yds with the crosshair, every BDC is within an inch +or-, out to 300yds. BH209 is the only ML powder, that is as accurate, or more so, than BP, and gets the velocity. I have taken several deer here in KY and mule deer out west, between 100-300yds, every one one shot, no animal took over 2-3 steps, with my last deer at 279 yds, shoulder to shoulder, exit hole about 1-3/4". I check zero and only use the powder to shoot at live animals, from year to year, since I have already done load work and am completely confident in the powder/bullet I shoot. I use a 300 gr, .451 copper jacketed plastic tip Harvester brand bullet, with their black crush rib sabot, which allows for easier loading. I have taken around 20 deer with this combo, and have yet to recover a bullet as they expand and penetrate like crazy. I shot a #225 mulie buck facing me head on at 179 yds, and hit him square in the chest, took out the vitals, he took 2 steps and dropped, DRT! The bullet exited out thu the right ham! So a 10 0z bottle of BH 209 aint too steep price wise with this kind of performance.

[Shawlerbrook]

I have one of the old ones and they are great little guns. I still use the original breechplug with the orange 209 primer carriers. There was two sizes but you can get replacement for both. The only difference between the Huntsman and Sidekick, is the Huntsman can use shotgun barrels and therefore requires an ffl/4473 where the Sidekick is blackpowder only.

[John Taylor]

The firing pin for the H&R muzzle loader is to big for a 209 primer, designed for a percussion cap. Many years back before all the inlines hit the market I was taking the H&R shotguns and making them into muzzle loaders using the 209 primers. Then Idaho changed the law for the primitive hunt and 209 primers were not allowed anymore so that was the end of doing conversions. Most of the ones I made were in 54 caliber.

[hangman1]

HI all I have a H&R huntsman 45 cal. an old one with the push in breech plug .

I purchased a mag spark 209 adapter from warren custom outdoors .

it's $15.00 plus shipping mine works great even with the stock firing pin . www.warrencustomoutdoor.com

[arcticap]

HI all I have a H&R huntsman 45 cal. an old one with the push in breech plug .

I purchased a mag spark 209 adapter from warren custom outdoors .

it's $15.00 plus shipping mine works great even with the stock firing pin . www.warrencustomoutdoor.com

Great idea!
I'm glad to hear that it works so well.

[pietro]

I'm looking at an H&R huntsman in 45 cal, the bore looks pretty good but I'm just concerned about the breech plung being stuck.

It has two small holes on the side of the nipple, I'm assuming there a tool to remove it, but I guess a fellow could make one if need be.

If I removed the breech plug is there any option to convert to 209 ?

The two holes in the sides of the nipple indicate that, for better ignition, someone installed a Hot Shot nipple - which removes/installs like a normal nipple (with a nipple wrench).

As noted, it takes a normal #11 percussion cap, but as noted above, it can also be converted to a 209 primer ignition.

I converted a .45 to the 209 ignition in a few minutes for my oldest Grandson's first muzzleloader/deer gun.

It shot Remington .45 sabots (with a .357" JSP) very accurately.

.

[bigted]

I bought a 58 cal Huntsman ... shot it 5 or 6 times ... sold it ASAP.

Cotton picker belted me harshly and I just figured I was too young to take such a beating.

Functioned perfectly tho

[longbow]

I had a .58 Huntsman back in the 70's. It shot well.

Only two issues I had were the fouling in the breech area which I solved by using a chainsaw file to file a small vent across the breech face of both breech plug and barrel to vent the blowback gas. That solved the bunked up firing pin and breech face.

The other problem was that even though it worked well, shot well and was reliable it just wasn't traditional enough for me.

All in all a good gun though.

Longbow

[izzyjoe]

So, I went back to the shop and looked it over real good. This time I used smaller bore light to really get a look at the bore, and there was a few pits that I didn't like. So I offered him $100, and he declined, so I decided to pass. I don't need another ML, especially one with a bad bore! It would be a good candidate for a rebore, but I don't have time for another project at this point!