H&R handi in 35 Whelen

[crazy mark]

Are these any good. I have a line on one and I have these in 30-30, 308, 243, 357 mag and Max, 44 mag and 45/410. I wish it was a 35 Rem but I'd like to know if they shoot good enough before I spend the money.
Thanks, Mark

[badbob454]

i have a handi in .223 bull barrel ,44 mag and 45/70gov .12 guage scattergun i havent shot
the 44 mag but all the others shoot wonderfully esp my .223 ,1'' at 100 yards ...if i could do my part it would be better ..buy it

[badbob454]

you do know handi rifle has an barrel exchange program you can buy a fitted barrel to your existing rifle ...

[crazy mark]

you do know handi rifle has an barrel exchange program you can buy a fitted barrel to your existing rifle ...

Yes. I sent one back for the 357 mag, 45/410 and 44 mag barrels. I wasn't too happy that they were out of the 45 colt barrels.

[357Mag]

Crazy -

Howdy !

As an aside, there are some .35 Rem- chambered Handi Rifles to be found in MS.
Van's Deer Processing in Brandon, MS is one place.
Apparently, these were made for MS " primitive " deer season.

Over-the-phone, Van's quoted $359 for a combo .35 Rem & .444 Marlin set.
Rifle has " composite " stock and is camoflaged.

.35 Rem barrel length is quoted as 20". I have not found out twist rate yet, but would imagine the .35 Rem would be 1-16.

Don' t mean to hijack the post ! Thought you might want to know.

With regards,
357Mag

[crazy mark]

Crazy -

Howdy !

As an aside, there are some .35 Rem- chambered Handi Rifles to be found in MS.
Van's Deer Processing in Brandon, MS is one place.
Apparently, these were made for MS " primitive " deer season.

Over-the-phone, Van's quoted $359 for a combo .35 Rem & .444 Marlin set.
Rifle has " composite " stock and is camoflaged.

.35 Rem barrel length is quoted as 20". I have not found out twist rate yet, but would imagine the .35 Rem would be 1-16.

Don' t mean to hijack the post ! Thought you might want to know.

With regards,
357Mag

Thanks for the info. I will check that out. Don't know what I would do with the 444 barrel though. I guess I could sell it.

[357Mag]

Craze' -

Howdy, again......

Yeh, me too. I myself don't have an interest in the .444 barrel.

Did also read where there were some .35 Rem Handi's @ Pawn Shop(s) in the
greater Brandon, MS area.

If you verify the twist rate, I'd be interested to know.

With regards,
.357 Mag

[parrott1969]

Go with the 35 whelen. Its a very powerful round and my hadi does ok with it. Using 57 grains of varget and a 200 grain bullet, I get 1 1/4 inch groups at 100 yards. The bullet is making about 2700 fps. Keep in mind that 35 whelens are long throated so heavier bullets should yield better accuracy. I have not tried the 250's myself. Recoil from the 200 grain bullets will " make you see dead people" and since I have no desire to see the crucifaction of christ, I leave the 250's alone.

[blackhawk4545]

Parrott - Like your description of the 35 Whelen. LOL

I, too, am considering the 35 whelen, but already have a 30-06 that will come very close to the same preformance with a 200 grainer. Don't need any more WHOPP'EM that for my shoulder!

[parrott1969]

Yea but you dont see dead people!! And I get to use it during primitive weapon season. I once pulled the trigger on a handi 45-70 with 52 grains of 4198. Swear that I saw Abe deliver the emancipation proclaimation.

[DukeInFlorida]

I just bought a 45 LC ONLY barrel from a fellow over at graybeards. And, a 50 S&W Magnum barrel, and a 270 barrel, and a 45-70 barrel. Lots of folks with lots of barrels and good advice there.


Yes. I sent one back for the 357 mag, 45/410 and 44 mag barrels. I wasn't too happy that they were out of the 45 colt barrels.

[DukeInFlorida]

Sorry for the double post. Just be aware of this from H&R regarding the 35 Whelen:
----------------------------------------

Service Notice
9/13/10
To: H&R 1871 Dealers
Subject: 35 Whelen Handi-rifle
H&R 1871 has recently identified a small number of Handi-rifles in 35 Whelen caliber produced between March 2010 and September 1st that could fail to fire under normal shooting conditions. This malfunction presents no danger to the shooter, and the outcome is simply the firearm may fail to fire. The necessary repair changes have been identified to correct this malfunction.
The affected guns are limited to the following H&R skus: 72540, 72612, 72412, 72614, 70705, 72541 If you have a customer return a H&R 35 Whelen rifle, and they have experienced a “fails to fire,” please have the rifle returned to:
H&R 1871
Attn: Arm Service
14 Hoefler Ave
Ilion, NY 13357
We will make the necessary repair adjustments to the rifle at no charge and return to the sender as expeditiously as possible.
Any rifles that you have received after September 15th, were produced with the corrective actions in place and this malfunction should not be an issue on these rifles.
If you have any questions or if we can be of further service to you, please feel free to contact us at 1-866-776-9292 , prompt 4, Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm EST. Please check out our website at www.hr1871.com

Thank you,

Consumer Service Division
H&R 1871

[JesterGrin_1]

Go with the 35 whelen. Its a very powerful round and my hadi does ok with it. Using 57 grains of varget and a 200 grain bullet, I get 1 1/4 inch groups at 100 yards. The bullet is making about 2700 fps. Keep in mind that 35 whelens are long throated so heavier bullets should yield better accuracy. I have not tried the 250's myself. Recoil from the 200 grain bullets will " make you see dead people" and since I have no desire to see the crucifaction of christ, I leave the 250's alone.

You killed me with your analogy lol

So I take it the 300Gr 358009 would be a bit much lol.:bigsmyl2:

[Papa Jack]

Are these any good. I have a line on one and I have these in 30-30, 308, 243, 357 mag and Max, 44 mag and 45/410. I wish it was a 35 Rem but I'd like to know if they shoot good enough before I spend the money.
Thanks, Mark

I have one, I also have a .35 Rem barrel.....These are available from H&R (unless they sold out ), these were received this spring....
.35Rem - Part # F404489 (22"Drilled)
.35Whelen- Part # F404326

Sorry, no range report, I still haven't got sights of any kind on these barrels. I have formed brass for the Whelen out of once fired Rem.06 brass, loaded a few with .357 cast Lee Bullets...Someday I'll try em out. Too many guns waiting to be fired around here...PJ

[geezer56]

I have owned 3 NEF whelen chambered rifles. Haven't had one go bang reliably yet. Failure to fire, either from transfer bar issues or headspace problems. That seems to be one caliber that NEF just can't get right. I love the caliber, so I bought a CVA Scout. So far so good with it

[RBak]

Mark old friend, if you do get the rifle, and if you do decide you want to try the 358009, or the SAECO 248gr, or even the RCBS 205gr. just let me know and you can borrow any, or all of my moulds.

I have been shooting the .35 Whelen for years, as you probably already know, and, IMHO, it is top shelf with about any weight cast boolit.
Still yet, with one of my Whelens, it loves the heavy weight 358009 at 280gr, the other seems to prefer the SAECO 248 gr....and they both have 1:12 twist....go figure!

I have two Handi rifles, one in .280 and one in 45-70. so since I have two bolt guns in .35 Whelen I have never really pursued an extra barrel in that caliber for the Handi, but that has never stopped me from wanting one.

In fact, I recently heard that NEF had once again added the .35 Whelen barrel to their accessory bbl program, sooo, if I'm a good boy for the rest of the year something good might happen for Christmas....maybe.
(I don't know this to be a fact, but the person that told me this said he had one "fitted" earlier this year, and I took that to mean they were available again. Right now I'm thinking "fitted" and "new" may not have the same meaning.)

Anyway, if that barrel has iron sights on it, I simply can't imagine a better rifle for about any kind of hunting here in the Pacific Northwest.
I have a scope on my .280 and, to me, that took all the "Handi" right out of it, but for that caliber, and the 26" bbl, I suspect a scope is okay, but a nice set of irons will get the job done too.

Russ

[s mac]

I know this is an old thread, came up when I did a search for my problem came up. I bought this rifle new a couple of years ago, formed cases from new 30-06 brass. Other than a stiff trigger the occasional failure to fire is the only issue. Anyone have a fix? Rifle only had a couple of hundred rounds through it, all cast handmade, don't think I have any broken or worn parts.

[pworley1]

I have both, and shooting cast I use the same bullet and push them to about the same velocity. With jacketed bullets the 35 Whelen is the winner.

[curator]

The occasional failure to fire is usually due to the very small shoulder on the .35 Whelen's case being pushed back when the cases were resized. The .35 Whelen headspaces on this small shoulder and if set back, the case falls more deeply into the chamber where the firing pin can barely reach it. The .35 Whelen Ackley Improved has less body taper and a 40 degree shoulder that makes it easier to retain the proper headspace, eliminating light primer strikes and failures to fire.

[s mac]

So, if I neck size, using my fl sizing die by not pushing the case fully into the die, maybe resolving the problem?
The primer strike looks pretty normal, sometimes a second try will go off, sometimes not. It is an intermittent ftf.

[Walks]

My REM 700 in .35 Whelan never misfired. But I only used Remington Factory ammo & cases.
Neck-sized brass only, never had a problem. But the extractor probably held the case head tight to the bolt face.
By the time I got around to sending my .223 Handi back for a .35 Whelan bbl, it was too late.

Parrot1969 is right about one thing.
The Original 250gr Factory RN Load does shake your Head and Rattle your brain. And cause your eyes to cross. But it only takes 2-3 minutes to recover for the next shot.

The 200gr RN #358318 Is a great plinker.
Geez I miss that Rifle.

[Texas by God]

So, if I neck size, using my fl sizing die by not pushing the case fully into the die, maybe resolving the problem?
The primer strike looks pretty normal, sometimes a second try will go off, sometimes not. It is an intermittent ftf. That will probably solve your problem.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[curator]

When you first fire form your brass, lightly lube the case necks so that the shoulder forms properly without stretching the case head. There-after only neck size your cases. Lee used to make a .35 Whelen collet die for neck sizing, I believe it is a special order item these days. Low-pressure cast boolit reloads can also cause shoulder set back as well. Avoid them with the "standard" .35 Whelen and you should be OK.

[richhodg66]

I have a .35 Whelen Handi rifle. So far I've only plinked with it using various .38 revolver bullets and 10-11 grains of 700X and similar. Shoots alright with those. One day I'll have to try it out with some "real" loads.

[uscra112]

Maintaining headspace has been a major bugaboo of the .35 Whelen from day one. The traditional fix is to ream it out to .35 Whelen Ackley Improved, which sharpens the shoulder angle so it doesn't get set back with cast bullet loads.

Use pistol primers for any real light plinking loads.

[cwlongshot]

The H&Rs almost all have one problem in common and a couple Others that are common.

WEAK MAIN SPRINGS. Change that out with a Wolfe extra power offered at Brownells and Midway.

Check the firing pin protrusion. its adjustable on transfer bar guns by removing material from the top Of the hammer where it contacts the frame. You want at least .045 but some Need as Much as .060 for reliability.

Be sure that you are completely pulling the trigger back. This is not a finely built custom trigger. On Some Guns, If you pull to break and release the T bar can sometimes drop and you get a miss fire.

S-mac, Its likly that you formed the cases and set the shoulder back too far as Curator mentioned.

With a long cast and light loads you can force head space with a long seated bullet and fire form these to your chamber.

Neck sizing is NOT ADVISABLE in a Handi. See the frames do spring a bit and and need at least partial sizing and occasional FL to restore the size. Of coarse dependent upon the intensity of the loads. I would smoke a case that was fired in that chamber and carefully adj the sizer to kiss the shoulder and lock it down.

Been down this road dozens if times. the Whelen is a good one, but has had a rough time in the Handi. BTW the 35 Rem is really no better and for same reasons. Its simply not as wide spread. I re chambered mine for a 356 as Rims are better in Handis.

CW

[Good Cheer]

Not on a Handi but an old rifle that would occasionally not make contact on the primers with enough authority, a little dot of paper from a hand held hole puncher in the primer pocket would prevent the failures to fire. Not a perfect solution but something to consider. But then again you might just accentuate the problems because the .35 isn't a rimmed case. With cast at least there's the option of using rifling contact to assure the case base is where you want it.

Hey by the way, are yall trying paper patched soft lead in those .35's?