H&R BC barrels?

[Tatume]

Hello Folks,

Who makes the barrels used on H&R Buffalo Classic 45-70 rifles?

Thanks, Tom

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

Most guessers say Marlin, I doubt we will ever know for sure.
since Marlin bought out H&R, then Remington bought Marlin, who knows whats up anymore.

[Tatume]

Marlin makes good barrels. Someone said recently that the barrels were made by Green Mountain, which I had never heard before. Could there have been a Green Mountain replacement barrel at one time?

[Nobade]

I really doubt it's GM. Their barrels are way better finished inside and have the correct bore/groove dimensions. As far as I knew H&R made their own barrels.

[wgr]

i heard that green mountain made the barrels for the buffalo classic and 38-55 target model . do.nt know about the rest

[Springfield]

IF GC made the BC 38-55 barrel they made the chamber too tight just like Marlin likes to do.

[Nobade]

They were just following SAAMI spec. But if you look at the SAAMI drawing you'll see that it can't work right if a groove sized boolit is seated into a standard Winchester case. Used with thinner brass like the original and smaller boolits, loaded with black powder to bump them up it works fine. But us modern shooters want to load ammo like modern guns use and had problems with it. Several other cartridges, like the 405 Winchester, have a similar issue going on if the chambers match the approved print.

[EDG]

H&R should have hired a real engineer to specify the rifling and chambers for thier rifles. The shallow groove barrle on the 45-70 BC and 38-55 Target are about the opposite configuration thatis desired. The grooves are too shallow. The chamber on the 38-55s are a joke and should have never been that way. It only takes 5 mins to tell the old SAAMI drawings stink.

[Nobade]

Yup. All their barrels have extremely shallow rifling, I suppose because it's cheaper to make them that way. Those rifles (the BC models) would be so neat if they were dimensioned properly. Heck, even I would own one! But they shoot OK with jacketed bullets, that's what 99.5% of buyers are going to use in them, the factory doesn't care about us over the dollar, etc. so we get what we get. At least they can be lined or bored out to other sizes to make interesting guns. If I ever find a 38-55 rifle for cheap enough it'll probably get bored to 40-50 BN or something fun with proper rifling in it.

[cajun shooter]

I have owned two of the Buffalo Classic rifles and the accuraccy with the 500 and 535 grain postell bullets has been very good. I shoot nothing but Black Powder.
John Boy has used his to hit a 1000 yd target. not too bad a barrel in my eyes.
I will say that both of my rifles were purchased when it was first offered and are not from the take over companies.

[John Boy]

Who makes the barrels used on H&R Buffalo Classic 45-70 rifles?

* The H&R barrels were made by Green Mountain including the 38-55 Target Model barrel ... confirmed by a conversation with the factory
* I don't know who makes the barrels for the later NEF rifles

Am a strong believer too, that if NRA Target & Silhouette matches allowed the H&R 45-70 - there would be a few shooters in the Top 10