A very Handi Handi

[Jack D]

My project gun for camper, pesky critters, deer, and just plain fun. A Handi Rifle in .357 Mag. cut down to 31" OA, fitted with 12" picatinney rail and Weaver cut down and fitted to the forearm. A Bushnell 3-9X40 w/ 6" eye relief, Laser and weapon light or bi-pod. With the handloaded cartridges in various configurations from light target loads to heavy loads up to 200 grain Maxi loads it just about covers any situation except fighting off a charging army.

Let's see your Handi project guns.

[olafhardt]

Well Jack, I don't do pictures . I have a 500 s&w mag handi with a 30/30 and a 20 ga spare barrels. I put homade peep sights on the rifles and a scout scope on the 20 ga to make it a squirrel killing machine. Every thing else is stock. There is a lot you can do with a Handi.

[Matt85]

don't mean to Hi-jack this thread but ive been thinking about picking one of these up in 500 S&W. can you comment on the accuracy of your rifle (in 500 S&W)?

thanks
-matt

[historicfirearms]

Man, that looks pretty handy! Is the barrel still 16 inches? I just might have to get one of these to play with...

[Jack D]

Man, that looks pretty handy! Is the barrel still 16 inches? I just might have to get one of these to play with...

It's cut at 16.5".....just to be sure. I forgot to link to my webpage that details the project.

http://www.metalsmithpro.com/357MagnumRifle.htm

[NVScouter]

Can you fit more stuff on that thing?

I think along the way you defeated your purpose.

[Jack D]

Can you fit more stuff on that thing?

I think along the way you defeated your purpose.

So can I conclude that you don't like versatility, NVScouter? Maybe you missed the QD rings on each of the accessories. I can configure this gun for the occasion and it fits my purposes perfectly. This gun will kill anything found in Oregon within it's range and with the large variety of ammo it is suitable for anything from small game to much larger game. I live in the woods of the Coast range in Oregon and there are many troublesome critters doing damage to the homestead, garden and outbuildings, usually at night. This gun can, within the limits of the cartridge, do it all.

Deer or bear in the thick forests of Oregon....scope only (or red dot).

Pests like racoons, possums, fox or coyotes at night....light and laser, or light and scope.

Long range (~200 yards) prairie dogs, etc.....Scope and bipod.

Targets, plinking......any of the above.

My purpose has not been defeated. More like expanded on.

[NVScouter]

The 357 in a 16.5" barrel with a fast peep site would do all that. The rail, QD rings,scope,bipod, laser, flashlight etc just removes the handy in handi. I'm not a fan of accessory blown firearms.

Folks want to attach all this stuff they are sold they need. If you can hit a 3" square at 200y your mission is accomplished be it deer/varmints. Why add all that junk?

[Jack D]

The 357 in a 16.5" barrel with a fast peep site would do all that. The rail, QD rings,scope,bipod, laser, flashlight etc just removes the handy in handi. I'm not a fan of accessory blown firearms.

Folks want to attach all this stuff they are sold they need. If you can hit a 3" square at 200y your mission is accomplished be it deer/varmints. Why add all that junk?

In the black of night? Your eyes are much better than mine. One mans junk is another mans treasure. To each his own.

[NVScouter]

I don't shoot in the black of night. Even if you can see your target you can't see what's beyond it. May as well go full spotlight or NVG then.

[Jack D]

I don't shoot in the black of night. Even if you can see your target you can't see what's beyond it. May as well go full spotlight or NVG then.

I don't either....thus the light. And I know every inch of my property and where I can shoot and where I can't. We have different needs. You might feel differently if you lived here. The parts of Wyoming I've seen are far different than the Coast range of Oregon.

[mroliver77]

Racoons in the chicken coop need flashlight and maybe the laser would give a great advantage. I have a 4X Tasco (small and very clear) on my .357 handi with a youth stock. Hickory gave me some 358156 with a big ole hollow point. Drive these gas checked babies as hard as one can (case full of slow WC820 boolit loaded way long) and it will tear the butt outta any thin skinned animal here. The 358429 loaded to max will put the hurt on anything but the largest NA game.

If putting a pink ribbon on you handy rifle "primes your case" then as far as I am concerned go for it!
J

[olafhardt]

I live in the country in the Ouachita mountians. Not long ago I bought a Mossberg 500 Bantam 20 gauge pump at Wally World for $209. One pole cat and one coon later it appears to be an excellent booger blaster.

[NVScouter]

I live in the country in the Ouachita mountians. Not long ago I bought a Mossberg 500 Bantam 20 gauge pump at Wally World for $209. One pole cat and one coon later it appears to be an excellent booger blaster.

I too like shotguns for night hunting very low risk of a wild boolit flying off where it shouldn't go. I do enjoy night hunting but the risks are hundreds of time high so a wide angle spotlight is my preference.

Here is the one I'm almost finished with. http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f10/NVScouter/E547F0B1-8E58-4E3C-B783-6EA6574FFA5B-1201-0000016B3AC2C520.jpg

45-70 22" barrel Coyote tan Allumihyde II coating refinished stock w/ebony and tung oil. Williams peep stolen from my Buffalo Classic. It shoots a 450g LFN @1550fps into 1.5" @ 100y. Can't ask for more from a little truck gun.

[Jack D]

Nice! Patina on the truck isn't bad either.

[NVScouter]

Thank you. Our hunting styles may be different but I don't think you can lose with a 357 in a quick carbine. I'm thinking about either adding a third Handi or another barrel in 18-22" 357 my self.

[Jack D]

I doubt our hunting styles are really that much different. To hunt, I use a scope. At 73 with poor eyesight (cataracts in both eyes) it would not be a good idea to rely on my naked eyes to identify a target at 150-200 yards. A scope solves that problem. The light and laser is for pests and other things that go bump in the night.....perhaps including the two legged variety. The bipod is strickly for target shooting. It does not fold and would be too bulky to carry in the field. You probably have no need to dispatch racoons, possums, foxes, coyotes and the like at midnight.....but I do. The light and laser make that job easier. Differing folks have differing needs.

[Jack D]

Yesterday, I went out in the woods with my son and we burned lots of .357 mags in both revolvers and this Handi. I fired so many (loaded to the Max) in the Handi that it got too hot to hold. I didn't think that was possible in a SS, but I did it. All loads were loaded to Remington Maximum maximum for the bullet weights. 200 gr. FTX at ~18 gr. 4227. 180 gr. XTP at 20 gr. 4227 and 158 gr. cast SWC with GC with 20 gr. 4227. 20 grains of 4227 is all I can stuff in the magnum case and still have room to seat the bullet. I inspected all cases and primers after firing and they looked good. None were sticking in the chamber, primers were not flattened and all fired accurately......for off hand at random targets. Recoil was light and I had a blast. A chronograph would be nice so I could see what the MV's are, but the impact downrange was impressive. Busting clays at 80-100 yards was a breeze.....sticks and rocks were launched or shattered.

Another session is scheduled next month with both of my sons......can't wait.

[NVScouter]

I doubt our hunting styles are really that much different. To hunt, I use a scope. At 73 with poor eyesight (cataracts in both eyes) it would not be a good idea to rely on my naked eyes to identify a target at 150-200 yards. A scope solves that problem. The light and laser is for pests and other things that go bump in the night.....perhaps including the two legged variety. The bipod is strickly for target shooting. It does not fold and would be too bulky to carry in the field. You probably have no need to dispatch racoons, possums, foxes, coyotes and the like at midnight.....but I do. The light and laser make that job easier. Differing folks have differing needs.

Not too many night critters, but a high power 22 cal pellet rifle and my spotlight gets a few nesting pidgeons and racoons a year. A few foxes if they are bothering the chickens. At night I like putting out traps so I dont have to stay up all night. I used to sit over the irrigation ditches all night and wack Beavers before ripping out the damn with the backhoe. I dont really have motivation for that these days I guess. I'd rather be glassing a hillside or tucked into a big piece of sage calling.

I havent even duck hunted in 5 years. I'd rather be out shooting carp with my bow.

I'm only 38 and need to get my first pair of reading glasses soon so under 100y I dont need much yet. I'm starting to squint a lot and the wife keeps calling me on it. She's had glasses since a kid so she thinks its halarious.

[Jack D]

Interesting that you also use an air rifle. My squirrel getter is a Benjamin Sheridan .20 cal. pumper. It will pass clear through small critters at 50'. Also punches through both sides of spray paint cans for recycling. Follow-up shots are a problem, though.

[45-70 Chevroner]

This was a great thread. Some bantering but no mud slinging. I really like the idea of the 357 single shot. Yours is a little wild for my taste but, it's what ever floats you boat.

[olafhardt]

Oh contrare 45-70, anytime I have shot my handi or 357 into wet ground it slung mud like Congress.

[gandydancer]

great read guys. thanks. GD

[MT Gianni]

No pics but I have a handi in 7.62x39 that has never seen jacketed and a 357 mag bbl I reamed to 357 max. It is also a shooter.

[Muzzlehatch]

My .357 barreled Martini Cadet w/21" barrel and adjustable-for-elevation-only rear sight shoots pretty straight at 100 yards.http://i40.tinypic.com/5eecfs.jpg
I'm thinking of obtaining some 180 gr. Hornady spitzers and seeing what they can do. No sense in just restricting myself to handgun bullets.

[Jack D]

I've always liked the Martini action. Very nice.

[BAGTIC]

I like my .357 Handi but I agree coons in the chicken coop call for a shotgun even if its only a .410.

[NVScouter]

Oh contrare 45-70, anytime I have shot my handi or 357 into wet ground it slung mud like Congress.

Now thats funny!

I love my pellet rifle, they have come a long way since I was a kid. I posted here in hunting about a big (in the 9lb range) whitetail jack double shoulder shot complete pass through with 1 broken leg and heart. A 22 pellet at 700-900fps is a small game killer. The only time it failed me was a zombie cat.

This big mangy cat had been hanging around and attacking my cat. I was out side shooting my air rifle and it comes out of a ditch and starts watching me shoot the little clangers and stuff I had up. I drilled him between the eyes and watched him flop a few seconds and "die". Went over after shooting another 15 minutes verified he was dead and threw him in the ditch. I walked by the ditch an hour or so later and he was still there "dead".

That afternoon my parents came over for dinner and thier dog was over at the ditch so I went over to remove the cat before he got into it. No cat but the dog was trying to get into the culvert, I figured a racoon, badger, fox, etc. had grabbed the carcass and was in the culvert.

Nope two days later my wife tells me the cat was in the front yard, a couple days go by and its back in the fields, then its by the back door. It was uglier then ever and aparently unrelenting. So the zombie cat got some bigger medicine but it was a bit creepy.

I only use crossman Premiers now since they fly great, penitrate very well but do distort a bit. I also started going back to body shots and am very happy with it.

[Jack D]

I like my .357 Handi but I agree coons in the chicken coop call for a shotgun even if its only a .410.

Don't have a chicken coop (yet), but I do have a fish pond and racoons like fish. My dog chases them up trees and a .357 with light target loads with 148 gr. HBWC's over 3.0 gr. of Trailboss or even my .22 lr handguns w/lasers do a fine job. Possums are also a problem. Several varieties of squirrel and rabbit are easily handled with my Benjamin Sheridan.

[rromeo]

Nice thread. It has come into my head that I need a .357 Handi Rifle, so I've procured a $80 12ga Sb1 and will be sending it off for some new barrels.

[Whiterabbit]

So while on the gunbroker I got sidetracked (dangerous indeed) and found a guy selling STEEL forend spacers for $25.

It is, by far, the BEST money I spent on the handi rifle, period. It's amazing. It makes the lockwork feel less like a $100 gun and more like a fine machine.

Only thing I wish is that the 357 barrel was lighter. It's not TRULY handi when it weighs so much. I can use open sights, hollow out the stock, cut the barrel to 16 and change, and its still too heavy.

rromeo, don't forget the inline barrel. it's pretty awesome and with cut down 300 wsm brass as primer carriers it uses large rifle primers rather than boutique primers.

[nanuk]

So while on the gunbroker I got sidetracked (dangerous indeed) and found a guy selling STEEL forend spacers for $25.

It is, by far, the BEST money I spent on the handi rifle, period. It's amazing. It makes the lockwork feel less like a $100 gun and more like a fine machine.

Only thing I wish is that the 357 barrel was lighter. It's not TRULY handi when it weighs so much. I can use open sights, hollow out the stock, cut the barrel to 16 and change, and its still too heavy.

rromeo, don't forget the inline barrel. it's pretty awesome and with cut down 300 wsm brass as primer carriers it uses large rifle primers rather than boutique primers.


good snag on the steel spacer, I wish we could get them up here.

as for weight, I have a 158 in 30-30 that I am contemplating chopping. the barrels on them are like the SuperLights.

I just bought a 30-30 with 18.5" barrel, and although it feels handi, it is still heavy

[Whiterabbit]

its on gunbroker. he doesn't ship up there?

[leftiye]

In the black of night? Your eyes are much better than mine. One mans junk is another mans treasure. To each his own.

So when does the FLIR arrive?

[NVScouter]

Thanks for the heads up on those spacers I need a couple. The spacer and the trigger guard on my BC are driving me nuts. Solid rifle with a couple cheeseball parts.

[Whiterabbit]

OK, so I know steel trigger guards are magically available somewhere, but it never bothered me (yet). What's with the demand for a steel trigger guard?

[NVScouter]

I like metal parts over plastic mainly. On my $150 Handi rifle I think the metal forend will give a better overall feel but the plastic is almost as good. Now on my $450 Buffalo Classic is seems pretty crummy of NEF to put plastic stuff on a delux model. They upgraded the wood, sites, case hardening, etc. but still used poorly fitted plastic exterior parts.

[Whiterabbit]

the metal foreend spacer DOES give a better overall feel. the plastic doesnt even compare. On my gun the plastic was getting "frayed" and the tips bowing outward, there was not insignificant lateral movement during opening and closing. That is gone with the metal. I hear you on the "poorly fitted" plastic trigger guard. Not a functional problem though.

Thats like the stock being too big for the action too. No fitting at all. But still secure and functions.

[NVScouter]

Yup a man and a sander can take 1/2lb off a wood handi rifle in an afternoon.

[dualsport]

My first Handi was a 157 30-30 full stock model, way back when. It's plenty light, still shoots pretty good. Since then many more have come home with me. They can be a little addictive fellas. It's always, 'just one more...'

[Whiterabbit]

where do you guys like your handi rifles to balance for best woods carrying? I find myself carrying right in front of the trigger guard, holding the action. That's very comfortable. But butt heavy. the straight grip makes it barrel heavy. It balances on the trigger guard perfectly, I don't think that's quite right.

Where do you guys like the balance point?

[Crash_Corrigan]

I have one of those H&R's in 38-55. A fun rifle to shoot and carry around. Very comfortable and a real blast with Holy Black. Mine is accurate enuf out to 335 yds to ring the gong pretty much every time and that thing is a 12" round piece of AR 500 Steel hung on a chain. I suppose I could make some shotshell rounds for chicken coop work but I left my coop in Vermont 24 years ago....

[gandydancer]

Because he can?? and some like it. me included. To you JUNK.to me FUN FUN FUN.



The 357 in a 16.5" barrel with a fast peep site would do all that. The rail, QD rings,scope,bipod, laser, flashlight etc just removes the handy in handi. I'm not a fan of accessory blown firearms.

Folks want to attach all this stuff they are sold they need. If you can hit a 3" square at 200y your mission is accomplished be it deer/varmints. Why add all that junk?

[NVScouter]

Because he can?? and some like it. me included. To you JUNK.to me FUN FUN FUN.

Ummm. Bully for you???? The Swiss Army weapon platform has never appealed to me. I'm a 3 time combat vet and I laugh ever time I see these things made.

But overall your right. It's not mine and If it meets his needs it doesn't matter one cent what I think.

[Jack D]

Ummm. Bully for you???? The Swiss Army weapon platform has never appealed to me. I'm a 3 time combat vet and I laugh ever time I see these things made.

But overall your right. It's not mine and If it meets his needs it doesn't matter one cent what I think.

I suppose it would be funny if it were made for combat NVS, but it wasn't. As I have pointed out, it has an entirely different purpose. And it fits that purpose (or purposes) very well.

[NLS1]

I sure like the concept, pretty cool, especially the ability to swap scopes or dots onto the rail.

Nothing like a carbine to just make ya smile when you pick it up. Then with the options to change to make it what you want at that moment is cool.

Dan

[NVScouter]

I suppose it would be funny if it were made for combat NVS, but it wasn't. As I have pointed out, it has an entirely different purpose. And it fits that purpose (or purposes) very well.

Absolutely. I think we agreed to disagree, and for the most part I can see your specific uses. That was pretty aparent a page ago, I think Gandydancer just wanted to start another argument.

My first objection to it as a combat rifle is a single shot! Interesting enough I did see a airport SWAT team with a special purpose T/C in a 14-16" special purpose built shorty like your. I think the idea was it would give them a rifle platform and use the special purpose ammo in light skinned/high dollar enviornments against hostage situation. In ultra specialized situations like this it takes what it takes to do the job.

However when you live out of a backpack/bussle rack you quickly learn to ditch the fluff and haul only what you need.

[Whiterabbit]

I like these builds for one reason. Doesn't matter that I'd never build them in the way they were built, they jog my imagination as to what's possible for bubba (me) to do for mine! Sometimes folks (like me) simply need to be shown what all is possible with a little ingenuity. So I like 'em.

Example. Scope rail on a forend? Nope. Never would have thought of that. Using a QD ring as a base for a bipod? nope. Never would have thought of that. brilliant.

[Jack D]

My whole purpose for this rifle...in a nutshell...is versatility. I've sold or passed down all of my hunting rifles and this is my only rifle larger than a .22lr. I wanted a good "project gun" and I favor single shots. I wanted a short gun that I can hold muzzle down and not drag in the dirt while walking. I wanted it short for fast handling in heavy brush. I'm on a fixed income so the H&R was a good starting point. The gun really evolved. It started out as a short, fast handling brush gun for my camper. Then I thought about those night shots at raccoons and other varments that tend to destroy my property and added a light. The upper picatinny rail was so I could mount a "scout scope" to get the scope in front of the hammer (I don't like the hammer extension). The scout scope worked well, but it eventually ended up on my Benjamin Sheridan C9 and I bought the Bushnell for it's 6" eye relief feature...hoping it would clear the hammer spur. It did not, but it is high enough that it does not interfere with the hammer spur. It works well in spite of it's size or maybe because of its size. There's a huge difference between a 28mm objective lens and a 40mm objective lens. The other "gadgets" may, or may not, have a useful purpose, but they are fun to play with....and the whole world revolves around fun. It is what we live for.

The choice of a .357 mag. cal. is really a no brainer. It is the same cal as my SP101 which I hand load for. I can load from light loads for small game, targets and plinking or very heavy loads for big game out to 250 yards. I can even get shot shells in .38 spl.

There is another possible job for this rifle in the back of my mind. I live in Western Oregon and just off shore is the Juan De Fuca subduction zone. If this breaks loose (and it's overdue) the experts say it will be a 9.0+ quake similar to the one off Japan a couple of years ago. If it happens our infrastructure will be in shambles for months, if not years. I may be depending on this rifle to feeds us for some time (assuming we survive relatively uninjured). I live in the foot hills of the Coast Range which was created by this subduction zone and heavy damage is expected for hundreds of miles in all directions from the center. All population centers, Seattle, Portland, Salem, Eugene will be flattened and coastal cities will be gone due to the quake and psunami. Folks like me that live outside the cities will be on our own for a very long time. Its versatility may come in real "handi" some day.

In the meantime, it will be "fun" to play with as well as useful.

[NVScouter]

You know the Discovery Channel has a show about you!

I imagine that short barreled 357 as a sole rifle would do a better job than the 32-20 that fed many of our forfathers.


There is another possible job for this rifle in the back of my mind. I live in Western Oregon and just off shore is the Juan De Fuca subduction zone. If this breaks loose (and it's overdue) the experts say it will be a 9.0+ quake similar to the one off Japan a couple of years ago. If it happens our infrastructure will be in shambles for months, if not years. I may be depending on this rifle to feeds us for some time (assuming we survive relatively uninjured). I live in the foot hills of the Coast Range which was created by this subduction zone and heavy damage is expected for hundreds of miles in all directions from the center. All population centers, Seattle, Portland, Salem, Eugene will be flattened and coastal cities will be gone due to the quake and psunami. Folks like me that live outside the cities will be on our own for a very long time. Its versatility may come in real "handi" some day.

In the meantime, it will be "fun" to play with as well as useful.

[DanWalker]

I used to sit over the irrigation ditches all night and wack Beavers before ripping out the damn with the backhoe.


If you drive a couple pipes through the dam, below the waterline, the beavers will stop building. They hate the sound of running water and are instinctively driven to stop it. Make your pipes about 20' long so that the beavers don't associate the ends of them with the dam. They will quit working on the dam, and your flooding will stop too, now that the water can pass through the dam. If the dam is too hard or thick to drive the pipe through, just rip sections out, and then lay pipe in the bottoms of the channels. The beavers will rebuild the dam and bury the pipes for you.

[NVScouter]

If you drive a couple pipes through the dam, below the waterline, the beavers will stop building. They hate the sound of running water and are instinctively driven to stop it. Make your pipes about 20' long so that the beavers don't associate the ends of them with the dam. They will quit working on the dam, and your flooding will stop too, now that the water can pass through the dam. If the dam is too hard or thick to drive the pipe through, just rip sections out, and then lay pipe in the bottoms of the channels. The beavers will rebuild the dam and bury the pipes for you.

Learned something new! Thanks Dan I had no idea they would just move on at that point.

[Jack D]

You know the Discovery Channel has a show about you!

I imagine that short barreled 357 as a sole rifle would do a better job than the 32-20 that fed many of our forfathers.

I don't consider myself a "Prepper" by their standards, but I do think it is everyone's repsonsibility to be prepared for the most likely "unlikely" event and in our case that is that 9.0 megaquake. I believe 30-60 days is a minimum for food, water and shelter. I feel like we're there....assuming the well isn't destroyed.

[grampa243]

Jack

seeing your gun makes me want to make one in 30-30 just for boolits. i like the scout scope option and the short barrel.

[olafhardt]

I gonna take some duck tape and a butcher knife and mount a bayonnet on mine, by golly

[NVScouter]

I gonna take some duck tape and a butcher knife and mount a bayonnet on mine, by golly

HAHAHAHA!

I realize the older I get, the more paranoid I'm getting. Agreed 30 days minimum supplies on hand. 60 is better and 90-120 best.

[NVScouter]

Jack

seeing your gun makes me want to make one in 30-30 just for boolits. i like the scout scope option and the short barrel.

Ive been looking for a used youth one just like this for my son.

[Herb in Pa]

78622 Don't have a bayonet, but then again don't need earplugs...............357 magnum

[Jack D]

I gonna take some duck tape and a butcher knife and mount a bayonnet on mine, by golly

Now that would make it an assault rifle and likely be banned.