H&R .357 and .44mag

[.429]

Well, I picked up a 44mag yesterday at Academy that was on clearance, and got it out the door for $223 so I feel pretty good about that! I also just got off the phone with H&R about sending them my '95 NEF 20ga to have it fitted with a 357 barrel (should cost just under $150 total). I slugged my 44 barrel within 30min of getting home and it is .4315 I shot it a few times and this thing is gonna be really fun with the mild recoil and big "thud" on the targets! Happy Shooting :)

[Tatume]

Good going! You're going to have fun with those two. I'm thinking of getting a 357 Magnum barrel for mine too, and then shooting wadcutters for a target and small game load.

[.429]

Thanks! I bet my wife and kids will enjoy the 357. One section of their website seemed to say that my 20ga could be converted to 357 and another said "shotgun and muzzleloaders only". That's why I called to make sure

[taiden]

I almost bought a 357 H&R the other day.. but I don't care for the scope rail! I just want some good ol' traditional iron sights. I was looking at options costing an additional $100 - $150, and at that point, I might as well hold out for a levergun!

[.429]

I'll be honest, I wish they had irons as well like the older ones did. I'll prob put some kinda red dot on them. Maybe a Vortex Strikefire to share would be kinda neat. I'll use these guns at 25-75 yards mostly

[jmort]

I used to like iron sights on rifles.

[Tatume]

H&R supplies two different butt stocks, one with a high comb for scopes and the other with a lower comb for iron sights. The stock/sight combination makes a big difference. You can easily see the difference looking at the pictures on their web site.

[.429]

Must just be some of them. Neither of my 2 came with a 2nd stock

[taiden]

H&R supplies two different butt stocks, one with a high comb for scopes and the other with a lower comb for iron sights. The stock/sight combination makes a big difference. You can easily see the difference looking at the pictures on their web site.

357 is high comb for scopes only, and it's on the shotgun frame. Makes no sense to me, but what do I know?

[Tatume]

Must just be some of them. Neither of my 2 came with a 2nd stock

I didn't say H&R guns come with two stocks. If you want a second stock you must buy it, or buy another gun with the second style of stock.

Take care, Tom

[Rio Grande]

I'll be honest, I wish they had irons as well like the older ones did. I'll prob put some kinda red dot on them. Maybe a Vortex Strikefire to share would be kinda neat. I'll use these guns at 25-75 yards mostly

The old h and r' s with the tapered barrels, iron sights, and straight stocks were wonderful rifles, light and responsive.
The new ones are like aiming a crowbar.

[.429]

I shot this rifle over my chrono yesterday and I was surprised! Avg velocity was 1689fps with an extreme spread of only 7fps! Yes 7!! All this with a hot charge of Unique and 240gr jsp. Now to see how H110 compares to this

[roverboy]

I've got a old H&R Huntsman ML that I'd like to get a .357 Mag. barrel for, if it will fit.

[Old School Big Bore]

One of my sons gave me the bull barrel .44 for Christmas one year when he was working at a gun shop. He swapped the wood that was on it for the synthetic furniture off a .270. The synthetic buttstock has a piece of key stock inside it for a weight. I removed it as I like more muzzle hang. I have a scope on it but it will be getting a scout scope in QD rings for two reasons - to get the eyepiece out ahead of the hammer, and I'm gonna put a rail rear aperture on it for when I want to ditch the scope. Haven't slugged it (my bad) but that bore is beautiful and it's the most accurate of all my .44 rifles...I envy the .357 you're getting. Now we need to find a smith that doesn't mind banging all those round-end pins out to do a trigger job on Handis.

[Jupiter7]

One of my sons gave me the bull barrel .44 for Christmas one year when he was working at a gun shop. He swapped the wood that was on it for the synthetic furniture off a .270. The synthetic buttstock has a piece of key stock inside it for a weight. I removed it as I like more muzzle hang. I have a scope on it but it will be getting a
scout scope in QD rings for two reasons - to get the eyepiece out ahead of the hammer, and I'm gonna put a rail rear aperture on it for when I want to ditch the scope. Haven't slugged it (my bad) but that bore is beautiful and it's the most accurate of all my .44 rifles...I envy the .357 you're getting. Now we need to find a smith that doesn't mind banging all those round-end pins
out to do a trigger job on Handis.

We've got a gunsmith here. Member name ASSASSIN. He does fine work on handi's.

[Ed_Shot]

Got the grandsons an H&R 20 ga. a couple of years ago. Had the LOP reduced to 12.5" for them. Recently sent it back to H&R for a .357 barrel and was afraid I'd have to get a longer stock for the scope but a 4X with high rings works perfectly. It will shoot cloverleafs with the Lee 358-158-RF or Lyman 358156 over Red Dot 5.0 gr. Great fun for the kids.

[Old Dawg]

Great fun for us oldsters too.

For low recoil guns or those without scopes I find that shortening stocks makes them much handier when firing offhand as it moves the weight closer to the body for better balance and quicker handling. Works with bolt actions too. Also comes in handy in cold weather when I bundle up or when shooting prone. I learned this 35 years ago when I bought 'His and Her' SAKO .223 rifles with a short stock on her's. It is the one I use most now.

[.429]

So I called H&R yesterday to make sure my ticket was still good since I hadn't sent my gun in yet to be fitted with the .357 barrel. I'm planning to do it within the month. Can I expect decent accuracy out of it? I almost didn't do it because of everyone saying that the chamber is so long

[bandsmoyer]

I had my Handi 500S&W fitted for 357 last winter .It's fun with 38,s. Got the gun back in 12 days,including shipping.

[.429]

Wow! I'm looking forward to letting my 2 boys (10 and 12) shoot it. I think it will be excellent for letting them shoot something with more umph than their 22's

[Lefty Red]

I had my son's 223 SLW Youth fitted for a 357 "Talo" 18" barrel with iron sights. Got it back two days ago and was very disappointed. Its not tapered, it just like the 22", just cut down. He wasn't impressed and neither was I. Costed $222 round trip for one barrel. Should have put that into a 357 lever for him instead.

Jerry

[.429]

That stinks. U were disappointed in the accuracy? Mine is supposed to be $150ish. The barrel itself is $104

[.429]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/06/02/qenejyva.jpg here's a pic of my 44mag

[HARRYMPOPE]

Try 200-250g cast bullets in the 357.the rcbs 200 fn and lyman 358318 are two good ones.they have long leads and will shoot them very well.groups of 1.5-2" at 100 are common.every so often you can get 1" for 5 at 100.

George

[Lefty Red]

That stinks. U were disappointed in the accuracy? Mine is supposed to be $150ish. The barrel itself is $104

His barrel was $146. But with the $25 barrel fitting fee and $19 for shipping back and $10 for taxes, it added up quickly.
I shot some 150 and 140 grain SWCs out of it. Trigger (an issue that still POed me) was heavy but got decent groups at 50 yards.
Just clunky and not "Handi" at all.
Jerry

[Four-Sixty]

The .357 is not fun to tote around. I too feel the 22" barrel is too heavy.

It does shoot well for me with 6.5 grains of HS-6 under the Lee 158 grain T/L boolit.

[rhead]

The .357 is not fun to tote around. I too feel the 22" barrel is too heavy.

It does shoot well for me with 6.5 grains of HS-6 under the Lee 158 grain T/L boolit.


I trimmed mine back to 16.5". A big improvement In handling and weight. It still shoots under 2 MOA.

[Greg]

Ed Shot-

was this with magnum brass os 38 special brass ??



Got the grandsons an H&R 20 ga. a couple of years ago. Had the LOP reduced to 12.5" for them. Recently sent it back to H&R for a .357 barrel and was afraid I'd have to get a longer stock for the scope but a 4X with high rings works perfectly. It will shoot cloverleafs with the Lee 358-158-RF or Lyman 358156 over Red Dot 5.0 gr. Great fun for the kids.

[ubetcha]

I was just on the H&R web site and did not see any 357 or 44 rifles offered. Did I just miss it. I'm getting kind of interested in one in 357.

[nanuk]

I had my son's 223 SLW Youth fitted for a 357 "Talo" 18" barrel with iron sights. Got it back two days ago and was very disappointed. Its not tapered, it just like the 22", just cut down. He wasn't impressed and neither was I. Costed $222 round trip for one barrel. Should have put that into a 357 lever for him instead.

Jerry

I'd be contacting the seller and asking why she/he ripped you off.

and then I'd ask for my money back.

if my money didn't come back, I'd be posting on every forum I know of that she/he sells on, and let them all know that this ripoff artist has ZERO integrity

[Lefty Red]

Nanuk,
I did contact H&R and the person that was responsible for the fitting. H&R said basicly tuff luck, after two hours on the phone. The gunsmith refuses to answer my emails.

I did post over at GrayBeard's forum, but got the cold shoulder and a few nasty personal messages for being "negative" about the wonder weapon known as the Handi Rifle.

But I did sell the rifle and got majority of my money back. And that is going to a Henry!

[Bjornb]

Anybody thinking about buying a 44 mag barrel for their Handi Rifle should read this writeup by Beagle where he discusses his experience with the slow twist barrel that usually comes with these rifles (H&R barrels have a 38 twist): http://www.castpics.net/subsite2/ByCaliber/Cast%20in%20the%20.44%20Magnum%20Rifle.pdf
I have had reasonable success with mine, I shoot mostly jacketed hot loads which group about 1 1/2 at 50 yards with a scope. With cast the short Lee 190-grainer does OK, cast very hard and seated over a max charge of Win 296. Same groups.

[Bjornb]

I was just on the H&R web site and did not see any 357 or 44 rifles offered. Did I just miss it. I'm getting kind of interested in one in 357.

It's called the Barrel Accessory Program and you find it here: http://www.hr1871.com/Support/accessoryProgram.asp