Anybody ever do up an H&R into a 9mm?

[tazman]

I am not terribly fond of black rifles in semi automatic. Give me a good bolt action or single shot anytime except in a firefight.
I have a couple of 9mm pistols and lots of ammunition. I think it would be fun to have an accurate 9mm rifle in single shot or bolt action for plinking, light game, and short range target work.
Has anybody here done this?

I know that 38/357 rifles are available, can you get another barrel for one?

[seaboltm]

I have always thought there would be a market for lever action 9mm, 40s&w, 45ACP, and 10mm. As far as 9mm single shot, I think it could be done. I know I have seen threads here for custom barrel makers for the H&R. There are people out there that do it. A 223 ejector should be able to work fine on a 9mm. Interesting thread that I will be watching.

[seaboltm]

here you go:

http://www.dandtcustomgunworks.websitetoolbox.com/post/hr-barrel-stub-calibers-6505831

[GhostHawk]

I think currently you'd have to do it as a custom barrel, which could be expensive.

I do think we need to somehow get Remington (Current owner of H&R 1871) to get the company thinking along those lines.

Think of all the old black powder calibers, 25-35, 38-40, 38-55, etc. Wouldn't they be fun to shoot in a single shot rifle if you could get the barrel for say 150$?

Then you have all the lower powered wildcats.

Like the 9mm, I'd love to have a Handi rifle barrel in 7.62x25. It is a great little cartridge, light recoil, yet moving right along.
Perfect for plinking or teaching that coon to stay out of your trashcan.

If you have a barrel assembly line producing barrels and it isn't going 24/7 to keep up, put it to work!

Then if your really on the ball, you offer the barrel (fitted) 100 rounds of brass, dies, reloading info, everything you need except primers, powder and boolits to load those rounds and make them shoot for a reasonable price. Reloading info should be for common smokeless powders and black in some cases.

Why if you did that you might see a revolution!

[MrWolf]

Why not look at the Marlin camp guns? I have a one in 45 which is a blast and shot one in 9mm which I think works better than the 45. I know it is not what you asked but is another option.

[troyboy]

Best bet is a rebore and rechamber if you do not gave the ability to stub.

[dubber123]

I believe I have seen thin barrel liner stock in 9mm. A bored out factory barrel sleeved with one wouldn't cost too much, and the ejector should be able to be modified from the stock piece pretty easily. Stubbing in a full size barrel blank would be just as easy.

I just saw Troyboys post above, and the rebore/rechamber is probably your best bet. You might have to start with a .22 Hornet barrel to get the chamber area to clean up, as I think most other chamberings might be too big on the breech end.

[Tackleberry41]

If you cant get it thru the H&R barrel program, your pretty much gonna have to make one yourself. The barrel stub way is not very hard at all, but you do need a chamber reamer, or rent one. You will pick up velocity in a 9mm with a longer barrel. For the effort and expense, probably just better off with a 357 one. Or sending one in another caliber off for a barrel, $104 is pretty cheap for a barrel. I have a pile of 9mm and several things to shoot it out of.

The 7.62x25 is actually a pretty good idea. It comes in pistols, but really works better with more barrel. I reload it for a tokarev and converted 1911. Its alot of muzzle flash that could be better used in a longer barrel for more velocity. There was a thread somewhere of a guy running it in a mauser and getting 2300fps out it. But your pretty much restricted to a stubbed barrel, no reaming anything out to fit. You could shoot the regular pistol ammo out of or heavier rifle bullets. They work pretty good with heavy bullets and a can.

[badgeredd]

You might want to check this out for ideas and advice.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?153778-Barrel-stubbed-rifles

Edd

[John Taylor]

I get calls quite often for different calibers on the H&R. So far I have done 17 to 45 caliber with a bunch in between. Got a 45 acp in the shop now. Starting to work on a 28 gauge with rifled bore for my self which is about the same as a 577 Snider without the bottle neck.

[NavyVet1959]

I don't see much of a need for a 9mm H&R, but one chambered in .357 max would tempt me. Perhaps a straight walled wildcat made from a .30-30 would me interesting also.

[seaboltm]

I don't see much of a need for a 9mm H&R, but one chambered in .357 max would tempt me. Perhaps a straight walled wildcat made from a .30-30 would me interesting also.

A straight walled "wild cat" was done back in 1884 or so: the 38-55 Winchester.:bigsmyl2:

[GhostHawk]

NavyVet, you can get a new Handi Rifle and rent a reamer from the folks over at Graybeard Outdoors.

I think over 200 people have hand cut their own .357 max from a .357 mag handi barrel since they bought the first reamer and started passing it around.

There is a lot of info on it over there. Seems to be the biggest concentration of Handi rifle people that I've found so far.
Good community.

"The .357 Max is an easy rechamber with hand power. Might be a half hour job by hand doing it for the first time. Just need a reamer, a tee handle and some cutting oil. Don't even need headspace gauges since you stop when you touch the existing rim cut. Compressed air helps, but is not absolutely necessary."

[NavyVet1959]

A straight walled "wild cat" was done back in 1884 or so: the 38-55 Winchester.:bigsmyl2:

And the .375 Winchester makes it even better.

[BCRider]

I gotta say that tazman's original idea for a 9mm version would make for a fine plinker.

Lots of us have 9mm pistols but not all of those folks also have a taste for revolvers. So options that lean towards rimmed cartridges don't really stir the juices. But they'd still like to have an option that isn't semi auto and that uses ammo that they already buy in larger amounts. And there simply isn't anything more popular in center fire than 9mm.

So I'm sort of stumped as to why they don't make a Handi Rifle in 9mm as well.

[FLHTC]

http://www.gunadapters.com/

As cheap way to experiment

[MT Gianni]

I don't see much of a need for a 9mm H&R, but one chambered in .357 max would tempt me. Perhaps a straight walled wildcat made from a .30-30 would me interesting also.


If we believe Col Whelen that only accurate rifles are interesting, a rechambered 357 Max from 357 mag I own is interesting indeed.

[quilbilly]

I have a T/C carbine in 9mm and it is my favorite plinking rifle. It is accurate out to 120 yards. It was a long learning curve working up a load because I kept trying to make it a mini-357 mag. Finally I gave up and loaded it to an mv. of 1150 fps and it became a sweet economical shooter as a plinker or game up to 100# at under 100 yards. The boolit it likes is the Lee 125 gr RF and the load is 4.6 gr of Unique. At about 7 cents a shot, it is cheaper than a lot of 22's these days and has almost 4x the power of a 22 LR. The rifle also shoots the Lee 150 gr. RN but I prefer the 125 gr. Not that it will matter other than satisfy my curiosity but very soon I hope to do a terminal ballistics test on that load at 40 yards into soaked compacted phone books.

[tazman]

I have a T/C carbine in 9mm and it is my favorite plinking rifle. It is accurate out to 120 yards. It was a long learning curve working up a load because I kept trying to make it a mini-357 mag. Finally I gave up and loaded it to an mv. of 1150 fps and it became a sweet economical shooter as a plinker or game up to 100# at under 100 yards. The boolit it likes is the Lee 125 gr RF and the load is 4.6 gr of Unique. At about 7 cents a shot, it is cheaper than a lot of 22's these days and has almost 4x the power of a 22 LR. The rifle also shoots the Lee 150 gr. RN but I prefer the 125 gr. Not that it will matter other than satisfy my curiosity but very soon I hope to do a terminal ballistics test on that load at 40 yards into soaked compacted phone books.

I would very much like to see those results when you get them.

[quilbilly]

It won't be long. I am waiting for the rain to soak the phone books as you read this. I am also testing my 308 with a cast 160 gr Loverin boolit at an mv of 1800 fps. After that I have to start hunting for more phone books to make a 25" thick stack. That 9mm devastated a huge 40# dog coyote recently at a range of about 80 yards -DRT.

[NavyVet1959]

It won't be long. I am waiting for the rain to soak the phone books as you read this. I am also testing my 308 with a cast 160 gr Loverin boolit at an mv of 1800 fps. After that I have to start hunting for more phone books to make a 25" thick stack. That 9mm devastated a huge 40# dog coyote recently at a range of about 80 yards -DRT.

i would use junk mail -- it seems to accumulate a lot faster than phone books. :)

[Frank46]

There was a gent over at the assra forum that showed off his martini single shot in 9mm luger. Beautiful little rifle. Think he moved to Canada and sold it. Frank

[Mk42gunner]

I didn't think very much of a 9mm H&R at first, but I have come to like the idea.

I remember reading about someone on this forum that had a Remington Model 580 or 581 that was converted to 9mm. A break open H&R would be infinitely easier since you wouldn't have to convert it to center fire.

Robert

[NavyVet1959]

If you took the 9mm barrel and then lengthened the chamber to about the depth of the shoulder on a .223 round and then used modified .223 brass for 9mm projectiles, you might end up with something interesting. Kind of a 9mm-max round. I suspect that *someone* has tried this over the years.

[bikerbeans]

I have an 18.5" 45ACP Handi rifle that a friend and I built. I wanted a 9mm Handi to go with the 45 and I was on the verge of ordering a 9mm blank from green mountain when I found a "broken" Camp 9 at a LGS for way cheap. I bought the Camp 9 and "fixed" it by reassembling the action correctly. I do still think about making a 9mm liner barrel Handi as I think it would be a great plinker and squirrel carbine.

BB

[jonp]

And the .375 Winchester makes it even better.

I'm holding out for the .470 Weatherby Magv :shock:

[NavyVet1959]

I'm holding out for the .470 Weatherby Magv :shock:

Just take the H&R "UltraSlug" 12-gauge (heavy rifled barrel) and load it until you shoulder refuses to be in the same county as you.

[canyon-ghost]

I have a 9mm barrel for a TC Contender, 10" barrel with open sights. This one I had built, it's a Custom Shop barrel. The twist is a little tighter than you'd expect but, it's a good cast bullet plinkster.

[kopperl]

[QUOTE=GhostHawk;2972593]I think currently you'd have to do it as a custom barrel, which could be expensive.







Like the 9mm, I'd love to have a Handi rifle barrel in 7.62x25. It is a great little cartridge, light recoil, yet moving right along.
Perfect for plinking or teaching that coon to stay out of your trashcan.

Have a 7.62x25 Contender barrel that cost less than $200.

[scattershot]

I think it would be fun to shoot, but why not get a Handi in .35 Remington or something, and get a chamber insert for 9mm. If the rifling twist would work, it would sure be cheaper than a custom barrel.

[GhostHawk]

Or even .357 mag and a chamber insert.

Good point!

[quilbilly]

I would very much like to see those results when you get them.
Just finished this morning. As always, the medium is soaked, compacted phone books (much more solid than most animals) with a sheet of 1/8" plywood at one inch depth to simulate a clipped rib bone. The range was 40 yards. The muzzle velocity of the 125 gr RF plain base as stated above is about 1150 FPS. The penetration was 9-1/2" plus or minus 1/2". No expansion was noted. The alloy of the lead was 60% pure, 37% hard bird shot which adds antimony and arsenic, and 3% tin. In this session I also tested my 308 with a 162 gr RNGC at a muzzle velocity of 1800 FPS with the same alloy and got 13-1/2" of penetration, expansion to .7"on all, and weight retention between 90% and 105% (no doubt a hidden piece of phone book). With that penetration of the 9mm in that hard medium, at that range the boolit will completely pass through even a large deer unless it hits a major bone.

[tazman]

Thanks for posting the info.

[NavyVet1959]

If you already have a 12 gauge break open single shot, you can get a 9mm barrel blank from Green Mountain Barrels and custom fit it as a full length insert for the 12 gauge barrel. Quite a few calibers and lengths. 9mm from around $20-60, dependent upon length.

http://www.gmriflebarrel.com/new-gunsmith-edition-raw-barrel-blanks/?sort=featured&page=1

Having a lathe (or a friend with on) would make it a bit easier to create this sort of full length insert.

[FergusonTO35]

John Taylor, do you ever do any rebarrel work on Ruger single actions? I have a Single Six with 4-5/8 barrel. I would like to convert it to a 5.5" barrel. I have a used barrel I purchased, or you could make one from scratch.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

what I was wondering about is taking a factory H&R barrel like a 357 cut it off and face it just past the chamber , then drill ream and tap the stub then turn down and thread the part of the factory barrel cut from the stub , thread the barrel into the stub and cut the chamber for 9mm or 38spl and extractor slot , you could also take the 30-06 barrels barrels and reuse them in a shorter by about 5 inches version in any cambering you wanted in 30 cal like 357-30 the rimmed version of 300 blackout and it would cost time and the fairly inexpensive barrels or give an almost unused barrel a whole new life

[Herb in Pa]

I just modified my 357 by using 357 max brass & trimming it to basically a 360 Dan Wesson case. I'm not interestered in shooting cast through my full auto rated suppresor, so I keep my jacketed loads subsonic. Trimming the barrel length to 16 1/2 also helped with the suppression.

[MT Gianni]

Like the 9mm, I'd love to have a Handi rifle barrel in 7.62x25. It is a great little cartridge, light recoil, yet moving right along.
Perfect for plinking or teaching that coon to stay out of your trashcan.

Have a 7.62x25 Contender barrel that cost less than $200.
My handi came originally with the 7.662x39 bbl as a Davidson's special. The knock on them was they would not fire surplus ammo. My thoughts are: Who would want to shoot surplus ammo? It does great with cast, I have never shot anything over 165 gr but have sen the write up of someone using a 180 gr bullet.

[fireball168]

what I was wondering about is taking a factory H&R barrel like a 357 cut it off and face it just past the chamber , then drill ream and tap the stub....

Like this? Getting ready to throw it in the classifieds on here.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e281/fireball168/IMG_0871_zps4cbac442.jpg

[NavyVet1959]

With an Encore or a Contender, you can buy a barrel commercially and expect it to work on your Encore or Contender frame. With the H&Rs though, the factory says that you must send your receiver to them and they need to fit the barrel to your particular receiver. As such, buying a barrel from anyone other than H&R might be a bit iffy since their barrel was fitted for their receiver and it might not be quite right for your receiver. Are H&Rs so inconsistent on tolerances that they actually need to have their barrels *fitted*? The barrels for my Encore might be a bit more expensive than the ones for the H&Rs, but I know that regardless of where I buy a barrel, it's a quick swap to get the new barrel installed and no "fitting" is required.

[John Taylor]

John Taylor, do you ever do any rebarrel work on Ruger single actions? I have a Single Six with 4-5/8 barrel. I would like to convert it to a 5.5" barrel. I have a used barrel I purchased, or you could make one from scratch.

Yes I do a few wheel guns of many brands. Just got done fitting a new cylinder in a Ruger 44 mag to 44-40.
A little story about Rugers. Many years back I put a 12" barrel on a 22 and then decided to take advantage of Ruger's offer to install the new safety in the old model and Ruger sent me a shipping box. The box was not long enough so I took the grip frame off so I could fit it in the box and added a note saying why the gun was apart. Ruger put the gun back together and it looked like they blued it also because it looked better when I got it back and had new screws, plus a new Ruger box that was long enough. I had many people try to by the pistol and I had to keep telling them that Ruger did not make it with a 12" barrel.

[Shooter6br]

Mech Tech 1911 45acp is fun

[justashooter]

I didn't think very much of a 9mm H&R at first, but I have come to like the idea.

I remember reading about someone on this forum that had a Remington Model 580 or 581 that was converted to 9mm. A break open H&R would be infinitely easier since you wouldn't have to convert it to center fire.

Robert

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?121184-Remington-580-into-a-9X19-pumpkin-gun

[tazman]

While the idea of a single shot 9mm rifle sounds like fun, if I have to custom build one it becomes impractical from an expense standpoint.
I recently purchased a Citadel M1 carbine in 9mm which is fulfilling my needs nicely. Other than the rear sight coming loose it performs very well.