H&R Handi rifle

[Beekeeper]

I did the paperwork today on a H&R Handi in .223.
I was thinking of sending it to H&R for a couple of different barrels.
I need advice on which barrels to get.

I was thinking 30-06 but saw the adverts for the different barrels and was wondering about the 45-70 or 30-30.
All three of them would have the high power I want (if I can withstand the recoil) and my only worry is the barrel legnth.
22 or 24 inches seems a little short for something with that much power.
Any advice would be appreciated.



beekeeper

[leadman]

I have a Handi in 30-30 and it is a very good shooter and not bad at all on the shoulder. It sounds like you might just be getting into shooting larger center fire rifles? A 30-06 and a 45-70 are capable of much more "power" than the 30-30, but recoil can be stout so shooting is limited due to the effects of recoil.
All can be down loaded, but the 30-30 is really a gem in a rifle like this. Brass for all 3 is fairly easy to come by, but the 30-30 will probably be cheaper.
The 30-30 is a good deer, pig, and bear gun if you decide to hunt with it.
Lets see what others have to say.

[hammerhead357]

I don't have a 30-06 or 223 but do have a 22 k-hornet, 357mag,44mag,45-70 and a 35 whelen. I like all of them have had some problems getting the 357 and 44 to shoot well but have discovered that in the 357 if I shoot the boolits at their as cast diameter it does better. I have not had the chance to try the 44 out this way.The 45-70 is a BC and it seems to like cast boolits just fine. The Whelen does well with cast boolit and I have never tried the hornet with cast.
I do wish I had a 30-30 barrel to play with, but so many other things in the works...Wes

[OldBob]

I have several of them and like them a lot. In my opinion the rimmed cartridges are best in this rifle but I have read of guys getting very good results with the bottlenecks also. The 30-30 and the 45-70 are probably the most popular and both normally shoot very well. I have a 223 that shoots moa consistently if I do my part. another real fun caliber in this rifle is the 357 mag, I rechambered mine to 357 MAX and it is a good shooter with cast boolits and approaches 35 Remington performance. They won't win any beauty contests, and they aren't all benchrest guns, but you sure get a lot of bang for your buck with them.

[Beekeeper]

Thanks all,
I think I will ask for the 30-30 and 45-70 barrels.
I was leaning that way as I already have a 30-06 bolt and was looking for something different.
Again thanks for the advice.


beekeeper

[vincewarde]

The wife and I have two H&R frames and six barrels. 45-70 is a "must have" and works great with cast bootlits. Any of the pistol calibers would be good too.

Our barrels are:

.223
.243
.270 Ultra Comp
30-06
45-70
20 ga

Compared to buying one gun in each chambering, cheapest guns in my battery!

[Wayne Smith]

I assume you are shooting cast. If so, there is really no reason for a case capacity greater than the 30-30 or 30-40 case in .30. 45-70? How recoil sensitive are you?

[OldBob]

Wayne, you are absolutely right in suggesting that the 45-70 in a Handi Rifle can and will kick the snot out of you........ if you load it up to its full potential. If you use 300 +/- grain cast bullets and push them along at a modest 1100-1250 fps the recoil is quite manageable, it becomes more of a hard shove rather than a sharp punch. The 45-70 has a fairly good recoil pad and the kick can be further softened by weighting the stock with some lead or even adding something like the "Dead Mule" recoil suppressor.... and the nice part of that is that load will still knock a deer size critter **** over applecart ! Once you have overcome recoil sensitivity you can crank it up with some 500 grain bullets and a case full of black powder or even ream it out to 45-120 .......... replacement shoulders must be available.. aren't they ???

[fish3006]

Recoil is no thing in .45-70 Handi as long as standard factory loads are used.

Yes, the rimmed chamberings seem less finicky, but '06s generally are very good, especially with 180-grain bullets.

[leadman]

Oldbob, don't know about replacement shoulders, but repairs work, sometimes, for awhile!

[44mag1]

I have a handi rifle in 7mm08 that shoots minute of beer can at 200 yards with a 145 grain rcbs. It took alot of shooting to finaly smooth out the barrel enough to start shooting good.

[Lucky Joe]

I have an empty frame at the moment and want to add a .357 - .30-30 and the .30-06. Already have the .45-70 on the H&R Buffalo Classic (agree a must have).

I kind of favor the classics.

[45r]

I shoot the rcbs 300GC over 26 grains 4759 in my 45-70 highwall and it doesn't kick much at all and is accurate.33 grains 5744 works well also.If you try 500 grain boolits keep them going around 1250 fps or less to save your shoulder and you can knock over anything on the planet but you will notice the recoil.

[dk17hmr]

Im a fan of Handi rifles also. I have a 22 hornet, 218 bee, 45-70 (cut down to 16 3/4"), 450 Marlin, 500 S&W, a 58 Caliber Huntsman, and about 6 of the shotguns they offer.

I shoot cast bullets in all the rifles, the bigger calibers all shoot very well with cast. The Hornet and Bee are accurate enough to shoot squirrel with cast bullets.

The 45-70 is a must have and a good intro into big bores. You can load it up to knock the snot out of you or down to subsonic rabbit shooters. The load I have for mine is a 350gr cast at 1950fps, not much I couldnt knock down with that. The 450 Marlin is pushing the same bullet at 2200fps, the 500 S&W pushing a 450gr at 1780fps and a 700gr at close to 1500, all of them shoot very well. Look up some of my old post about my Handis there is some info in there.

[NickSS]

I have handy rifles in 223, 243, 308, 357Mag, 38-55 and 45-70. So far the 223, 38-55 and 45-70 are all tack drivers. The 243 is accurate for larger game but lacking for small game. The 308 is fine but a work in progress and the 357 mag is as accurate as my Marlin lever gun. I would love to have a hornet and a 30-30 but have not got around to getting them yet.