H&R 1871 Target Classic

[Mallard57]

Hi,
I was at the Sportsman's Whse. the other day and they and they had an H&R 1871 Classic Target in 38-55. This isn't a gun I've had a burning desire for in the past but I had read that they can be hard to find and looking at the cartridge case it looked extremely cast friendly. Well to make a long story short I put some money on this rifle, since then I've read that this model is prone to have issues with throats and chambers. I might be having a mild case of buyer's remorse and I'm wondering if I should be putting my money into a new Ruger Mk III instead.
How happy are the folks that have this particular rifle?
Thanks,
Jeff

[SharpsShooter]

I have shot a friends several times and it is very accurate with


I cast several hundred for the gent and he claims it wil group amazingly well.


Good gun at a good value.

SS

[keeper89]

I have one and I do like it even though it took a bit of experimentation to come up with an appropriate load. Mine is quite fond of 50 gr. of 2f under the Lee 265. After years of shooting cast over white, the black powder cartridge is another animal entirely but yes, it will shoot. And I got mine for just a hair over 300 bucks nib. Cheap way to try bpcr to see if you like it! I liked it so much I just acquired a roller with a premium bbl. by Douglas--and that one, while it bypassed 300 bucks in a walk, will hit the rams at 500 every time I do my part....have fun and enjoy!

[Onlymenotu]

I have the 38-55 target rifle you speak of been shooting the LEE .379 250 grain *unsized as cast as the gun has the H&R typical .380 over spec barrel* over 45 grains of sub... with good luck I'm hoping with a little luck and one more buyer we can get the 45 2.1 381268 GB under way to see how they shoot out of it.... with all that being said I'd buy another one,,,, if that says/means anything

[Onlymenotu]

I have shot a friends several times and it is very accurate with


I cast several hundred for the gent and he claims it wil group amazingly well.


Good gun at a good value.

SS

@ SharpsShooter nice looking boolit.... whats the make and model and as cast dia and weight plz...

[Onlymenotu]

Lyman375248.jpg...... as cast dia and weight plz i can see it should drop at 248 but what do they drop with you alloy?

[wonderwolf]

Dunno about the 38-55 but my 45-70 is really great to shoot..I just wouldnt pay more than $300 for one. Good rifle but I don't think the design is worth much more than that.

[lathesmith]

I have a 38-55 barrel on a Handi, it is loads of fun to shoot. I haven't worked up anything really potent with it, but it loves the standard 250gr Lee 375 bullet at around 1200fps, loaded with either Red dot or 700x. The Lee bullet casts out at .383 and I run it thru a .379 sizer. This load is clean as a whistle, you could shoot it all day and even the brass stays clean! Another fun load is around 2.8 gr of Bullseye, about 600 fps, good close range accuracy and very quiet. It is not as clean but it is a great load. I use reformed 30/30 brass for all these loads, it is cheap and effective.
I have never had as good accuracy with the Lyman 375248. Part of the reason was because it would only cast at .377 or so; it is just too small.

[Mallard57]

I appreciate all the input, you folks have convinced me that picking up this rifle is the right thing to do. When I get some time I'll run back down to Kennewick and pick that bad boy up. If you have one of these puppies I'd still like to hear about your rifle.
Thanks,
Jeff

[SharpsShooter]

@ SharpsShooter nice looking boolit.... whats the make and model and as cast dia and weight plz...

Pardon the delay in responding.........overlooked it somehow.

That boolit is 252gr cast of 20:1 and is.3785 diameter.

SS

[Dusty Wheeler]

This thread just convinced me to get a 38-55 barrel! Thanks!

[John Boy]

How happy are the folks that have this particular rifle?

I've hit a pallet at 800yds with mine, use it for gallery matches, shoot it regularly at 100-200 and 300yds ... Yep, like my H&R.

It is the older model with ejectors and a Green Mountain barrel. Now they come with extractors and S&W barrels.

[jim4065]

The Sportsmans Warehouse in AR has a tag of $349, but I found this on the Internet... http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/p...oducts_id/8909 .


Well the link doesn't work, but if you type "38-55" in the search box it'll take you there.

[Bubba w/a 45/70]

I know mine isn't 38-55 but I am starting to really love my Buff Classic in 45/70. It shoots better than I, and anything out to just over 900 yards is no issue with it. I must admit to having a non standard rear sight...I put a Ukranian long range vernier on it; but it just plain old SHOOTS! My boolit is a SAECO 1881 cast from WW powered by 28.0 grains of H4198 with some dacron. I just came back from shooting the ND Governor's Cup shoot with mine and showed up quite a few heavy barreled Sharps and rollers there. And I don't even have a 1,000 rounds through it yet...very promising indeed.

[Onlymenotu]

I must admit to having a non standard rear sight...I put a Ukranian long range vernier on it; but it just plain old SHOOTS!

VERY INTRESTING GOTA PIC OF THIS BAD BOY......?

[Mallard57]

They sure don't give those Vernier sights away, that being said I'd sure like to have one or two of them. If I remember right there were several models of these, which one fits our rifles?
Jeff

[Mallard57]

VERY INTRESTING GOTA PIC OF THIS BAD BOY......?

Hi,
I was looking at these the other, they look really neat but I'm not sure which one fits what.
http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/2,237.htm
Jeff

[Bubba w/a 45/70]

I think that I put this one on.

http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/4,4919.htm

After looking at the others, yup that is the one I put on. If you don't need to get out to the 1,000 yard mark, then the mid range should work for you.

I just screwed it onto the wrist of the buttstock. It takes a bit of care to get it right, but that is what I did. Inletting a piece of barstock into the wrist might work too, but I just wanted to try the simplest first. Either that or making up a tangplate to mount the sight on and pinching it between the stock and receiver with the buttstock bolt. My chosen method works well enough for me to make me get into the middle of the pack at the Governor's Cup shoot this weekend and that was with only two targets having sight-in shots being taken before shooting the match. I'm very happy.


And yup I do have some pics. Just not able to get them uploaded to the place that I use for pics. I could email them directly to you if you want.

[lovedogs]

Hey, Bubba... My wife and I both shoot Buff Classics and use the same bullet mould you mentioned. We use 20:1 alloy, size at .459, 23 1/2 gr. 5744. We use Larsen's 50/50 lube. Our range is only 876 yds. but accuracy is great. Our best groups using Lee Shaver sights are 5 to 6 inches at the 876 yd. silhouette. Both rifles easily shoot MOA all the way out to that range if we do our part. These "cheap" rifles will outshoot some pretty expensive rigs, as you've noted. We wouldn't trade ours for anything!

[Bubba w/a 45/70]

lovedogs,

as you've noted: These "cheap" rifles will outshoot some pretty expensive rigs, as you've noted. We wouldn't trade ours for anything! these "cheap" rifles can SHOOT! I out shot my good friend with a custom Sharps in 40/72, and he was not very happy when the final scores came in. I only hit 19 out of 48 possible, but when sighting in during the match on 4 of 6 targets I think that was not bad. Once I was able to get close...things just start to go "CLINK"!!!

May I brag the rifle up just a bit more? Every time the trigger was pulled, the boolit just went where it was pointed when pulled. There were a couple of misses that I will definitely claim as shooter error (after I finally figured out where to put the sight settings). In fact I can only think of one miss that I really don't know what happened....I'm thinking a boolit with an offset bubble or something...