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I'm through with Handi rifles....... or.... am I?

7K views 49 replies 29 participants last post by  three50seven 
#1 · (Edited)
Sold the last of a dozen (?) Handi Rifles a few years ago. Loved them, killed deer with them, had several switch barrels.
Thought I was through with them......
..... picking up a 444 palet wood heavy barrel, scope base only H&R this afternoon.
Guess I was wrong.... : )
 
#30 ·
Maybe some of you naysayers need to take a little advice from a knowledgeable and experience gunsmith and shooter, a quote from the Handi-Rifle section of ML McPherson's book, "Accurizing the Factory Rifle", his title of the section is The (Lack of!) Trouble with The New England Firearms Handi-Rifle(H&R Ultra).

Tim


The New England Firearms
Handi-Rifle (and the equivalent H&R Ultra) are a
marvel of modern engineering. Price is in the bargain
basement; performance is in the clouds.
These rifles function and shoot better than most
hardened riflemen will believe. One acquaintance
tells of a tough old Texas rancher, a multi-millionaire,
who chose this rifle as his Alaska and Canada
hunting companion on world-class safaris. If that
were not surprising enough, he fitted his .30-06
Springfield chambered Handi-Rifle (about a $200
gun) with a top-of-the-line Schmidt & Bender
hunting riflescope. (For those who do not know,
Schmidt & Bender is to riflescopes what Rolls-
Royce is to automobiles.)
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/573735/accurizing-the-factory-rifle-book-by-m-l-mcpherson
 
#37 ·
Maybe some of you naysayers need to take a little advice from a knowledgeable and experience gunsmith and shooter, a quote from the Handi-Rifle section of ML McPherson's book, "Accurizing the Factory Rifle", his title of the section is The (Lack of!) Trouble with The New England Firearms Handi-Rifle(H&R Ultra).

Tim




http://www.midwayusa.com/product/573735/accurizing-the-factory-rifle-book-by-m-l-mcpherson

That is like putting a lift kit and mudders on a Prius, will draw some attention as intended but functionally not logical...
 
#31 ·
I think their junkers, & I love them. 17 inch 357 max tamer stock 1X4 leupold, is the absolute ultimate treestand rifle. Muzzleloader season you say . Slufoot 45-70 conversion got it covered. possum in the chicken coop. shorty 17 hmr got it. I have more pricey guns, but it seems the handis always gets the nod for hunting.
Now I admit Im in a bit of a lever gun craving lately. But the handis wont be left behind
 
#47 ·
Leverguns and single shots do it for me. I love my Handis. Got rid of my Ruger #1 after getting my first Handi Rifle several years ago. I've been lucky. Never had one that wouldnt shoot. Altho I have friends that have.
 
#32 ·
I wandered in here close to nine years ago with my first Handi, a standard 22 inch .45-70. I knew nothing about them. I banged a nice buck with it that Fall. I was seduced by Tim and a bunch of other enablers and here I am.

I have/have had some 25 or so Handis. I really don't know what the actual count is now. I can't honestly tell you which is the favorite. I suppose that depends on what I'm doing at the moment. Just now, we're on a wolf lookout. We've got at least one poking around. The Handis in .22-250, .243, and 7mm-08 are today's favorites being very close at hand. Our Maxis and .32-20 are always a favorite as are the .45-70s (now two), the .445, .356/.358, .30-40, etc. I suppose they're all favorites or they'd be gone.

Pete
 
#33 ·
I have had probably 40 Handi's over time. I am down to a half dozen now. Some shot great, some just shot, and a few shot intermittently. There are work arounds and fixes for the problems, but I am just getting tired of fussing with a rifle to make it shoot and eject like it should. I can get a Mossberg Patriot in any caliber for under $300 out the door. Cheap, accurate and fuss free. Single shot doesn't bother me, I have on 3 different occasions killed 2 deer out of a group with a single shot. I just don't like to worry if a rifle is going to work like it should when a big buck decides to show up.
 
#35 ·
I started 3 plus years ago with a single .223 ultra.

Recently while going through the list of all guns with my wife I realized that I put the handi's in a class by themselves.
I mean you have the shotguns, Rem 870 pumps and singles, you have milsurps, pair of Mosin's and a Yugo SKS.

A pair of beater Hipoint Carbines that are the ugliest guns but are so rugged and dependable that they aquire an auro uniquely theirs.

Then the Handi's from a 9mm stubb job through the .223, .300BO, 7.62x39 they are good solid performers.

Then the star's come out to play. .357 mag in .360DW brass with a 4x12 scope, if I do my part this rock star will stack the bullets in a single hole.

And the .444 Marlin in a camo composite stock. This big boy looks tough but he likes to shoot cloverleaf's. The first 9 shots I fired while getting the scope zeroed. 3 in a tight cloverleaf at 25 yards, 3 more at 50 yards. 2 in the start of a perfect cloverleaf at 100 yards but the shooter flinched with shot #9 and pulled it an inch high and left.

Of those 9 shots not one except the last was more than one quarter of an inch from where it should be.
And that was shooting a 310 grain gas checked large meplat round nose home cast boolit.

Yeah, that's the thunder, .357 is the lighting.

If I have a bad boy it is the 7.62x39 that won't quite do 1 MOA "Yet", but who knows, perhaps tommorow I find what it needs, right boolit, right powder, right OAL to make it shine. But that is MY job. So I can set the pace, its not on the clock. If nothing else I have somewhere around 2,000 rounds of factory loads that it can shoot, plus 4-500 of my home loaded stuff. So even if it never is a true MOA shooter it still has big value to me.
 
#36 ·
I discovered this site in 2015 while searching for info to lighten the trigger on my H&R 45-70 Slufoot converted smokeless muzzleloader. The wealth of information and the helpfulness and enthusiasm of everyone here got me hooked on the Handi rifles almost immediately. I have had more fun tinkering with and shooting these guns than any guns I have ever owned. I've probably owned 20+ Handi's over the last couple years and all the ones I have shot, shot extremely well at 100yds with factory ammo. I am now getting into reloading to feed my Maxi's. I agree the Handi's are not for everyone, but they sure have been a lot of fun for me. Thanks guys!!!!!!!!!!
 
#38 ·
I have never ever had a Handi-Rifle fail to function that was a fault of the gun. I had a cartridge get stuck halfway into the chamber due to something being between the side of the chamber and the side of the cartridge. Possibly some grit, no fault of the firearm. I once got a chamber adapter to shoot 7.62x39 from my 30-06. It sometimes didn't eject properly and headspace was marginal. That is not the fault of the rifle, it was designed for 30-06!

For those of you who have had trouble with Handi-rifles I am sorry you got a bad example of a new rifle or an abused used rifle. I recently purchased a brand new Ruger Redhawk 44 magnum that I had to return because the timing was off, verified by a gunsmith. I also bought a new Ruger MK III that would not return to battery without hitting the back of the bolt with the heel of your hand, that now functions flawlessly. Comparatively speaking, I have 100% positive experience with Handi-rifles (20+ of 20) and 100% negative experience with Ruger! (2- of 2) So don't tell me problems don't happen with other companies. Likewise I won't tell anyone that Ruger firearms are junk based on the only two I have owned.

I believe that, unless you have a gun with significant flaws, any significant miss is due to the shooter. The shooters lack of skill, lack of knowledge about the rifle, lack of practice, lack of knowledge/skill of handloading, lack of reloading equipment or components can all have a significant effect on the accuracy of a rifle. You would not expect the best accuracy with a .490 round ball with a .010 patch from a rifle barrel that slugged .510 between the lands. You might enjoy better accuracy from a different combination that fit better. But if you didn't know, you would sling lead and swear there is something wrong with the rifle.

Many people say, "I don't want to have to tinker." I think some of those folks just want to be able to buy any box of ammo and go shoot one round, once a year and hit the bull's eye. They want a gun that is dependable; like the remote control on their TV.

Good shooting takes a little work sometimes. Get to know your firearm. Practice your skills.

BW

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
#39 ·
I love tinkering, but there is an old saying that stands the test of time, "you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear".
 
#40 ·
I have some older Handi Rifles that shoot very well. There was a time when I thought I would do all my hunting with Handi Rifles. This was in 2009. Through the barrel accessory program I ordered several additional barrels. I found these barrels to be terrible. They had faulty rifling, terrible crowns and would not shoot with hunting accuracy. All I wanted was hunting accuracy. 4 to 6 inch groups at 50 yards is not hunting accuracy in my book. I sent bad barrels back with explanations and got back equally bad barrels in return. Eventually, I gave up. I bought an Encore and went back to my bolt actions. Nothing wrong with the basic rifle. It just needed decent manufacturing and decent quality control and did not have it.
 
#41 ·
All of my hunting is done with NEF/H&R singles. We paired 7 different 30-30 barrels from yesteryear(the slim profile type) with modern receiver frames. Pieced together 1 for each of the grandsons, and managed to have 1 for myself. We use the same 170 grain Sierra FN load with LE powder for all but one. One we use the 160FTX loading with LE.

All the youngin's start with our .223 lightweight with 20" barrel for range time.

When they start deer hunting their 30-30's have many rounds downrange.

I've also hunted in the western US with my Sidekick muzzleloader using BH209 and PR bullets. Seems I'm always able to get a permit with the muzzleloader.

LIKE THESE FEATURES

*Top mounted breeching lever
*Synthetic non monte carlo buttstock
*Fairly light
*Shoulders quickly and come to point of aim fast
*Easy to reload for.
*Left Hand Friendly
 
#42 ·
IS there any chance the Handi Rifle will be made again? Not many 'tools' that work as well [when production quality is kept up] as a Handi rifle for the price. There really is no drawback to it's ability to put venison in the freezer. I've hunted and killed deer with just about every type of rifle made and the HANDI gets it done as well as anything. It's exposed hammer makes an EXCELLENT starting rifle for it's safety characteristics. Oh well I'm sure this has been discussed multiple times.....
 
#45 ·
Well I have owned a slew of Handis and they are a hunting rifle for sure, not so much a target rifle as others have chimed in with. I do have one older wood stocked standard 243, that will out group my Tikka t3 and customized Remington 700 hands down on 3 shot groups. That's with factory loads in the handi and precise hand loads in the bolts. It has a cheap 3x9 scope on it and I'm scared to change a thing on it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
 
#50 ·
I've had Handi's in 3 different calibers in the last few years. The first was a .22 WMR that was actually a really cool rifle. Green laminate stock and heavy barrel, brushed nickel maybe? It was some sort of light colored finish. It was just too heavy for what it was. The 2nd was a model 158 in .357 Max that had to have a 10 lb.+ trigger pull. The thing was awful. The 3rd, and only one I currently own is a newer production 45/70, and it's a great rifle. I have thought about buying up more in different calibers, but it's kind of hard to justify that when you can get a brand new Ruger American or Savage Axis for not much over $350 and you know it will be a good shooter, not to mention there is still a factory in existence in case they ever need sent in for repair.

FWIW, I'm on my 3rd Ruger American Rifle now: .22 WMR, .223, and 300 BLK. Now that Ruger has dropped the 77/357 and 77/44 from the M77 line up, I look for them to make a comeback in the RAR line!
 
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