H&R Handi rifle plus some

[Greasemonkey]

Well, this is awkward.. this thing doesn't fit any category 

Anywho... this rifle has been a go to for many years.. like a Glock to many people..... ugly.. but it flat out works.

 Originally in '06 I purchased a Handi in .233... For a low cost rifle, I was always impressed with the accuracy, even though it was only a single shot. They never were pricey, I think maybe $239 or so..  These things were available in a multitude of different calibers, even 7.62x39, stock styles and such, they were bought by Marlin, then Remington came along and ran them in the ground around 2015... H&R was no more after over a century of pistols, rifles and shotguns, they even made the M1 Garand during WWII and a M16 during Vietnam.

Over the years, they have drastically rose in price, and I very rarely even see one for sale.



A few months later in '07'ish, a work friend had one in .45-70, and he wanted to trade, so I obliged him. This is where my fun/pain love/hate started with the 45-70, the not quite a 7 pound rifle with 500gr Buffalo Bore, the learning of loading black powder rounds, ect... It's thumped me many, many times, and I've kept on taking the abuse as has the rifle, eventually taking 6 deer and a groundhog over the years. It likes 410gr cast black powder loads and does pretty well with Leverevolution, although I give the edge to accuracy to the blackpowder loads.




Flash forward to 2025, one of my cousins was cleaning out some things(ok, his garage was a dumpster ), he also had one in 25-06 years ago, and also bought 2 accessory barrels, back in the day, you could get another barrel fitted for less than a $150 as I recall. He sold the rifle years ago, but thru life, kids and other fun things, lost the barrels over time. Well he found them and brought them over.... a .22 Hornet and.... a 500 S&W.   He told me he flat out didn't have the testicular fortitude to ever try the 500. I think he was just a tightwad...it aint cheap to shoot. I ain't scared...no pain, no gain.

Both just need some slight fitting to fit my current frame.. NOTE... death warning you just can not add a rifle barrel to a shotgun frame, you need an actual SB2 frame to support the high pressure centerfire rounds. The shotgun frames and SB1 frames are not built and heat treated to withstand high pressure rounds.




One of the reasons I've done black powder in it, tear down and cleaning is super simple.

[Worm]

I’ve never even heard of these. Super cool. Something about single shots.. my girlfriend has a henry .357 magnum single shot that I’m pretty jealous of.

Nice assortment of calibers! .22 hornet rocks

[echo1]

I've got one in .22-250 bull barrel, big glass 5X20X50 adjustable objective. Missed the boat on the barrel program, a bull barrel in .308 was only $80 bucks. PAX

[running-man]

Very neat GM!!  

How do you adjust for headspacing the different barrels?  Are there adjustment screws or shims that have to be installed?

[Loose}{Cannon]

I do like the looks of the one in the first pic… looks very ergonomic and pointable. 

[Phosphorus32]

Very cool  I do like the simplicity and relatively light weight of single shot rifles.

[Greasemonkey]

Thanks,  they are pretty fun and can be shockingly accurate once you learn the nuances to them.

Very neat GM!!  

How do you adjust for headspacing the different barrels?  Are there adjustment screws or shims that have to be installed?

Being rimmed rounds, there isn't too much adjustment, .000 would be perfect, but rim variances kind of negate that. I checked the other two, from the chamber face to the case head, using 2 new cases and a fired case on each barrel, measured every 90 degrees, they both measured .003 to .004. This new unfitted barrel measured .006 and had some rough finishing. So I took it down to .004, again measuring every 90 degrees with a fired case and 2 new cases.



I've been thru this forum many times, lots of awesome info on tweaking and such, this is barrel fitting.
https://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,82412.msg504758.html#msg504758
Tons of other info..
https://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php?topic=26264.0


To get it to fit to the frame and barrel to close, the barrel pivot or underlug, in this one due to the barrel not latching, I'll have to deepen the pivot point very slowly, the aim is tight as possible against the frame with no barrel wobble or clearance. the end goal is .080 or so of latch contact and for the barrel release to be snug, no rattle and about mid travel. If it closes fully and the release is loose, your barrel will be loose fitted, not enough latch and it could open when fired.



Here is the 45-70, the chamber face is machined smooth, and the pivot is machined/fitted to fit the frame. From the case head to the end of the chamber face is .004 of headspace.



Here is a size comparison on the 500S&W with other common rounds. 45-70, 454 Casull, 500, .223, x39 and x54r.

[Greasemonkey]

Here it is today. The three new barrels are fitted and the fore ends have been pillar bedded to float the barrels. All three new ones were test fired after fitting, and I loaded up 2 rounds for giggle factor... 2 grains under max on the 500.... definitely a stout potent round recoil wise, even in a rifle.  400grains of Sierra copper and lead a half inch in diameter moving at 2170 and 2187fps. It's not bad on the lower end of the spectrum. I'm hoping the laminated stock with the squishy butt pad and thumbhole design make it a little easier to handle.

I picked up Tally one piece rings for the 222Rem and the 22 Hornet, The 45/70 will get a Williams Target style peep sight with the Lyman globe target sight, the 500 S&W..  I figured I'd try a Williams WGRS receiver peep sight and maybe a Firesight front.

[echo1]

Pretty darn cool Gm, PAX