Just how strong is a Handi rifle action?

[Rustyinfla]

  It must be really strong I was told this by a friend of mine who is a range officer near me. He said a man and his boy had come out to the range with a Handi Rifle in .243 so the dad could do his final sight in work before deer season. They had several guns to shoot and after the dad had fired a shot through the Handi he was doing something else and the boy asked if he could load the rifle. Dad says sure, go ahead. The father turned back and closed the action and took aim. When the round went off he knew something was wrong. It seems the boy had loaded the rifle with a 7.62X39 case. The Handi took it and kept on tickin.

  That's how strong a Handi is.

[quickdtoo]

The frame is a lot stouter than the underlug, but the last time that same scenario happened, it didn't just keep ticking!  Frame was Ok, but the underlug was toast.

Tim

http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,70638.msg433117.html#msg433117

[Fred M]

The Handi rifle will take any SAAMI load for which the rifle is designed for. For safty reasons the underlug is softer than it could be. H/R also incorperated a long throat on some models which relieves some pressure. But stupid hand loads can get you in trouble. In all instances the Handi will be safe to shoot with proper ammo.

I have two custom Handi,s and only shoot handloads in both
rifles, never had any trouble, except for an ocacional case head
separation due to overuse of cases.

Since the action is light it has a certain amount of elastic stretch which will elongate the brass. Repeated sizing will thin the case
at the pressure ring. Hence case head separation. Overloads will also do this.

With time the Handi will develop a gap between the chamber and the standing breech which will really be hard on brass because of case lengthening, the cases will then be resized and shortened
so they will be loadable again. In this senario cases will be toast
in short order. When a gap appears it must be taken care of pronto.

[Squib]

is that even an issue on straight walled cases like 45/70 (no shoulder to knock up and down, and no shoulder to develope excessive backthrust to beat up the lugs).  I know it (45-70) is tapered and not REALLY "straight" but it's close.  also it's thick brass, and most stout loads are still not high psi by rifle standards.

[moorepower]

I really have to wonder how a round that is .030 smaller diameter and .500 shorter can be fired, when a .35 Whelen in most new guns won't fire most the time when it is .010 too short and the correct diameter. Alot of the 7.62X39 factory barrels would have ftf because of hard primers. Then, why did the gas not blow out the extractor/ejector and the trigger guard. Finally with all the room for the brass to expand and the loss of gas, how the heck did the bullet make it out of the bore? If I did not see it with my own eyes, I would not believe it. Sorry but that is my opinion.

[gendoc]

i know of this same thing happening several years ago from a friends incounter.
his young son got his 243 out of the unlocked safe and found a 39 cartridge on the top shelve.
the boy took it outside and made it go bang !!!!......the bullet did come out the barrel muzzle
but alot of jacket copper was left in the chamber.... it stripped the outer jacket right off !!!
so it can happen.... i seen the aftermath shortly after the incident.
luckly the rifle was a ruger, a strong action and very well build.  after a complete disassembly
of the action, scoped the chamber and bore to find no damage at all !!!
reassembled and fired in the test cell over 25 shots.  no different performance.
today this rifle is still being used.
it can happen....

[Squib]

maybe the chamber is cut just right between those two calibers so that the bore cuts the jacket right off... though I wouldn't want to test it!!!

fred, any thoughts on my 45-70 question?

[cwlongshot]

I really have to wonder how a round that is .030 smaller diameter and .500 shorter can be fired, when a .35 Whelen in most new guns won't fire most the time when it is .010 too short and the correct diameter. Alot of the 7.62X39 factory barrels would have ftf because of hard primers. Then, why did the gas not blow out the extractor/ejector and the trigger guard. Finally with all the room for the brass to expand and the loss of gas, how the heck did the bullet make it out of the bore? If I did not see it with my own eyes, I would not believe it. Sorry but that is my opinion.

I'll take a shot at explaining this!

There is a number of things happening and happened allowing this. Not all even associated with problem at hand.
First and foremost. The 7.62x39 cartridge is just short enough to fit in the 243 chamber altho not properly. The handi's design of a standing extractor helped hold the case in position strongly enough to allow FP strike to ignite and fire the round. Now even tho the 39 s bullet is much bigger at initial ignition there is actually a big gap for those gasses to leak past and out the extractor traveling down thru the trigger guard. Just before sealing as that big bullet went down the little bore.

The 35 Whelen issue is a headspace issue from a little shoulder yes it has same standing extractor design but not an apples to apples comparison.

As for the FTF with surpluss 39 ammo, hands have a known ignition problem and a replacement spring from wolf is something ALL should add. It's weak factory springs.

Hope this explains more than confuses.

CW

[Spanky]

There's a lesson to be learned through all this.



Spanky

[cwlongshot]

There's a lesson to be learned through all this.



Spanky

Sure enough is Spanky!!!

Gotta watch inexperienced people closely.
Personally I like to only have the calibeevil shooting on the bench. That's just me shooting!

CW