Why I like these handi rifles

[lendar]

I have handi rifles in a bunch of different cal's and different barrels.  I could never afford this many different guns.  That's the part I enjoy, is being able to tinker with the guns and reload for them.  I understand they are not target rifles but with work and working with your reloads you can sure make them shoot better than out of the box.  Anyway about 2 weeks ago I went to work on getting my 22-250 to shoot using WC-844.  It was not going well.  Most loads were stringing vertically, maybe 3 inches at 50 yds.  I have found this is a problem I have seen before in handi rifles.  I tried all the normal things to fix it o ring, taking the forearm off.  Nothing seemed to help.  Today I found out what would fix it.  To this point I was full length resizing the brass.  I tried 5 loaded with lee collet dies and the vertical string went away.  It shot a one inch, nice round group, at 50 yds.  I rechecked the full length sized ones again and they did the 3 inch vertical string again.  The only thing I can think of is that pushing the shoulder back when you full length resize has something to do with it.  But if you are having trouble with vertical strings and have tried everything else, try this in your handi. 

[Deerhunter#1]

Intresting. I have never been able to just neck size for my handies. I always needed to bump back the shoulder to have even a fired from the gun piece of brass rechamber and lock up. I have 5 different calibers. I have been using LEE dies what are you using maybee some of the others actually bump it back enough to have it work. 

[gendoc]

i have encoutered that with my handi swift (rc) and a ss .223
main reason i like these rifles is......
most fellers jus roll there eyes when they see my cheap'ole handi's
but they kinda get glass-eyed when they havta hand over there 2nd rate shooter
to me.......................
we don't shoot for brag'n rights down here... no !!!
its pinks or they don't come out tha vault

[twoshooter]

I also like handis because they are inexpensive, and yes, I would not have so many to fool with if they were more expensive guns. There is a lot more to it though. I also love single shots, there is some perverse streak in me that objects strenuously to endless do-overs, to 3rd 4th and 5th chances. There is also that strain that originally drew me toward reloading and wildcat cartridges, that part of YOU that goes into the performance of that weapon. My deer taken with my own loads, and bullets cast by myself, mean a great deal more than a pure factory setup ever could .
I also am here largely for the cartridges they chamber in. I love the rimmed cartridges, and the modifications you can work with them. And last but not least, I like the people. The guys here all seem to have that can do attitude, not that I can afford the technological marvels that will allow any nimrod to take an elk at 800 yards, but that I can take something bought on FAITH for $125 that I can make into something I am proud of. That is not the feeling you get at the "fine gun room" , nor the Dallas Safari Club functions, or even most LGS'. You find it all over here. The guys aren't stuffy about it either, they want you to do just as well as they do. To paraphrase, Guns dont sell people, people do.

[Flashole]

A big + 1 twoshooter.  There is just some thing so appealing to me using a single shot firearm.  I have several bolt and lever actions rifles.  If a chance comes up for a really big hunt one of those may be my first choice.  My next purchase will be a handi.  I have just barely scratched the surface on this handi hobby.  The great exchange of information makes this spot a daily must read for me.
 
    The other day I posted my second range report on my second handi.  What I did not mention,  was the guy setting closest to me at the range  had some incredible looking gun. 26 inch or longer spiral fluted stainless steal beauty. Topped with a Zeiss.   This was the very first time out for me and this 7-08 and I'm not sure what this fellow was doing to this gun but my $200.00 special topped with the cheapest Leupold shot groups less than half the size of my co-shooter.  I did not point this out to the other guy.  I just went away feeling a little better about the fact that this gun shot very well for it's  maiden trip out.
 
 
=FLASH=

[Sourdough]

They are almost indistructiable.  I've rolled three wheelers with a Handi strapped on the back.  No damage to the gun other than a bunch of scratches.  I've dropped one in a river, fished it out three days later, and I'm still shooting that one. 

My 30-06 and 25-06 will both shoot out to 700 yards well enough to hit a Wolf or Coyote.  I've even hit a little fox one evening at over 600 yards with the 30-06.  Missed a few too.

[44 Man]

Yep, and the love of Handi's is easy to spread also.  My buddy is buying one for his wife in .243 after handling my 30-30 and 7-08.  (He had a real grin with the .45 lc!)  I'm sure he'll have one of those for himself soon.  44 Man

[Deerhunter#1]

People frown on them as they say that you have to work on them to get them to shoot. To me that is part of the allure to them. Though most of the ones I own have shot well enough out of the box it is enjoyable to mpurchase a well priced gun and be able to make it shoot as well if not better then some of the high priced pieces of junk that you cant get to shoot well. 

[gcrank1]

I would suggest backing off that full length die, if you have it set down on the shell holder, and fine tune it to resize just to barely fit the chamber. I, too, like the neck size dies (I have Lee's) very much, but comes a time that you NEED to get that brass skwoze down a tad more, and  if you do the work now, then lock the ring in, you will be all set.

[trapperman83]

I will add one to the indistructable part.  I left my 4wheeler one morning to check traps and I forgot my 22 pistol but I had my h&r on my shoulder to shoot coyotes along the way, I got to my first set and low and behold I had a nice 30lb bobcat that was less than happy to see me ( This is when I realized I left my .22 at the wheeler), with no other clubs or sticks around I grabed my h&r by the barrel and thumped the cat over the head. It was lights out for him. Although I dont recommend this it will work in a pinch.

[lendar]

gcrank1, I have always had a problem with backing off the full length size die a bit.  If it would be brass fired out of the same gun that would work fine, but brass out of several different guns that seems to be a problem.  I can turn the die down to get the first one to fit the chamber but the next one, that may have been fired in a bigger chamber, would need to be sized down more to make it fit.  You would have to do each, one at a time and that would be a pain.  I never understood how people did a partial resize with brass fired from several different chambers.  It sure is a lot more simpler to just neck size brass from the original chamber.  If you see it different or have a better idea please let me know.  I have been reloading for almost 50 years and I am sure still learning.   

[gcrank1]

There is a bit of a compromise in getting the fit sometimes, and brass fired in an oversize chamber may need a bit more, due to the memory springback. Still, for me, when sizing scrounged brass from several unknown sources, I FL resize all and start from scratch fire-forming in the intended gun. I do tend to keep brass segregated per rifle too. This is what I do:
I set the FL resize die down to the raised shellholder, just a comfortable snug on top and finger tighten the lockring and set the screw, then I back it off (usually) 1 turn.
Size a case that doesnt fit into my chamber very well and test the fit, usually it still wont go, so I turn the die down about 1/6 turn, and repeat until it fits with no resistance (BTW, make sure the 'trim to' length is OK before this, an overly long case can really mess you up).
Once I find the die setting that 'seems to work' I do several more, but some fine tuning is sometimes needed; then, in my reloading book for that rifle and cartridge, I make note of it.
This way, if you have several rifles with the same cartridge, you can get quick repeatability when needed, and if one really needs the FL resize you are all set to run the die all the way down to the lockring.
I have found, too, that shellholders from different companies are not dimensioned all the same. Some are a little 'thinner' on the top than others and give you a few more thou. sizing, others a little thicker. On one 'very closely chambered' rifle I had to chuck the SH in the lathe and grind the contact surface about .007 thinner to get the FL resizing it required. Also, if some brass is grossly oversize, or you are reforming from another cal., say 30-06 to 25-06, you may get enough press spring to actually not have contact to the SH, you have to get down eye level at that contact point to see it happen on hard to resize cases.