Another Handi-holic is born

[dudel]

My name is Don, and I've got a problem.


I have a T/C with a number of barrels.  Recently got a T/C barrel in 22 Hornet.  Starting to have fun with the round.  Looking for another platform for the round, and everything out there seemed fairly expensive.  Till I came upon the H&R in CTD.....


For the price of another T/C, I could get 2 or 3 Handis.  The quest was on.


My first, in November was a synthetic in 22 Hornet.  Cost was about $300, but I was happy to have it.  The plan was to have it threaded so I could use the .223 suppressor.  Well, if I was going to do that, then I might as well get a Handi barrel in .223 and have it threaded as well.   After Christmas, the LGS had a sale on Handis at cost.  Lines were long, but I knew what I wanted, and left with a wood stock Handi in .223 for $220 out the door.  One happy camper.


In January, I was browsing a rack of Handis in another store.  Finding them out in the open, I thought they might be used.  I found one in 357 Mag for $219.  Wow, great.  It might have been used, but it looked BRAND NEW.  I took it to the desk and they rang me up.  As I was heading out, they asked me to wait, they were getting the box.  Turns out, this Handi was brand new.  Box matched the serial on the Handi, and the registration, lock, and hammer extender were all present.  One more win.


I ended up putting some cheap Tasco scopes on them with Weaver Quad-lock rings from Walmart.  Attached are the results of the first shots from the 357Mag.  4 shots touching at 40 yards, 1 flier cause I got too excited on the 5th!   I also like quiet rounds (hence the suppressor).  I loaded up some 22 Hornet with a CCI small pistol primer and a Beeman pellet pushed into the case mouth.  The results are below.  Not too shabby.   I think the rifles are capable of much more.  Can't wait to start load development on the .223 with some Lee Bator cast GC boolits.  A few grains of Unique should be enough.


I'd like to take the 357 Mag to a Max (I have 357 Max in the T/C, and really enjoy it).  I'd also like to see what are my options for .30 carbine in a Handi (I also have that in T/C).  Finally, I'd like to explore 45 GAP in a Handi.  I really like the 45 GAP in my Glocks.


So far though, the Handis (all three) have exceeded expectations.   It's a really well kept secret.


Thanks and thanks for the FAQ,


Don

[tacklebury]

Sounds like your having fun and that's most important.  As a starting point for you I'm getting 1340 fps from 4.2 gr unique and a 45 gr hp bullet.  I'm on my phone right now, but have results from 4 to 5 gr that I'll post later. 

[wolverine_1]

Yep, you are hooked.  Got my first Handi as a .22 Hornet.  Next was a .223 heavy barrel.  Then I got a .357 and a 20 ga barrel for the .22 Hornet.  Next came a heavy .308 barrel and a 12 ga barrel for the .223. I also got a couple of Weatherby Sub minute of angle bolts in .223 and .308.  Found that the Handi's got just as good groups, so sold the Weatherbys.  Then I managed to trade for a Handi in 7mm-08 with an extra .30-30 barrel (turned out the 20 ga barrel fit it also).  Realy love the 7mm-08. Has almost identical balistics to the 7X57 and the .30-30 are cheap to shoot.  Have lots of fun. gene

[RangeRat]

Hmmm....  The .22 hornet must be addicting. my first handi was a .22 hornet as well with matching 20 ga.  I have seen articles about wax projectiles and primers but never thought about a pellet pushed by a primer. Now where is that pesky wabbit?

[petemi]

Geeze...you guys whacked Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy with one shot.........All this time I thought Tim created Handiholics

Pete

[gcrank1]

Something you might want to do accuracy tests for is to breech-seat the pellet into the rifling to avoid the case mouth to origin of rifling jump. You can determine a length for the breech-seater by using a long loaded bullet to find out just where the rifling starts.
Load one up, drop the primered case in behind and good to go. Its a little more futzy, but back when I shot NRA Bullseye and did similar with a .22 target pistol and muzzle loaded pellets powered by .22blanks I had one ragged hole iffn I did my part.

[hoytcanon]

Gonna have to try seating a primer driven pellet... our grouse loads outta the K-Hornets are 3 gr TB with 45 gr Hornet SP's... but for 35+ years we used Sheridan C9 .20 cal pneumatic rifles and Benji HB20 pistols for all of our grouse and hare hunting... we didn't loose any... one little 14.3 grain pill through the eyeball... over the years several hundred found it to be sufficient. Beeman, Crosman, potato, potatoe!

[hoytcanon]

I couldn't wait, so I went down to the shop and tried  seating 6 or 7 different .22 pellets into Hornet cases... the best of the lot were 17.13 grain Beeman Silver Arrow's... they have a slighly oversized skirt and a long collar and seated perfectly and snugly into the Hornet neck... although they align better when fully inserted... the longer collar allows for adjusting the seating depth but I am going to try fully inserted, with the tip flush first. I will test and report on performance and accuracy tomorrow.
 

[tacklebury]

Well, here's the pics of the groups from 4.1 to 5.0 gr. unique I had developed.  These were with a 45 gr. Winchester HP.  Also including a link below to the Castpics Article on loading the .223 with Cast. 
 

 
http://www.castpics.net/subsite2/ByCaliber/Cast%20in%20the%20.223.pdf
http://www.castpics.net/subsite2/ByCaliber/Cast%20in%20the%20.223,%20Part%20II.pdf
http://www.castpics.net/subsite2/ByCaliber/Cast%20in%20the%20.223,%20Part%20III.pdf