old old handi H&R s

[biggbore]

I seem to remember some years ago I owned an h&r 058 or 158 that had a .357 max, 30-30 win, and a 12ga barrel with it. I also owned the same gun in 44 mag. both guns had color case hardened receivers the same as my topper shot gun. all shot very well.  Now when i call NEF they say that the color case hardened receiver is to weak to handle anything but a shot gun barrel. does this mean that the old stuff was not safe?

[stimpylu32]

No what they are telling you is that since the new company was formed they will only fit barrels to the newer frames .

Yes some of the older frames were case hard color and had rifle barrels that worked on lower pressures like the 357 , 30/30 and 44 mags as well as the shotgun ga's .

The new H&R has two frames , one for the low pressure shotgun and ML barrels and one for the high pressure rifle cal's.

[Cookiemann]

I guess they may have saved some money by downgrading the receivers used for shotguns.  I just seems to make more sense, TO ME,  to just use the stronger receiver for everything and then only have ONE.
Maybe that limited logic is why I still have a job where my name is printed on my shirt. LOL  Just don't know.
The folks at Walker Arms in Selma, AL told me that the pre-Marlin models used the same receiver for both rifle and shotguns.  Walker is the company that CS referred my to for questions on my 1983 Model 99.

[myarmor]

Still one of the great questions-How much Max pressure are the color hardened receivers rated at?
I still haven't found an answer to this. Heard of guys shooting 30-06's off them :eek: I don't believe that to be smart, but for lower pressure cartridges like the 357, I believe it's safe. Still a risk though, and why do it if you have a perfectly good SB-2?
http://www.leverguns.com/articles/saami_pressures.htm

[biggbore]

Thanks for all the input,  spoke w/ h&r1871 today and they said there is a big diffrance in the old guns and what they make now that is why the new sb2 can deal very well with the 30-06. they also stated that the new handi can take any barrel they have that makes me feel good. but I never got out of them what kind of rear forcing presure any of the guns could take. we all know with a chamber wall as thick as a handi that the barrel can take the heat with no problem. food for thought. could a new 45-70 handi  be changed to 458 win mag with out getting hurt???

[Winter Hawk]

The Handi Rifle might not be hurt, but the shooter sure would!   :-D

-WH-

[gschwertley]

I think there is another issue going on here also, and that is the same old story with product liability.  I remember the old H&R combos utilizing the same ductile iron frames between 12 gauge and .30-30.  Since many rifle chamberings work at typically higher pressures than shotgun, they are taking the more than safe course by limiting fitment of all rifle barrels to steel frames.