I have read a lot of posts and decided to join and post my own. I'm mostly a Mauser GEW-98 shooter, but I do love and own several single-shots and will one day own a very nice Ruger #1 with a Mannlicher styled stock.
I've taken to carrying H&R Handi-Rifles with me, and they are so dirt cheap that I just bought a second one (the free scope sucks, but it is a nice little rifle in RealTree furniture.)
So I have one set up with more scope than rifle that I LOVE to shoot varmints with. It also works great using armor-piercing steel FMJ rounds loaded well under SAAMI max. pressures. We shoot worn-out disks from the cultivator, which are plentiful used and cheap to buy new from the Chinese just for targets, not for cultivating:
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/624722512/farm_disc_harrow_disc_blades.htmlI reload 22-250 in new WIN brass, and looked at WIN L/R primers to find that they were bulging on some 52gn Speer HPBT loads over 34 gn of H380.
This isn't a hot load, so I finally figured out that my breech was opening on most every shot! I stopped shooting it upon learning that ugly truth.
I have several other 22-250s (I'm a rifle nut) and I started shooting the Mauser and the rounds looked good, no pressure issues, etc.
I took the H&R to my gunsmith, and he darkened the breech with a black Sharpie marker, closed and opened the gun, stating "... it hasn't ever fully closed."
So 500 rounds+ later I sent it back (under warranty to H&R... the address reeked of Remington service) and now I'm wondering what to do with the exact clone I bought just last week.
I tried to find some history of this by searching on "H&R Handi-Rifle problems" and came up short. Could be I don't speak "Search Engine."
Anyway, I'm happy to be here and would love to stay and hear any varminting stories, as well as any other Handi-Rifle problems.
Thanks,
Tom