Author Topic: Handi as a big game hunting rifle? (Read 1646 times)

tjf76 · « **on:** January 16, 2012, 03:00:01 AM »

Good morning!

I have been reading a lot of posts on other sites that Handi rifles may not be best choice for a hunting rifle but then there are no comments to why. I have a few handi in my collection and to tell the truth have never brought on on the hunt for elk. Has anyone here used a handi for Elk/moose clase game that could give me pros and cons?

thanks!

gendoc · « **Reply #1 on:** January 16, 2012, 03:12:53 AM »

Quote from: tjf76 on January 16, 2012, 03:00:01 AM

Good morning!

I have been reading a lot of posts on other sites that Handi rifles may not be best choice for a hunting rifle but then there are no comments to why.

thanks!

thats because they won't admit they can't flop'um with 1 shot..............

these handi's will do tha job quite well, when they are right.
its tha operator that might need a'lil tweek'n

buckeyehunter2 · « **Reply #2 on:** January 16, 2012, 03:23:41 AM »

My guess is that people have bought into the hype that if you aren't hunting with an encore you aren't really hunting. There is a locally produced hunting show that airs in my area that features blue color hunters using Handi rifles to take big game. They aren't necessarily flashy out of the box, but they consistently knock game off their feet when the shooter does their part. Just my two cents.

cwlongshot · « **Reply #3 on:** January 16, 2012, 03:58:45 AM »

I can tell you that I have used handis on and off since I could and almost exclusively for the past ten plus years........

I use them because they work and are all I need.

Would I take one on a expensive pay hunt out west for Elk or maybe Alaska for Moose say, not as a primary rifle no I would not.
But I can tell you it would be there as a second or back up!

CW

tom548 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 16, 2012, 04:08:15 AM »

If I lived were I could hunt them every season it would be no problem with a handy. But it cost me big bucks to do any of these ( moose elk,) hunts, so I like the idea of a second very fast shot with a bolt rifle just in case I get stupid and the fact that my 308 only weighs 5 pounds also has a lot to do with what I carry. And for all the one shot one kill guys I have only put a second bullet in an animal 3 times (all at the guides insistence) in 38 years of hunting. The Handi ( in correct cal.) would be just fine for any of the larger critters if you do your job.

Winter Hawk · « **Reply #5 on:** January 16, 2012, 04:25:04 AM »

You need to ask Sourdough how he feels about using the Handi for big game. IIRC he took a moose several years ago with one in .30-06 and wrote about it here.

-WH-

PHATINJUN · « **Reply #6 on:** January 16, 2012, 04:32:32 AM »

I would not think twice about using a H&R for a hunting rifle. I would be sure to use a heavy hitter though if I was huntin in the buckeye state with those "blue color hunters" running around

Kurt

yukondog · « **Reply #7 on:** January 16, 2012, 04:32:39 AM »

I would have no problem useing a handy on big game with the right cal. bullet combo. But I agree with tom if it were a pay hunt I would rather use a bolt or leaver action.

petemi · « **Reply #8 on:** January 16, 2012, 04:37:23 AM »

This link may be of some help.

I have to disagree with my friend CW. I would hunt anything in North America or just about anywhere with a Handi. If I felt I couldn't make a clean one shot kill, I wouldn't shoot. If I HAD to shoot, I'd pray to make it good. That's hunting...not just killing something.

Pete

http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,148194.msg1098612687.html#msg1098612687

hilbily · « **Reply #9 on:** January 16, 2012, 04:55:11 AM »

While I don' t have a Handi I do have an Encore. Somewhere I saw someone say that if a double barrel rifle is good enough to stop the worlds most dangerous animals then a single shot is more than enough to handle anything in this country has to offer. I've seen people drop game with the first shot and I know people that have had to reload their bolt gun because the first 3 or 4 were not enough. It is all in what you are comfortable with. If you second guess yourself before you pull the trigger then practice until you don't.

gendoc · « **Reply #10 on:** January 16, 2012, 05:06:15 AM »

Quote from: petemi on January 16, 2012, 04:37:23 AM

I have to disagree with my friend CW. I would hunt anything in North America or just about anywhere with a Handi. If I felt I couldn't make a clean one shot kill, I wouldn't shoot. If I HAD to shoot, I'd pray to make it good. That's hunting...not just killing something.

Pete

me too pete !! i ain't worried bout use'n my handi's, i know what they can do and what i can't

Mad Dog · « **Reply #11 on:** January 16, 2012, 05:06:49 AM »

Quote from: petemi on January 16, 2012, 04:37:23 AM

This link may be of some help.

I have to disagree with my friend CW. I would hunt anything in North America or just about anywhere with a Handi. If I felt I couldn't make a clean one shot kill, I wouldn't shoot. If I HAD to shoot, I'd pray to make it good. That's hunting...not just killing something.

Pete

http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,148194.msg1098612687.html#msg1098612687

thanks pete. I don't post here too often, but read here almost every day. You took the words right out of my mouth. To add to that, my son and I hunted Zimbabwe last summer for dangerous game. We both used singleshots to hunt hippo, tuskless elephant, and cape buffalo. Didn't post it here, because we used Ruger no. 1s, in 375 H&H mag. Can't get the calibers needed to hunt with a handi. That being said, I'm slowly moving things out of the gun cabinet, and single shots are taking over. I'm currently looking for a .22 rimfire sportster for next squirrel season.

Mad Dog

tjf76 · « **Reply #12 on:** January 16, 2012, 05:10:22 AM »

thanks for all the help! Next season going to take my Handi 06 with me in the field.

twoshooter · « **Reply #13 on:** January 16, 2012, 05:29:02 AM »

I think it is pure economics, if you are on a very expensive hunt, one of those "once in a lifetime" deals, you want insurance. The only hesitation I have would be something that had to be a very long range proposition,as I do not have any really long range calibers. That may be the only limiting factor to the rimmed group that I love. Within 200 yards I would not hesitate to hunt anything. My long range guns are Savage's, but I rarely get to use them. Some elk may be long range, but from what I see, moose and bear are usually pretty short. BUT, people hunt with muzzle loaders and bows for those animals every days.

quickdtoo · « **Reply #14 on:** January 16, 2012, 05:50:24 AM »

Like most everyone else here, I've only hunted deer and elk with Handis and other single shots for many years, that includes muzzleloaders, I've never used more than one shot on any any big game animal even when I did carry a repeater, so why pack all those extra rounds in the gun around all day, I do keep a few rounds for signal shots in my fanny pack tho!!

Tim

hilbily · « **Reply #15 on:** January 16, 2012, 06:02:56 AM »

Tim makes a great point, the muzzle loader. If you hunt with one already then there shouldn't be any question.

cwlongshot · « **Reply #16 on:** January 16, 2012, 06:22:08 AM »

Don't get me wrong fellas!!! As I said for the past ten plus years I have hunted with my handis almost exclusively!!!

BUT I also have large $$ invested in custom Mausers. This would be my first choice for a expensive "trip" hunt. It has zero to do with reload-ability. It does have some to do with long range accuracy. I feel more confident dropping the hammer on a critter 3-400 yards out with my 6.5/06 Or squeezing off a 250g grand Slam at a 100 yard distand Moose from One of my Timmney trigger, Shillen barrel, custom bedded stock, '98 Mauser's. I have them for just that purpose just as I have the handis for new England whitetails.

CW

twoshooter · « **Reply #17 on:** January 16, 2012, 06:59:35 AM »

It has been almost 10 years now since I used something other than a handi, but that leads to other problems...... My Remington 700 feels I have rejected her, she has psychological problems, I have to take her out for walks because she tells me I never take her anywhere. Even among my handis there are problems, they all hate the Hornet and say she is my favorite, so I tell them she is too little to be jealous of, when something BIG comes along, I take them. During deer season I have to be very careful, because if it is sunny the BC gets to go, but in the AM at dawn, I take the 500, but then I have to change at dusk and take the 444 because I might have a longer shot.
And then, from the back of the closet comes that voice...... the 280 laughing at me, telling me " you tell everyone you won't go rimless, but you wont let me go, you won't show me to your friends", SHUT UP you temperamental psychotic _ _ _ ch!! All the while the Savage just sets smug and superior, aloof, she knows she is not as pretty as the others, but ooooh!! what I can DO for you......... It makes one set up in the night suddenly in a cold sweat...........

gendoc · « **Reply #18 on:** January 16, 2012, 07:09:09 AM »

dam-2shootr, you shur you ain't from bama !!!! i thought we only hada prollums like that
down heah !!!

Sourdough · « **Reply #19 on:** January 16, 2012, 08:39:55 AM »

Every year I use my Handi in 30-06 to take Wolves, Moose, Caribou, Black Bear, and Coyotes. Some years I also use the .35 Whelen Handi. I still have not taken a Grizzly with a Handi, but I would not hesitate if I come across one while I had my Handi in my hands.

I can get off a second shot faster than my hunting partner with his bolt guns. That really disturbs him. He hates that ugly gun.

I routinely shoot Wolves and Coyotes out to 700 yards with my 30-06 and the 25-06. People laugh when they see those two. The Tactical scopes I use cost two to three times what the gun cost. but if you can't see it the Handi can't shoot it.

I live in Alaska, and am sort of a gun collector. I have over 80 guns in my vaults, Semi-autos, pumps, lever guns, bolt actions, an Encore and two Contender Carbines. But my go to guns are the 30-06, 25-06, and the .223 Handis. From May to October it's the 30-06 exclusively due to Grizzlies. November through April the 25-06 and the .223 go out with me. During Winter the 30-06 is a bit too big. We only have two real seasons. Winter when snow is on the ground. Summer when it's green, and the Bears are out.

thejanitor · « **Reply #20 on:** January 16, 2012, 08:45:20 AM »

When I go to MT for the deer hunts I go on I bring 2 Handis, but even when I did hunt with a bolt gun I took a second rifle in case I dropped one and didn't have time to re-check the scope or any other issue. I have bolt guns, but 98% of the time they stay home in the safe.
Most times your second shot is not the one that makes or breaks the hunt.... If you do not feel one shot is enough and you are paying a bunch of money for the hunt bring your bolt/lever/semi auto... but if you shoot your handis enough to know what they can do, make a statement and show them all what you can do with an affordable single shot.
I like making the group go - huh, H&R?
Not that this will sway your choice, but it is what I do.
thejanitor

moorepower · « **Reply #21 on:** January 16, 2012, 09:18:43 AM »

Mad Dog, what if the transfer bar would have broke After you got to Africa instead of 4 days before you left? I read where you had to get another gun to take because of that.

Mad Dog · « **Reply #22 on:** January 16, 2012, 11:54:38 AM »

My son borrowed my buddies .30-06 handi rifle. Took a special trip to cutoms, in Indy. He made 7 one shot kills, and still has the gun. My buddy[who was on the trip] sold him the gun for two bills. I BS'd him that if he goes back to Zim, for a leopard hunt, change the scope and use it! THAT would cost some serious indigestion among the troops!

Mad Dog

tallyho · « **Reply #23 on:** January 16, 2012, 02:55:54 PM »

Quote from: tjf76 on January 16, 2012, 03:00:01 AM

Good morning!

I have been reading a lot of posts on other sites that Handi rifles may not be best choice for a hunting rifle but then there are no comments to why. I have a few handi in my collection and to tell the truth have never brought on on the hunt for elk. Has anyone here used a handi for Elk/moose clase game that could give me pros and cons?

thanks!

Seems to me the answer to the original question about a Handi as a big game hunting rifle (and I'm going to be pedantic here) can be answered by this statement: "A suitable hunting rifle can be defined this way - one that accurately launches a bullet capable of cleanly taking the game being hunted." That is, in fact, the only answer for any rifle, or firearm... if it accurately launches a bullet capable of cleanly taking the game, any rifle is suitable. Period.

That being said, other factors can and do come into play, and most of them have to do with the person carrying the rifle, not the rifle itself.

If you, the hunter are not confident or proficient enough at placing a bullet accurately, or you have concerns about any aspect of the operation, mechanics or performance of the firearm, or you are not willing to put up with hunting buddy's making jokes about your arm of choice, or you don't want to risk your time and resources on an expensive once-in-a-lifetime or "trip hunt" because of any of the above factors, then "No, a _(blank)___ rifle is not a suitable rifle."

Also it may not be suitable in a particular location for regulatory reasons.

So, as far as I can see (pedantically and logically) it's not just the model and type of firearm that determines suitability, it is mostly human perception, human custom, human ability, and human rules.

Game has been hunted and killed with bare hands, teeth, rocks, sharp pointed sticks, snares, pits and cliffs. At various times, all were suitable for putting meat in bellies, though truth be told I don't consider that actually "hunting" in this day and age. Anyway, I'd be much more inclined to just grab a Handi from the safe (.308, or 357 max) than dig a pit or sharpen a stick!

tjf76 · « **Reply #24 on:** January 16, 2012, 03:22:17 PM »

Lots of good info here, I live and hunt in Western MT and for some reason have not thought about using my Handi during big game season. I will try it out this season. Thanks again for all the great info!

GWC · « **Reply #25 on:** January 16, 2012, 03:24:22 PM »

This generation's spray and pray mentality at work. That bull elk/moose neither knows or cares what rifle or the magazine capacity of said rifle that 180gr - 30 cal bullet (insert yuor choice of wt/cal )came from, just where it landed.

tacklebury · « **Reply #26 on:** January 16, 2012, 03:47:43 PM »

I'm faster with my 12 ga. than my bro with his 870. I fired off 3 in 3 paces of a deer at a run. He couldn't believe it. lol With the extractors the .45-70 is fastest, probably because of large rimmed case that's easy to grab. I can shoot about as fast as my bolts with that. I have no qualms about large game with a single shot.

mechanic · « **Reply #27 on:** January 16, 2012, 04:01:38 PM »

I don't usually worry about a second shot, because I worry about the first one.

Ben

tacklebury · « **Reply #28 on:** January 16, 2012, 04:12:32 PM »

Well, if you are in a thick woods and keep pulling the trigger as trees intersect your game, you will take more than one shot or go home empty.

Early deer season is the reason why I got a 12 ga. for 000 buck because normally, I only shoot rifles. Things are so thick here you have almost zero time to come on target as they run in the trees and undergrowth.

tjf76 · « **Reply #29 on:** January 16, 2012, 04:56:14 PM »

Have another big game rifle question, Looking for info on ths model # SB2- 78C. looking to purchase a 7mm08 saw this one but no other info or picture. Did a search and found out is a camo stock. Can someone give me more info, H&R website does not have it listed.