Handi Rifles are very dependable rifles, usually have ample accuracy for hunting and most practical applications. I have one in .280 Rem with a bull barrel. A good friend had one in .308 Win, until his wife claimed it.

The rifle should serve you well and continue working well for whomever becomes it future caretaker.

 

Thanks Gator,

I don't need much encouragement I'm particularly impulsive. The rarity of this rifle over here is pulling me in!

I might call the gun shoppe purveyor and ask for him to reserve it

:bthumb:

 

Nef was the most recent manufacturer. H&R can be traced back to the 60s if not earlier . They had the 058 and 158 models , a shotgun rifle combo . One receiver two barrels . Thaen came the Ultra series , and limited run specials , Elk , buffalo classics . The old Shikari was a 45/70 with a cleaning rod under barrel , also available in 58 cal black powder with a ramrod / cleaning rod under barrel .
Some later hi pressure cartridges had difficulty in ejecting . These are spring loaded ejection not a mechanical cam operated extractor . Straight walled cases are good .
Ive got a 1970s set in 30/30 , 22 hornet , 357 , and 44 mag with a 20 gauge barrel as a set with one receiver . I also have a 223 ultra with a fancy Maple stock , , 260 elk comm , a 223,308 ultra , a223 handi rifle and a survivor package .

 

I took my time looking over a H&R 44mag many years back. I though it was a well proportioned gun and a great value. I did not buy it, but; that was not for any issue with the rifle. A couple of friends have got good service with SB2 versions in 243 with short youth barrels. Eventually one developed a problem. Not firing all the time. In general they seemed to have a good enough reputation. I still have 4 shotguns. I had one real bad lemon, that would have been five. And I got a Remington/Ilion NY with a problem. Then I got one I kept. My experience was 20% issues in the old days and 50% issues from Remington.

If you actually hunt, as opposed to doing a ton of club shooting, these guns really work. I will take my 4 shotguns to the grave.

On the down side, these are not guns I would ever pay a collector premium for. These were low cost, simple guns. Stocks not much to look at. These were a good deal back in the day. I would think a waste of money to pay up big time.

I saw first hand an H&R's that did not eject and the other I mentioned that did not fire all the time. Having said that, if they were still in production in Gardner Mass, I am sure I would still be a buyer. My two problems were more unusual. I wont go off on a tangent about those.

 

Ive had quite a few in a bunch of calibers and still have several.
Check to see if it is a pre-transfer bar model, those were the most trouble free/reliable and have a double arm mainspring.
My old Shikari 44 Mag was a solid, reliable, easy to live with sgl shot and I regretted selling it within two weeks. (easy model to spot, it has a cleaning rod beneath the barrel). I liked it best with cast bullets at about 44Spl loads, maybe 44Spl '+P' level but it also handled .440 round balls run through a .430 sizer die as well as full 44Mag loads.
The later t-bar models had some ignition issues off and on. Buying replacement 'lifter and striker' parts does not guarantee you get parts that fix it (ie, I 'could' sell my old bad one on e-bay easy and it would still be bad). I know how to fix it, if you buy it and have issues pm me.

 

I have one in .22lr that has been great for dispatching pests. I haven't seen one in 44 mag or 357 mag in years....if I do I would likely snap it up. Most of the ones I see and that is rarely is a shotgun model.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

 

I don't have an HR, but .44Mag is one of my all-time favorite rifle chamberings (Marlin 336-44, Ruger 77/44, Rossi M92, Rem788).
I'd say, go for it.

 

Fwiw, I have an uncatalogued model, a 357 Mag Classic Carbine. It almost takes 360DW cases, they only need about .010 trim to fully fill the chamber. With the various powders available it can easily reach into the 357 Maximum cartridge performance (which is an under-rated one by many).

 

Thanks for all the replies,

I like the idea of pistol caliber carbines and was after a Ruger 77 in .357 but they aint cheap and I was slightly put off by tales that apparently the 77 needs a bit of gunsmithing to make them really shoot well.

I will go to the shop in the next day of two and have a closer examination, to see if it is indeed and older model. if it does turn out to be an older model with the transfer bar arrangement I will probably buy it and devalue it by putting a suppressor on the sharp end.

Shame we cant have pistols and you cant have sound moderators, as we call them in the UK.

 

To be clear, the Older Models are the Non T-Bar, and imo the more desirable.
It is easy to tell, when cocking it just watch in front of the hammer, take to full cock and hold the hammer while pulling the trigger. On trigger pull the 'lifter-striker' assembly activates and the striker rises into position behind the firing pin nub.
Btw, having the T-bar isnt a deal breaker if you otherwise like the gun, and for me would be a point of inquiry regarding return or repair 'if it doesnt work right' as well as a point of negotiation.
The striker part of that assembly is often the culprit, not being quite tall enough and/or radiused too much on the F-pin side so it squirts out like a watermelon seed when the hammer hits thus not imparting the full blow to the F-pin.

 

My HandiRifle .357 is at the Gunsmiths becoming a .357 Max, getting shortened to 16.5 inches and threaded, it should still handle .38 Spec/357Mag just fine.

 

Mine is currently a 357 max and has been since Clymer first made the reamer available for rifles . Simple and great for whitetail. My 44 is now a 444 , i can shoot either but prefer the 444 downloaded if needed .

 

I like filling the chamber proper with the correct brass and 'avoid the jump' to the throat/lead; same considerations as with 22 Shorts in a LR except their bullet, with the rebated heel, are are pretty much case dia anyway, not so with an inside-lubricated typical cast lead bullet.
If all you shoot are jacketed bullets they can take a lot more abuse and will still straighten out once they get downbore a ways.
That 357 Max case/cartridge is a sexy little thing, and easy to handle. I stoked up some of my 360DW trimmed cases with the low-end Max data load and seated the jacketed bullet out for the same Max oal (so, even though in the shorter case the powder-room was the same and pressures would be similar, though likely less with less case mouth tension) and they performed excellently. I got the sense of what the Max can do, but for my world it is more than I need. It is really sweet with 38Spl or +P equiv. loads in the chamber filling 357DW cases.
Nice sized holes in paper
Nice smack down on steel
Nice squirrel to varmint load (think .36cal. muzzle loader size holes in critters).
A 44Mag would be similar, mine was! RB through 44S&W equv., 44Spl equiv, to Express 44Mag (lighter bullet), to heavy bullet full house 44Mag, it did it all well. I did use the RB loading for small game for a couple of season, it was just as effective as a 44 RB with a moderate load in any 44-45 muzzle loader Ive ever had and waayyy quicker to reload.

 

A 44Mag would be similar, mine was! RB through 44S&W equv., 44Spl equiv, to Express 44Mag (lighter bullet), to heavy bullet full house 44Mag, it did it all well. I did use the RB loading for small game for a couple of season, it was just as effective as a 44 RB with a moderate load in any 44-45 muzzle loader Ive ever had and waayyy quicker to reload.

Have two .44's, one with sights and one without, without will get shortened and threaded eventually.:bthumb:

 

Grab it and don't look back.

 

i have a older 30-30 with ejector that came with a badly beat up wood stocks that i replaced with syn stocks and put a 2.5x used leupold scope on it. over the years it has been a bad weather hunter-loaner-trainer with no problems after haveing hundreds of my reload thru it. i paid 90.00 for it.

 

I have a 22 magnum that is unbelievably accurate with Winchester 40 grain. I also have a 357 magnum that has been shortened to 16.5" and threaded. I use it with the suppressor and subsonic 38 spl handloads but it also does well with 357 loads.
Son still has the 30-30 he got at 10 years old. Takes pointy bullets.
I am on the fence about one that came up here in 22 Hornet. I don't need it and don't really have a use for it but I love the H&R rifles. Don't need another caliber to stock ammo for especially as scarce as it is.
By the way the 44 mag barrel will interchange with the 12 gauge barrel. My 357 interchanges with my 20 gauge. My 20 is shortened to 18.5" and has screw in chokes.

 

My first H&R was a Topper in .22 Hornet, first rifle I reloaded for, etc. etc., I'd love to have it back.

 

Not all, few in fact, are so lucky as to get real, proper interchange of barrels and lock-up. These were not made for drop-in so what does is by chance. If you get enough barrels and actions you may find some do, ime, most dont (or better, wont when you most want them to )
Having had a few swap barrel sets Im down to only one, a 22Mag Ultra Varmint and a 22LR Sportster barrel I fit to the action, in syn stocks. The swap barrel notion isnt as handy as I thought, seems Ive always got the wrong barrel on for what I want to do (lol). Im better off with dedicated set ups.
Btw, Ive had three 22Hornets, one was an H&R. The ammo was expensive Before this last 'shortage', now everything here is unobtainium.... The Hornet is best as a handloader cartridge, Ive done over 3K rounds, but casting those little pills is a pain! It is a futzy cartridge to reload 'right'; tender it is.
Too bad they never made the H&R in a 32 H&R Magnum (afaik), it would have taken 32 S&W Short and Longs as well and been a far better small game and varmint cartridge than the 22LR, more like several of the Brit Rook & Rabbit cartridges.
I found the 357Mag to be that 'next best thing' for me. Last ammo shortage of primarily 22LR it was my go-to reloadable shooter (by the time that shortage hit I had just sold my last 22 Hornet; such timing!).

 

I've a 17hm2, 22lr, 17hmr and 22mag. All have the UltraVarmint lam stock sets and threaded for a can. Shoot quite well. No complaints.

 

I had a .223 NEF Hand-Rifle that had the longest chamber throat of any rifle I ever owned. I couldn't sit a .22 bullet out far enough in the case neck to get anywhere near the lands. Also, the trigger was heavy. Sold it. I'd consider one in a pistol caliber like Gerald's though. I have been looking for a .357 lever gun for . . . about a year. Wrong time to be searching, if you know what I mean.

 

My long 357 Mag/short 360DW chamber worked well enough in shooting paper and steel at my 50yd range with 38Spl and 357Mag but I just like filling up a chamber with brass where brass is supposed to be; same thing as using 22LR rather than Shorts in a LR chamber. One thing for sure is the group looks way more impressive with 357 size holes clustering than 22's!
On the Greybeard H&R forum quite a number of folks had done the 357Max, the forum actually had its own member reamer with a wonderful cast bullet friendly throat. I dont remember anyone saying they got less accuracy after using it, a few said no change (from their good shooting barrel) but most saying an improvement.
Not all reamers are the same! Some are fine for jacketed but not so good for cast. We have found that a cast bullet friendly profile also is jacketed friendly. At the cost of jacketed bullets and/or factory loaded ammo this can be significant. I can reload .359 cast bullets in the various '38' cal. cases for less than buying 22LR.

 

Copied from fourbore-post #5

If you actually hunt, as opposed to doing a ton of club shooting, these guns really work. I will take my 4 shotguns to the grave.

Cant do four here-limited to two/grave??

 

Had Stubby out to the range yesterday, left with a good 50 yard zero using factory 180's which shot to the same point of aim as a 170 Sierra JHC IMR 4227 load from my pistol days. Blazer Brass .357 Mag. 158 JHP's shoot to the same POA at 50 yards as well. Three shot 1/2 to 3/4 inch clusters off a shaky rest using a 4x scope, rest and scope will change next trip out. 158gr SWC Remington factory ammo was printing 2" groups at 25yard so no time was wasted on them at 50 yards, I'll be trying some hard cast SWC's and Jacketed 38's at some point.

Rickity bag set up with a different rifle in it....

That's what happens when you pack for the range in a hurry...