H+R Reliability

[black lab]

I just bought a SB2 30-06 as a first rifle for my son. I believe it's a good choice as a first gun to teach someone to not rely on a magazine full of shells. I have always liked the term "One Shot One Kill" I  have n't got the scope rings for it yet, so I haven't shot it. I've been reading about them quite a bit and have come across the odd person that said, "The action would come "unlocked" during recoil and would always break open resulting in very poor accuracy."  Sounds down right dangerous to me.  Is it just a case of not closing the action firmly. How easy is it to accidentally disengage or not close properly. Anyone care to comment
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

[thejanitor]

Hello welcome to GBO- I have had a few times where the action pops open but once you learn to snap the action shut pretty hard and fast every time and after you get used to the gun it usually stops IF it even ever happens to you.  The result for me was always a shot about 4 inches low at 100 yds when the action did pop open. If the latch release button is not popping up far enough to show you have it latched good you could get the pop open. If you read about smoking the latch to get propper latch engagement in the FAQ sticky it will explain a lot. Not all of our guns do it and the one that did was my own problem with bullets seating being too long and not being able to latch it well during load developement with Barnes bullets. I was just leaving them too long and having trouble closing the action I had pop opens and had to go home and re-seat bullets to be able to test shoot properly.
 Good luck, I think you picked a good starter gun for him, many of us here came back to the starter guns and just can't get enough of them  .    thejanitor

[black lab]

Thanks, that's kind of what I was thinking. Funny you mention the Barnes bullets. I have used Nosler BT in all my 30 cal rifles for years, but after reading about lead contamination in meat I'm switching over to the Barnes  175 gr. LRX bullet. Personal  preference but everyone one should have a look at the study. Lot's of guy's are stuck on lead, so be it, if that's what you want. If anyones interested I could find the link. PS. Did you seat your bullet past the OAL

[nanuk-O-dah-Nort]

take a cloth and wipe the shelf well with some cleaner

then do the same thing with the latch, working your finger/cloth/solvent under the latch edge while pressing the lever to move it around....

you'd be surprised at how much gunk gets in there

[Ganjiro]

Amen to nanuk, clean off the latching surfaces of both barrel and frame including any oil, let it be dry when you fire.  Even a thin coat of oil can prevent the action from fully closing especially when new.   

[mechanic]

You should have no problem with the latch.  How big is Jr?  That 06 has a hefty kick.  Shoot it yourself before you scare him to death!
 
Ben

[thejanitor]

I was new to the Barnes world and the shape was different than my standard jacketed bullets I had used before, but I seated to where the die was set with the previous bullet and if I recal the bullet was in the lands Not sure exactly what I had done since it was in 2005, but figured it out and no longer have the issue. Like I said it was not the gun- as it was my loading issues that caused it, I do not think I ever would have had the problem if I had measured OAL length based on the new bullet design. Or been shooting factory ammo.   Hope this helps.  Shows a bit of my ignorance but if it help somebody else then I don't mind.   thejanitor

[petemi]

I have a mechanic buddy that says "If its got boobs or a motor, sooner or later its gonna give ya trouble".  The same goes for guns.  I don't think any are immune.  I had a Rem Model 7 six mil that when you put the safety off to fire the trigger wouldn't budge.  Three or four seconds later is would fire.  Scary as hell.  I had a six point in the sights the first time it happened. I tore it down and couldn't find anything wrong with it.  Took it to a gunsmith and he found nothing.  Thinking it may have been the cold, I put it in the freezer overnight and it fired fine in the morning.  Two days later the same thing happened with another deer in the sights.  I got rid of it.  I have, and have had, a bunch of Handis over the past five or six years, and never had a serious problem.  The very few minor ones were simple at home fixes.

Pete

[cudatruck]

+1 to Mechanic! .30-06 is about the most recoil i can stand to practice with and I'm 6 foot and 230 lbs! if your son has been shooting 12 ga for a couple seasons then he may be fine with the 06. one of my daughters shoots only a 22 rifle. moving to centerfire she will start with a heavy barrel 357 move up to .223 and then to 7mm-08. I can't see her shooting the 06. she's only 85 lbs. good luck and have fun shooting with your son.

[craigster]

I'd never start a "kid" off with an '06. But, he's your son, not mine.

[brayh92]

you should be fine not all have problems just a few any the FAQ's are full of info for any fixes (or upgrades)   that you wanna do, i agree with the others though a 06 is a stout round for a young kid but i would at least recomend a lighter load and a limbsaver recoil pad at the least 

[cjrjck]

I use the Barnes TSX bullets in most my guns. They are normally long for the weight since copper weighs less than lead so you will want to check to see if they will chamber when determining the seating depth. I prefer lighter bullets since I have yet to recover one. Penetration is not a problem. In my .308 Handi that is my go-to gun this year, I have a mild load behind the 130 grain TTSX and get about 2900 fps. Very accurate, fun to shoot, and that bullet out of a .30-30 at 2450 fps has clobbered every deer and hog I have shot with it.

I think the Handi Rifle is one of the safest rifles made. I remove the round from the chamber quietly as I climb up and down my treestands. Never a concern about leaving a round in the chamber. Checking to see if the gun is loaded or if there might be an obstruction in the barrel is easy to do. If you attach a cartridge holder on the stock you will be surprised how fast you can reload. Not as fast as a bolt action but not that much slower. I shot two hogs that way and they did not hang around long.

[black lab]

Thanks for all the great replies. I guess I should of mentioned that he is now 25 years old now.    I first took him hunting when he was 10 years old and he shot a .308 pretty darn good. Later he got interested in Girls and Stuff. Now that he's getting to be a "Old Guy" he's starting to settle down a bit.    Lately he has started to take an interest in my old 300 WinMag. Parker Hale 1200C.  He can have that when he can pry it out of "My Cold Dead Hands" I think the Handi is going to be a great rifle. If it's anything like my Parker Hale He'll never have a problem. Good advice about cleaning it. When I first got it about a week ago I stripped and cleaned it. I started by removing all the metal turnings and bits and cleaned it out with Brake Clean and a air hose. I think Remington's QC needs so major attention. I know it's a cheap rifle, but still. Look at all the problems people are having with their Marlin levers.    Last week I caught the last 10 minutes of a documentary about Remington 700 bolt rifles that have had a defective trigger right from the start that will accidentally go off on it's own. Apparently the company figured it would be cheaper to settle the lawsuits that do a recall on all the rifles they built. Check it out for yourself. Easy to find. They may have fixed the current rifles but who knows. At any rate I think the Handi's are a pretty cool little rifle and I can see another in .223 heading my way. Unlike a lot of you guy's I find it hard to try and justify buying another rifle when I already have, I think 27 various firearms laying about that I rarely shoot. They are cool though.   PS Anyone check into lead contaimination in game meat ?

[Ranger99]

i would imagine lead contamination
is a junk-science non-issue seeing as
how we've been shooting game for how
many centuries now? with lead bullets
and many less nowdays with pure lead
bullets as in the past and more alloyed
and jacketed bullets being used now.


something for the whiney tree huggers to
use as an excuse for eliminating lead availablity
for shooters in an indirect way.

[mechanic]

My Dad survived a long time with lead in him from WWII with never an issue.  Many people have lead bullets left in them because they are too dangerous to remove. 
 
I've been eating game killed with lead shot and bullets since a small child.
 
I work in a field where I smelt lead and work on lead batteries on a daily basis, (great big industrial batteries that weigh several hundred to several thousand pounds), and I've never tested badly for lead contamination.
 
Ben

[OldSchoolRanger]

I just bought a SB2 30-06 as a first rifle for my son. ...  I've been reading about them quite a bit and have come across the odd person that said, "The action would come "unlocked" during recoil and would always break open resulting in very poor accuracy."  Sounds down right dangerous to me.  Is it just a case of not closing the action firmly. How easy is it to accidentally disengage or not close properly. Anyone care to comment

"odd person" is an apt description, the only time, I had an action pop open is when I've purchased barrels other than those fitted by the factory.  This is easily remedied, by either switching the barrel to another frame, or doing a little fitting work.  I've been lucky, since I have more than one receiver, and usually find one that fits properly.  I also second the advice to make sure the shelf and latch are clean and dry.  It also helps quoting quick to: "Read the FAQ's"  . 

BTW, I'm not one of those that have had problems with Remington made Handi's.  I recently sent back a CBA receiver to have an extra barrel added, and requested the factory trigger job while the receiver was there.  Boy, was I surprised!  The trigger breaks as cleanly or even better than some of my older Gardner H&R's and NEF's. 

H&R's whether built in Ilion or Gardner are only as good as the people who work there.  My understanding is that most of the H&R staff at Gardner, moved to similar jobs at the Ilion plant.  My contention is that you can get a lemon no matter how good the QC is.  Ask my brother in law, about his Mercedes, or a friend of mine that swears he will never buy another Honda as long as he lives.