Buffalo shooting loose

[doeroller]

I live and hunt in Mississippi and am fortunate to be able to take advantage of the generous deer bag limits as well as being able to use a 45-70 in primitive weapons season. My Buff has so impressed me that I hunted all season with it and limited out with it. I load 46gr of IMR 4198 and a 300 gr. Hornady HP. This load has the same point of impact that Hornady Leverevelutions have. My concerns are this. Several of my friends guns after 200-300 shots have gotten loose and accuracy has fallen way off. This has been noticed only with shooting Leverevelution and higher pressure loads. I plan on shooting my gun several hundred rounds a year because it is so fun to shoot. I would hate to think the gun would need to go in for "sevice" every few hundred rounds. Is this customary?

[Fred M]

Doeroller.
It is quite common for the Handi to shoot loose. I did not think that the 45-70 produced eneugh back thrust even with factory ammo.

Shim stock or Devcon Steel putty will tighten the gap up. See the FAQ. I have a custom 257R Handi that I had to tighten up three times already and I am not shooting hot loads.

As soon as I get back on my knees again, I will do a hard weld build up on the hinge seat and fit the barrel I hope for the last time. The rifle is so nice and handles so well, besides being super accurate, I hate to sell it.

But me too, I am getting tired of the rifle shooting loose. Just put a bid on a Ruger #1 in 257R. That will be the end of shooting loose. I hope I get that #1.

[quickdtoo]

Welcome to GBO, doeroller! I would contact H&R CS at their toll free number 866-776-9292 and ask them to fix it, and have them cover return shipping while you're at it. Contrary to what Fred says, it's not common that they shoot loose, some do, but they are the exception, most likely the underlug is defective on rifle, it's the first 45-70 that I've read of shooting loose here, it could also be a problem with the latch engagement, either way, H&R should fix it, and they will, their CS department is second to none.  If Fred lived in the US, he could take advantage of H&R's CS, but being in Canada, he has to use other options.

Tim

[MSP Ret]

Doeroller, after rereading your post and it's title am I correct in my opinion that your H&R is fine, it shoots great and you really like it BUT you are concerned it MIGHT shoot loose because a couple of guys SAID thier H&R's became loose after shooting 200-300 rounds?

I have more than a few and none have exhinited that phenomenon, but then again I prefer to see what happens to my guns  instead of relying on your 2 friends opinions and/or observations.

As Quick said, if it happens, and I doubt it will, send it back the H&R and they will fix it for free...
and plesae tell your buddies the same thing, if they still have those "loose" guns........ 

[Smokin Joe]

Actually, with that load, it should probably last about 60 years.

[Snowshoe]

They state right in the warranty card that comes with the rifle that if you shoot any reloades, warranty is void.

[doeroller]

I guess I am lucky that my gun has not shot loose yet, but I have witnessed 2 handi guns come open with heavy factory loads. A friend of mine has a Buff that he added a brake to, is so lose that it rattles. He has shot only the Hornady ammo in it. We shoot to practice at steel plates at 100-300 yards when not hunting deer. Just trying to get a maintenance plan together for my gun because it is my favorite centerfire rifle. These guns are getting hard to find in MS and the price has gone up drastically. Supply and demand I guess.

[quickdtoo]

They state right in the warranty card that comes with the rifle that if you shoot any reloades, warranty is void.

Warranty card?? All of the warranty info I've got is on the back of the owner's manual, and there's no mention of shooting handloads there. On the front page there's a statement that H&R assumes no liability for the use of ammunition that is faulty, handloaded, reloaded or not made SAAAMI/ANSI standards. This booklet was made in 2004, they could have changed since tho, but I'm pretty sure it came with my last

Tim

[PartsMan]

Just an idea of mine.
Has anyone thought about reaming out the underlug and puting a hardened bushing on hing pin.
This would fix a loos gun and maybe spread out the "load" on soft underlug.

[Mac11700]

Well...I can say that I have owned a fair share of Handi's in my lifetime...and quite honestly...none of them ever shot loose...and this is including many of the much older Handi's as well...Like Quickdtoo has already stated...If your's or your friends are this loose...Call NEF and make arrangements to send them back for repair..

Mac

[quickdtoo]

As Mac said, I haven't had any shoot loose, and I have lots of em for it to happen on, I've got  several hundred rounds thru my 45-120, with many hotter loads than the Leverevolution ammo, and even more rounds thru one of my .45-70 Handis, loads that are into Ruger data depending on who's data you look at! I also have about 250 rounds thru .338-06 A-Square Ultra and who knows how many rounds it saw before I got it as a .25-06!! I believe one contributing factor is no lube on the underlug pivot, just the opening and closing of the action will wear on the soft underlug, a little lubrication will go a long ways to preserving a tight action.

The problem is the underlug isn't solid, it's hollow. I'm working on a solution right now, but it's still in the theory stage. So far, I've removed the forward roll pin and drilled the hole out to .132" and put a .133" solid steel pin in it. Haven't decided what to do next for sure, it may get welded solid or just epoxy bedded with JB Stik and shimmed, dunno yet. I may also attempt to heat treat at least the end of the underlug then fit a piece of tool steel against the pin then fit a barrel. This is on the .300WSM donor barrel, so it's not a project for everyone, but if it works on it, it will work on any Handi!!!

Tim