1st post, question about trigger

[notnodak]

I'll do some more digging but can someone tell me if you can eliminate the transfer bar system so I can reduce the over travel? My sone has a youth 243 Handi and I used to have a 308 Survivor. I plan on gaetting a 223 or 243 HB Handi next week. We already had the Factory do there trigger job and it helps but I do not like overtravel and before I hear about legalities I'm convinced the best safty is the hammer not being cocked. If you have an accident you would need to knock the scope off the rifle to slam the hamer into the cartridge.

Which rifle has a better rep for consistancy and accuracy, 223 HB or 243HB. Also what bullet weights work best with these two choices?

[LaOtto222]

Look in the FAQ for low scope mounting. There is a section on replacing the hammer with a gold tone one from a bygone era. You can do a transfer bar appendectomy when you replace the factory hammer. I do not know if you can eliminate the over travel. The trigger guard is plastic so putting a screw there would not work. It might if you drill and tap the trigger to go against the trigger guard, but I would think that would be a little flimsy too. You might be able to rig up some thing internally, but then you would have to tune, put together, take apart and re-tune until you get it right. It has been discussed here before, there is just not a good way of eliminating over travel. I just live with it. The trigger crispness is more important to me. Elimination of over travel is nice, but I just do not think it is easily possible on a Handi.

I think you can get any Handi to shoot well, but my personal opinion is the 223 HB would be easier to get to shoot straight if you have any trouble at all. You may find you can get a 243 and it will shoot great right out of the box. You just do not know until you try. If you have trouble read the FAQ section on making the Handi accurate. There is loads of information there.

As far as bullet choices - In the 243 I think most have had good luck with the 70 - 90 grain stuff, but you hear about some that like 100 grain bullets too. In the 223 Some like light bullets and some like heavy bullets. The new 223's have a 1-9" twist while the older ones are a 1-12" twist. In the 1-9" twist I have heard up to 75 grain bullets working well and down as low as 45 grainers shoot best out of some guns. In the 1-12" twist The 45 grain Winchester White box have been reported as shooting very well by some. I have also seen reported that the 55 grain bullets shoot well out their guns. Any thing over a 62 grain bullet probably will not stabilize in these slower twists. It really come down to trying what works for your gun.

And welcome to GBO - Good Luck and Good Shooting

[petemi]

Sorry bud, I wouldn't walk in the woods with someone carrying a firearm with no transfer bar, half cock or safety.  If recoil can fire pointed cartridges in a tube magazine, it wouldn't take a lot of poke on a hammer to put an unwanted hole somewhere.

[MTGlass]

Please think twice about removing the transfer bar from your son's rifle!

My son slipped off the hammer of a .410 without a transfer bar.  That created a nice little divot in the dirt about 10 feet in front of us and made for a serious wake up call!  I have since removed the firing pin and turned that gun into a wall hanger.

A friend offered to sell me a single shot 16ga. with no transfer bar.  In the same breath he described blowing his hat off while butt stroking a not quite dead pheasant.  I declined the offer and recommended he remove the firing pin.

I've helped out with the shotgun portion of the local DU Greenwing kids event for the past several years.  The first time I did, DU provided a single shot 20ga. without transfer bar.  I put that gun in a case, not allowing any of the kids to handle it.

A half-cock notch as the only thing in the way of a BANG-OOPS just doesn't give me a warm fuzzy.

[LaOtto222]

There is no doubt that a transfer bar is the safest way to make a hammer gun. I can not think of any American company that markets a hammer gun with out a hammer block or transfer bar of some kind any more. Ruger still will convert any of their old style single action revolvers to a transfer bar system - for free. With that said, I am not going to throw away or trade away my Marlin 1894 or my Interarms Virgina Dragoon; neither of which have transfer bars or hammer blocks. When hunting or shooting with some one, my main concern is...do they practice safe gun handling. It is not - do they have a transfer bar on their gun. There are a lot of vintage guns that are taken to the field and woods every day. Transfer bar or no, if they are pointing a gun where it shouldn't be or pulling up with some one in their line of sight, I am leaving the woods and will never go out with them again.

[notnodak]

OK, I'll keep the transfer bar for now. Buttstroking with a loaded weapon is just wrong.

[LaOtto222]

I think you would be wise to keep the transfer bar in. And pointing a loaded gun at yourself is most definitely the wrong thing to do. Keep me far away from some one like that.

[petemi]

I agree with MTGlass, half cocks make me nervous.  My 13 Year old grandson has a problem letting my Marlin 336 go back to half cock.  He's dry fired it twice trying to do that, supervised and muzzle pointed down range.  He's simply not allowed to use that rifle.

Our farm is named "Dead Barn Farm" because an experienced friend slipped a half cock on a flintlock and put a .45 cal. round ball through the barn.  Fortunately, no serious damage done.

[LaOtto222]

My first shot gun was a Stevens single shot 20 gauge with a side lever and sans transfer bar (they were all made that way back then). I was 9 years old, but could not go out with it with out adult supervision. I got to keep the gun in my room, but Dad kept the shells. I really worked with that gun, I could barely pull the hammer back at first. After practicing with it for a long time I was proficient at pulling the hammer back and putting it back down safely. Part of the problem was my small hand, another part was the strength I had in my hand. Back in those days it was use a hammer gun with out a transfer bar or do not use one at all. I know I never had an accident. Tens of thousands if not 100's of thousands of kids had shot guns with out a transfer bar and were perfectly safe. If you are over 50, the chances are real good that you hunted with a single shot shotgun with out a transfer bar. However there were accidents, very unfortunate accidents. The percentage was very low, but 1 is too many. I recall a young teenager that leaned his loaded shot gun against a fence and then climbed the fence over the top of it. I am not sure what happened other than he was shot in the abdomen and bled to death in short order. I know it was a hammer shotgun so I suspect his foot hit the hammer or trigger or the fence he was standing on did. That accident MAY have been prevented if it had a transfer bar, most certainly if he practiced safe gun handling. I do not think I would let a kid use a gun any more with out a transfer bar, especially one that is unfamiliar with the gun and one that has not practiced extensively with adult supervision. Even if I had a family heir loom, I think I would get them a newer gun to learn and practice gun safety with before I would let them use the older gun.