Cleaning the Handi

[trophy_taker]

Never had a single shot and just wondering if theres any worries on getting solvent in the chamber where bullet slides in.  Any videos or reccomendations?  All I've ever had was a bolt action. 

[Ranger99]

like any other.
clean the dirty places and
wipe the shiney ones.
handi's are relatively trouble free.

[OldSchoolRanger]

like any other.
clean the dirty places and
wipe the shiney ones.
handi's are relatively trouble free.

Not quite the same.  Handis are relatively trouble free, and are sort of a lazy man's gun.  You shouldn't waste too much elbow grease on keeping the gun clean.  Don't really know why, but they sort of like running dirty. 

Run a dry patch down the barrel once in a while when you find that grass is growing in the dirt inside the barrel.  Occasionally, you can even run a lightly oil patch down the barrel.  Wipe the outside of the barrel and receiver lightly with oil to keep it from rusting.  What ever you do, do not get oil on the latch, keep it nice and dry.

And shoot it as much as you can.  They seem to get better (more accurate) the more you shoot them.

[black lab]

Just wondering how you could not get solvent in the chamber. It gets as dirty as anything else. Just clean everything and run a dry patch through it before you shoot it. Not the stock though.

[trophy_taker]

So no bore guide needed?

[Ranger99]

i've never used one, but i'm sure
some will say to never clean without
one. i clean my barrel off the receiver
from the breach end.

[black lab]

OldSchool, Question for you. Like the OP this is my first Handi. Can you explain what is the "Latch" Are you refering to the hinge ? Or The barrel release lever beside the hammer ? Or the little V notch below the extractor? Plus what about rust prevention ?

.  What ever you do, do not get oil on the latch, keep it nice and dry.

[black lab]

I was wonder about that myself. a regular bore guide won't work, but there is a small brass cone shaped guide that you can get somewhere. I had one when I was into black powder but I can't find it now.

So no bore guide needed?

[trophy_taker]

I've never cleaned guns much, just shot them.  Just got my first handi and shot 15 shells without cleaning first and last 4 shots within six inches of each other. Feel like I should clean and reshoot to try and get decent group but nervous about screwing the gun up.  Only have 5 bullets left and 223 are sold out everywhere. Youth season in 1 week!

[OldSchoolRanger]

OldSchool, Question for you. Like the OP this is my first Handi. Can you explain what is the "Latch" Are you refering to the hinge ? Or The barrel release lever beside the hammer ? Or the little V notch below the extractor? Plus what about rust prevention ?

.  What ever you do, do not get oil on the latch, keep it nice and dry.

Sorry I didn't get back to you right away, I was trying to multi-task.  I'm cleaning some brass, and had to take them out of the media, and walked away from the computer.  The "latch" is rightly called the barrel catch striker assembly (part #42, on the Handi Rifle schematic), and the latch shelf, (what you refer to as "the little V notch below the extractor") that posters here refer to, is actually the barrel shelf (the part of the barrel directly under the extractor, parts #5 & 6).  See schematic in link below.

http://www.hr1871.com/documents/manuals/HR_NEF_HANDI_RIFLE_MANUAL.pdf

Just wondering how you could not get solvent in the chamber. It gets as dirty as anything else. Just clean everything and run a dry patch through it before you shoot it. Not the stock though.

Clean it good when you first get it, then don't clean the gun, for some reason,Handi's like it dirty.

So no bore guide needed?

Nope!

You might also consider reading through the "FAQ's and HELP" sticky at the top of this section, usually someone will come along and refer you to it, now you know what their talking about. 

Sorry for the confusion, but that's just the terminology that is used for those parts in these threads.  If you have any other questions, I'll try to help, but the resident expert on Handi's is quickdtoo. 

quick, if I misguided these gentlemen, please feel free to correct me. 

BTW to trophy_taker, and black lab; Welcome to Handiholics anonymous!

[black lab]

Thanks a lot !!! Old School's the way to go 

[gcrank1]

A clean chamber is a good thing, as is a dry one when you are going to shoot. The bore proper often 'shoots in', 'seasons', whatever you want to say. If you do clean the bore after a session and put a preservative coating in it for storage you must clean it out before shooting, and one solvent patch followed by two dry ones is likely all that is needed. A shotgun 'mop' that fits your chamber is a quick way to clean and dry one, as is a bigger jag and patch that the barrel. A cleaned bore will likely need some fouling shots to settle back down to shooting in the same place as before. Since many of us spend more time on the range than hunting we dont mind the re-seasoning part, it helps us and the gun get reacquainted. For a hunting gun dont dial the scope in and go home and clean it when the next shot is going to be on the hunt.

[cwlongshot]

One of the biggest accuracy killer in our handis is a dirty latch.

First off,  store them muzzle down to keep any oils from running into this area.

Keep Q-tips in your range bag!! They can get to the nooks n crannies without dissassembly!!

CW