Handi Rifle

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The 45-70 I have is a lot of fun to shoot. I use pretty light loads though! They still thump the steel targets pretty hard.
 
Blkhrt13 said:
I wish NEF was still alive.
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They are coming back under the company that bought them, but I sure can't remember who bought them. Saw an interview with them at the shot-show. They said it would be a few years out as it's actually a somewhat complicated gun to manufacture, and they want to incorporate improvements into the new design, and fix some things that are problematic with them. Said there was a good demand for them, and fully intended to re-introduce them.
 
I have a "Buffalo Hunter", or Buffalo something or other NEF .45-70 with the long barrel, and the action. I am so tempted to cut that barrel to 16.5" and build something like them cool shorty snorting carbines that Dave makes. That would thump pretty good on both ends I bet.
 
Blkhrt13 said:
Just put a down payment on a 4570 handi rifle with a cheap scope for 250. I have wanted one for a while would prefer a 44 magnum but will look for the barrel as a stand alone. I wish NEF was still alive.
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Saw a guy bring one of those Buffalo Hunter into a gun shop today. He wanted @900 for it, based what he'd seen on GunBroker. He was still trying to get near that amount when I paid for my bag of shot and wad fingers and left.
 
Ugly Sauce said:
The .45-70 can be loaded right down to .44Mag level with a 300 grain bullet. Trail Boss might be just the ticket to fill up that big powder space. Or duplicate the old "carbine load" with 55 grains of black powder and some wads.
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Trailboss is good for 45-70 but I've been using a trapdoor minimum charge of imr4198 with a 405 grain rnfp , it's very mild but still over 1000 fps. That can kill just about anything.
 
entropy said:
Saw a guy bring one of those Buffalo Hunter into a gun shop today. He wanted @900 for it, based what he'd seen on GunBroker. He was still trying to get near that amount when I paid for my bag of shot and wad fingers and left.
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If that was the Buffalo Classic then he still needs drug testing, but it is rather a different level than the standard Handi Rifle. Decent looking not badly checkered wood, an actual polished finish on receiver and 24” barrel, globe front sight, and a Williams receiver rear. They are, as usual a little light, but competitive BPCR shooters have done amazing things with them. Not winning, of course, but amazing. They run $500-$600 and are hard to find these days. I have the Classic Carbine in 45 Colt. The Target Classic in 38-55 was problematic. As I recall it had a bore that wanted .380” bullets but a chamber that was cut tight. Consequently they needed throating or they shot poorly.

Anyway, long way of saying the Buffalo Classic is a different kettle of fish, if not the caviar the chap in the shop seemed to think he had.
 
Ugly Sauce said:
They are coming back under the company that bought them, but I sure can't remember who bought them. Saw an interview with them at the shot-show. They said it would be a few years out as it's actually a somewhat complicated gun to manufacture, and they want to incorporate improvements into the new design, and fix some things that are problematic with them. Said there was a good demand for them, and fully intended to re-introduce them.
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PSA is the one running hr1871.com which is Herrington and Richardson.
 
entropy said:
Saw a guy bring one of those Buffalo Hunter into a gun shop today. He wanted @900 for it, based what he'd seen on GunBroker. He was still trying to get near that amount when I paid for my bag of shot and wad fingers and left.
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There is lots of crazy ideas on pricing. I’m starting to see them coming back out of orbit slowly. I also see where some shooting supplies are coming back too. Ammo filling up shelves again. I hope to see less common calibers come back and not for double the normal price.
 
Some of you guys would loose your mind if you saw the selling price on a lot of the H&R stuff now. A lot of the rifles are $500 and up and the rare stuff even higher. Bare rifle barrels often sell for 300-400 each. The buffalo classics really do sell for $900 on gunbroker, but of course your not going to get that trying to sell it to a gun shop, they have to make money.
 
someguy2800 said:
Some of you guys would loose your mind if you saw the selling price on a lot of the H&R stuff now. A lot of the rifles are $500 and up and the rare stuff even higher. Bare rifle barrels often sell for 300-400 each. The buffalo classics really do sell for $900 on gunbroker, but of course your not going to get that trying to sell it to a gun shop, they have to make money.
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It’s tragic because these guns used to fill a great spot in the budget market. Now they are super high. I jumped on the one I found precisely because the price was good. An SB2 receiver complete rifle for 250 out the door was too much to pass up.
 
I have owned exactly one in centerfire and you couldn't give me another if I had to keep it. Worst piece of junk I ever bought for a firearm. I can't understand the "somewhat complicated firearm to manufacturer" statement. It's basically a break barrel shotgun. I also had one in rimfire and it was nothing great either. It was just "less worse" than the other.
 
doubleh said:
I can't understand the "somewhat complicated firearm to manufacturer" statement.
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Watch a assembly/disassembly video of the NEF...then you may understand Grasshopper! Maybe I stated that wrong, but in the interview it was a big concern to get all their ducks in a row before reintroducing it. It's a bit different than older break open shotguns, which probably would not work well with some of the calibers that the NEF/Handi is chambered.
 
It is just a break open shotgun made from stronger materials, katydid! I even remember reading posts complaining of some calibers unlatching when fired. I will agree that there are a lot of ducks to line up with these things to make them a decent gun.
 
doubleh said:
It is just a break open shotgun made from stronger materials, katydid! I even remember reading posts complaining of some calibers unlatching when fired. I will agree that there are a lot of ducks to line up with these things to make them a decent gun.
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Oh yeah, they can have their problems, breaking open on firing is not that uncommon. Sometimes the ejector don't work. !!! I think those are the things they want to address.
 
I had a 410 with the auto eject on firing feature. I’m hoping my gunsmithing skills will pull me through if it has issues. I know they have not so awesome triggers too. But most of the others I see now are in the 5-6 bills range looking at Henry.
 
doubleh said:
I have owned exactly one in centerfire and you couldn't give me another if I had to keep it. Worst piece of junk I ever bought for a firearm. I can't understand the "somewhat complicated firearm to manufacturer" statement. It's basically a break barrel shotgun. I also had one in rimfire and it was nothing great either. It was just "less worse" than the other.
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If you ever took one apart and tried to put it back together, or tried to make the barrel from one fit on another you would then understand why they are complicated to manufacture despite the relatively small number of parts.
 
Handi rifles are just one of those things that you love or you don’t. It’s like a guy that loves his old classic pickup even though he has to keep spare plugs in the glovebox. I have a love hate relationship with them myself, but when you get one to work right and shoot straight it’s a fantastic thing.
 
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