Options for shot out Handi-Rifle barrel?

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Scout21

Scout21

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I've got a .223 Handi-Rifle that I love to shoot often, but I'm worried about eventually shooting out the barrel. I'm already several thousand rounds in.

Other than reboring the existing barrel or paying an arm and a leg for a pre-owned barrel, is there an option to get the rifle back in business?
 
You can re-throat it, then when thats worn, rechamber to a much longer cartridge, then re-throat that, then do it again.....assuming you havent worn your actual bore sonewhere in there.....
Eventually you be looking at a re-bore, re-rifle.

Could also sell the handy now, and pick up a cheap 223 bolt gun with easily swappable barrels. Savages are good options for these kindsa things because of all the cheap takeoff barrels.
 
You can have it “stubbed”. This means they cut the barrel off to about 4” long and then bore it out to like a 1.25” diameter hole, then they thread it and screw a new barrel blank into it. The process is expensive but it will be better than new. You can even have them make multiple barrels of same or different caliber that can be threaded into the stub so you can make it last a lifetime.
 
No matter what it is worth you'll spend $5000-$10,000 in ammo to wear it out. If wearing it out is not something you're willing to do there are several bolt action 223's or even AR's that can be picked up for a fraction of that. Replacement barrels are cheaper and easier to replace on most of those.
 
Agree with jmr above. If one has the time and money to shoot out a 223 barrel that person will likely have the money to rechamber it or replace it. I hope to live long enough to shoot something out :)

Others are making Contender barrels now and if no one is making H&R barrels now I think they will be down the road.
 
It's a shame Ruger is not producing the Handi Rifle, but maybe they did not get the manufacturing rights to it when they bought Marlin. For those who don't know H&R 1871 was bought by Marlin. Marlin was bought by Remington. When Remington was broken up Ruger bought the Marlin company but maybe someone else got H&R.
 
Dogleg7 said:
It's a shame Ruger is not producing the Handi Rifle, but maybe they did not get the manufacturing rights to it when they bought Marlin. For those who don't know H&R 1871 was bought by Marlin. Marlin was bought by Remington. When Remington was broken up Ruger bought the Marlin company but maybe someone else got H&R.
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H&R ended up being bought out of the bankruptcy by the parent company of Palmetto State armory. I have seen rumors that they were going to be remade but I am very doubtful of that. It would sure make my day though if they did, or if someone started offering quality new barrels. I would be buying them left and right.
 
FWIW, there's a hard-core H&R Handirifle forum over at Graybeard -- still quite active as of today:
https://www.go2gbo.com/forums/h-r-centerfire-rifles.108/

I've had one H&R (actually NEF-branded) barrel rebored back in the '90s, but in my case it was a brand new .22 Hornet accessory barrel that I had converted to .38 Super by the late Dick Nickel:

NickleSuper.jpg

At that time, the project cost me roughly three times the original MSRP of the rifle. It was and still is worth it to me, but even I have to admit that it makes little financial sense -- maybe that's part of why I like it so much. I just had it at the range a few weeks ago with my equally impractical Husqvarna 1907 in 9x20 Browning Long.



If you have the money, like the rifle and its receiver outlasts the barrel, there's no reason why you shouldn't do something fiscally foolish like reboring, stubbing, etc. In the meantime I wouldn't worry about it.
 
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I have shot out a barrel or two but the idea of having the time and patience to shoot out a handi-rifle barrel seems daunting to say the least. IF you do manage to shoot the barrel out you will easily be able to afford another complete rifle.
 
Ugly Sauce said:
Not a rumor, but it may be a while. Some re-designing is in the works, and they have stated that they want to "get it right", and not rush to "get it out".
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I heard about PSA making the Handi-Rifle again, I believe I read it here somewhere.

It's always a fine line to walk, people want things ASAP, but are pissed when things don't work right. I, for one, am glad they're taking their time.
 
I really hope they maintain compatibility with the original barrels and stocks and that they have a barrel accessory program like H&R did but that my be too much to hope for. I also hope they offer blued or nitride finishes rather than cheap matte spray on finishes, but that also might be hoping in vain.
 
Scout21 said:
I heard about PSA making the Handi-Rifle again, I believe I read it here somewhere.
Click to expand...

Here is what I know. I saw an interview with the people in charge. It was an interview at the SHOT show. They talked about it quite a bit. They said the Handi rifle would be re-introduced and manufactured. They stated that quite positively. But again, they had other priorities at the moment, and wanted to "get it right". And, that it would wait until they got those other priorities taken care of, so that they could concentrate in it.

I suppose, that further down the road, it could be a possibility for them to say: "you know, we really intended to do that, but it's just not gonna happen due to this and that and the other thing." But I did not get that impression.

To my mind, and what I understood, or think, it is much like Ruger making the Marlin. Ruger didn't just take the spec sheets, "blueprints", and machines, and start cranking out Marlins. They changed the manufacturing methods and some design points/details in order to "get it right", and make a "better" Marlin. They put a lot of thought and study into it. Ruger actually did it rather quickly, but, same idea.
 
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