I had an opportunity presented to me in the form of an single shot h&r handi riflle in 30-06 and I took it. I got it for not much, laminated wood, open sights, missing the front sling swivel. Its nimble and carries nice and it is my first single shot rifle.

I shot it with the open sights, shot surprisingly well. So, managed to find an h&r one piece scope mount for it and mounted an old leupold compact 3x9 on it.

I have not loaded or run an '06 in a while but still had load recipes that worked well in couple different '06's in the past. I loaded some 165 gr. Speer Spitzer w/57 gr. Imr 4350 fed 210 and got just over inch groups @ 100 yards... Some things just always work.

The barrel is just 20 inches, velocity was 2704 fps for a 10 shot string, lowest velocity i have clocked with that load, also the shortest barrel I have fired it from also.

I guess some have a ejection issues, this one spit every one out so far...

New to single shots ho elts on the 'fire shoots an h&r single shot rifle??

They were mostly pretty functional. I had one I used for primitive gun season in a few places; it shot 4-5" groups until I bedded the forearm, after that it was very accurate.

I use em
Mostly 44 and 444 and 223
30/30 and 308 heavy barrel haven't perfected
a load. Last year used a 357-turned-into- MAXIMUM
for one deer.
Never needed a follow up, although they reload
quick enough if needed

They work just fine. They are/were a good kids gun due to having an external hammer & being short so easier to handle.
I had a neighbor who killed a pick up load of deer with his which was chambered in 30-06.

I use one chambered for 358 Winchester for our ‘primitive weapons’ season which requires a minimum 35 caliber.

Thanks for the info fellas. The barrel on this thing does seem on the heavy side.

TX35W, I have read that 'free floating' the fore-end works well. Did you glass the front end or use a washer between the fore-end and barrel??

The two main things why I bought this rifle was simplicity and function. I bought it off the cuff not knowing much about them. Luckily Its been good so far.

A 3/8" rubber o-ring works perfectly to float the forend.

Yes
Yes it does

Rare to see any other than shotguns around here. I guess folks hold onto them. It’s a very practical concept actually, once you get past the notion you need rapid fire. I like how quiet they are to load once you reach your “spot” in the dark, plus the exposed hammer.

I used a small Ranger Band to keep the slip-on shotgun sling from sliding on the barrel of my Henry .410. One or two of those might work for floating the forend too. They are very tough.

Being as I'm a righty forced to shoot lefty I really like the H&R's. I have them in 357 mag, 357 max, 30/30, 45/70, 20 gauge slug, 410, and 20 ga.

Had a frame in the laminate stocks that I fitted a 243 barrel to. It was an extremely accurate gun with the 85 gr bthp from Sierra. As with most boringly accurate guns I managed to trade it off for a project.

Good. Someone else has the same mental illness as me. Lol

I'd sure like to find one of the synthetic stocked 30/30s they produced....

I bought one in 30-30 for cheap and put a 1-3 Weaver on it to have a knock around semi-accurate rifle. The stupid thing shoots fantastic.

So far this rifle has done well. It shoots fine with the 165 gr. Handloads and spits out the empty hulls with energy.

Not to mention it carries nice in the hand or off the shoulder, and its shorter stature handles quick.

Still have a little spring bear season left here, it just might be along with me the next outting.

what was the recoil like?

Not bad. Like any other 06' free handed I suppose, but the forend would jump up out of the lead sled rest when the hammer would drop....Short barrel syndrome

I put a synthetic stock set on my 06 handi, which lightened it up by an appreciable amount. But it made it even more of a shoulder-smacker off the bench. It's on the ragged edge of what I am comfortable shooting, recoil-wise. And mine jumps around on a rest too.

I can't remember what the last load I worked up for it was, but I'm pretty sure it was with Hornady 168 grain bthp match bullets. It would put the first two really close together, then a third one would be out an inch or two. Plenty good enough for me. Odds are I wouldn't get more than two shots at a deer with it anyway.

Free handing the handi-rifle even with some factory remington 220 gainers was tolerant for me. It does speak loudly, enough the wife questioned me what I was shooting....

they are a good bang for the buck, if you pay attention, single shots make you a better shot, my .02

I love the simplicity of the H&R. Mine is a 30-30.

I'm down to my last few. 300BLK, 2x357 Maximum, 28ga, 410ga, .348 Win (rebore), and 20ga. I'd invest in another 30-30 if I came across one. The ones I've owned in the past were very accurate and fast with pointy bullets.

I've had a few and the 357 magnum would shoot 2" and sometimes less with 250g cast bullets.the throats on those were quite gentle and accommodated long seated bullets.the ones in 30-06 shot cast as good from what I've seen.

Thanks for the input cbashooter. I have not tried different seating depths in the handi-rifle.

my .02, H & R very underrated

My experience has been that they are perfectly functional. As Dinny mentioned, you can try to rubber o ring on the foreend screw to “float” it.