I have been shooting H&R handi rifles for several years and really love them. I have a 243 Ulra that I had to send back to the factory, 1. it would keyhole bullets heavier than 90 grains and 2. the cases would stick every now and then. While its at the factory, I ordered a 308 bull barrel. I get both back and the 243 still keyholes and sticks. I call the factory , they don't understand why. So I say to heck with the 243 and I will play with the 308 and worry about the 243 later.
This time I am going to avoid the sticking problem and polish the chamer with Flitz (sp?). I then take a box of factory ammo and start shooting. The fourth round sticks. I clean the chamber and shoot 4 more rounds, no problems. The next day I shoot it again, same box of ammo. The fifth round sticks. I remove the round and continue to shoot with no problems. Now if its a dirty chamber shouldn't I have had more rounds stick on the second day? I fired the rest of the box (7 rounds) with no problems. Any ideas anyone?

You've polished the chamber?

If it's dirty with a mix of oil and powder, it can be heat sensitive mess.

Yes I polished the chamber with Flitz, then buffed it with clean rags. If it is dirty then on day 2 of shooting, when I just removed the stuck case and chambered another round and kept shooting 7 more shots with no cleaning, why didn't I get a few more stuck cases?

Are there any marks on the extracted cases?


-DallanC

I don't see any marks , but some cases have a lot more soot/stains or what ever you want to call it around the neck, and some have almost none at all. These are factory loads (Win. power points), not my handy work .

This is a common problem with new barrels. Actually it's not the barrel or chamber but its the ejector sticking. The barrels ship with heavy grease in the chamber and in the ejector and ejector spring. Remove the ejector and spring and remove the grease completely. Then lightly oil and reassemble.

popgun wrote:

This is a common problem with new barrels. Actually it's not the barrel or chamber but its the ejector sticking. The barrels ship with heavy grease in the chamber and in the ejector and ejector spring. Remove the ejector and spring and remove the grease completely. Then lightly oil and reassemble.

Didn't think about that. That's probably it.

In addition to the grease, before reassembly, place the ejector/extractor on a flat surface and check to see if its warped. I've had a few as much as .050" out. If it is, you can stone it flat or flatter. Just make sure it traveles freely in the recess without the spring.

Billl

Popgun- I did clean the ejector before using. With the Handi rifle you can't realy take the ejector out, without a lot of work. It is held in place under the barrel with roll pins. I did spray the day-lites out of it with de-greaser.
BillPa- If it were a warped ejector wouldn't you expect to see it happen all the time instead of one in 12 shots?

Actually, no. The fit between the recess and ejector/extractor is not a real good fit or straight. . It may or may not be the problem, but just another item to check. I've honed two for guys that cured the ejection problem. Then again, there was one I polished the chamber,installed a stronger spring,opened the clearence between the barrel mortice and extractor,swore at it,etc and still failed maybe 1 out of ten times.

One of these days when I can find a junk barrel assembly, I'm going to take a shot at making a positive ejector for one.
Bill

I like the ejector, but all new Handi's will have extractor's. It sure is nice when you are sitting in a stand with gloves on and need a second shot not to have to try to remove the case so you can reload.

My brother in law has a Handi-rifle in 270 that defies all logic when it comes to ejection. When he first got it if you would fire a shot,reload and then decide not to shoot the loaded cartridge would not eject.We tried both my handloads and factory ammo,both acted the same.If you would load it without firing first it would eject the loaded cartridge fine.One year he shot a deer,reloaded in case he needed a second shot,didnt need the second shot and then couldnt unload his rifle.He had to fire it into a tree,the fired case came out fine.Sent it back to factory ,got a new barrel{thats what they say} and now it wont eject fired cases 1 out of 5 times or so.I think the rifles should come with a ramrod for ejection! I wouldnt reccomend them to anybody.

roklok wrote:

My brother in law has a Handi-rifle in 270 that defies all logic when it comes to ejection. When he first got it if you would fire a shot,reload and then decide not to shoot the loaded cartridge would not eject.We tried both my handloads and factory ammo,both acted the same.If you would load it without firing first it would eject the loaded cartridge fine.One year he shot a deer,reloaded in case he needed a second shot,didnt need the second shot and then couldnt unload his rifle.He had to fire it into a tree,the fired case came out fine.Sent it back to factory ,got a new barrel{thats what they say} and now it wont eject fired cases 1 out of 5 times or so.I think the rifles should come with a ramrod for ejection! I wouldnt reccomend them to anybody.

SELL THAT HANDI RIFLE AND GET AN ENCORE FROM THOMPSON

roklok- Have you tried polishing the chamber? My 243 had the same problem with ejecting spent rounds. I took a 410 mop and part of the cleaning rod, chucked it in a cordless drill then took a patch with Flitz on it and polished the chamber. I have heard of of some guys using valve lapping compound but that seem a little aggressive. It worked for me, it took a couple of polishing sessions.
Don't give up on the Handi, it is a great little gun if you work with it and you don't have to take a second out on the house to buy one or get other cal. barrel.

Ken

BTW, on my original post, it was the brass that was causing the sticking or my sizer. I took the fired brass and neck sized them and then put a dot on the back of the case and chambered it. At 12 o'clock it stuck, 9 it stuck, 6 and 3 o'clock it did not stick. I then re-neck sized the case then rotated it 90 degrees and sized it again. I then chambered it again and no problems in any position.