"Handi" .500 S&W bear rifle

thehunterman

thehunterman

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lately I have been looking for a good compact bear rifle for close to medium range(5-100 yards) and was thinking about the H&R Handi rifles in 500 S&W or 45-70,anybody have any experience with these rifles?tips things to look out for?thoughts and opinions are appreciated.
Thanks,
Hunter.
 
Have they took a downward slide since the H+R 158's? My 30-30 puts bullets in the same hole at 100 yards regularly...............Harold
 
not bear defense,jeez you guys sure are jumpy about bears................no no I mean plain old hunting.Are the H&R's really all that bad?my 22 mag sportster does the same thing mbogo3's 30-30 does,I have not owned any of there centerfire rifles but there shotguns and rimefires have served me well.
Thanks,
Hunter.
 
starting to lean more towards the 45-70 or maybe even go so low as a 44mag anybody use there 44's for bear? do they put em' down very well?
Thanks,
Hunter.
 
I have a nef 500 S&W and it is a cannon, it should stop a bear in is track but if i am given the choice a nice 44 mag repeater would be safer... There is no replacement for displacement but there is shot placement and you have only one in the barrel... what happen if shot placement is missed... Oups... Cheers. JP.
 
caramel said:
I have a nef 500 S&W and it is a cannon, it should stop a bear in is track but if i am given the choice a nice 44 mag repeater would be safer...there is no replacement for displacement but there is shot placement and you have only one in the barrel... what happen if shot placement is missed... Oups... Cheers. JP.
Click to expand...

Almost poetry....;)
 
Other than you are limiting your range to appr 150 - 200 yards a single shot 45-70 or 500S&W would be very good choices for hunting bear.

Last black bear I shot a 6' beauty was @ appr 90 yards used my single shot T/C Contender carbine chambered in 375JDJ loaded with 260gr Accubonds @ 2300fps.

Only people that would say anything against a single shot probably have never shot one or don't know how to shoot/reload one quickly so spew against them.

Also when using a single shot you do not spray your rounds you wait for the shot because you know you only have one shot.
 
The biggest problem with the Handi's is they won't extract cases sometimes. They just use a crappy spring to pop the cases out and it does not have enough strength.

I don't know if the new ones use something different but on the 2 older ones that I own the extraction can be a problem. The 30-30 I have works good due to the low pressure and tapered case but my 30-06 can hang up. Need a cleaning rod to poke out the case when it gets stuck.


That is the biggest problem with the Handi's.
 
I have thought of getting a HR 500 for a while, and tweaking it a bit to fit me and tame recoil...After reading the info on the net about the HR's, I am a bit skeptical but may in fact proceed with a "useless unpractical, but cool" build.... And yes a 500 because its different and has lotsa ooomph... and yes, you tend to hit what you are aiming at when you only have one shot.
As for bears, yes it would work just fine. As would almost any centerfire gun if you can shoot. Personally, I live up north, o/o of a fishing lodge, and have encountered more bears than most... they really are not hard to kill, nor are they man eating beasts which you have to run and get a gun at every sighting. Of the ones I have seen, 98/100 will run away if you look at them, #99 will run away when you make loud noise after it craps its drawers, #100 will just ignore you. Altho I always use caution, Bears are not the dangerous animal that we have come to believe. The only instance I would be really concerned is when there are cubs around, or a wounded bear is present...
A 12ga slug/buckshot is by far the best if you want to drop one in its tracks, period.... But if you wanna see one run really fast, get close to one, and either bang two steel garbage can lids together, or shoot it in the butt at 25yds with a 12ga loaded with black peppercorns and rock salt...
 
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