Went out to the range on Saturday with 2 Handis: one a 30/30 I've had for a couple of years, but haven't really found a good load for, and the other a new 30/06. The 30/30 has an old K-4 Weaver and the 30/06 has a new Nikon 4X.

First, the 30/06: I really don't have the patience for what some people call a formal break-in procedure, so I just shot the son of a gun. I shot two loads:
165 gr. Speer RN
45.0 grs. H-4895
Rem. 9 1/2 primers
Rem. cases

This load shot so bad, I'm not even going to post the results. I was disappointed. I have loaded bullets from this box in the 30/30, and they weren't accurate in it either, so I'm thinking the whole box may not be concentric. Maybe that's why they discontinued them.

150 gr. Winchester PP
46.0 grs. H-4895 Ave. of two three shot
Rem. 9 1/2 primers groups was 2.1 inches.
Rem. cases Nothing outstanding.


Overall, I am a little disappointed, but I'm looking forward to more load development.

Next, the 30/30 was better. The load was 170 Hornady Flat Point, 36.5 grains of W748, Winchester Large Rifle primers, Winchester cases. I used the same load for 4 three shot groups. Two groups were not crimped, while the other two were crimped with Lee's factory crimp. I wanted to determine if crimping would effect group size. It didn't. Both crimped and uncrimped averaged 1.7" and 1.6" respectively, basically no difference. But I was happy with the groups and will consider using this combination on antelope or mule deer in the future

150 gr. Winchester PP
46.0 grs. H-4895 Ave. of two three shot
Rem. 9 1/2 primers groups was 2.1 inches.
Rem. cases Nothing outstanding.


This should be:
150 gr. Winchester PP
46.0 grs. H-4895
Rem. 9 1/2 primers
Rem. cases

Ave. of two three shot groups was 2.1 inches. Nothing outstanding.

Sorry about being unclear.

You have reached the almost impossible goal of getting a Handi Rifle to shoot poorly. At first blush, I too would consider the problem to be the 165 gr bullet. At least that's where I would start. I have shot the 150gr PP bullet with similiar results as yours. Ok, but not great accuracy. I went to Remingon 150gr spitzers and the groups fell under an inch... but that's just my rifle (in this case a model 70).

It sounds like you are really close. If all the combo's will not give good results, you may want to firelapp the barrel.

Good luck and let us know how it goes...... Bill

You have reached the almost impossible goal of getting a Handi Rifle to shoot poorly. At first blush, I too would consider the problem to be the 165 gr bullet. At least that's where I would start. I have shot the 150gr PP bullet with similiar results as yours. Ok, but not great accuracy. I went to Remingon 150gr spitzers and the groups fell under an inch... but that's just my rifle (in this case a model 70).

It sounds like you are really close. If all the combo's will not give good results, you may want to firelapp the barrel.

Good luck and let us know how it goes...... Bill


I guess I'll have to do a lot more experimenting. Darn...

Trials with different bullets could shed some light.

May I also suggest you try some other powders? Some of the favorites for .30-30 seem to be IMR 3031, Hodgdon's H335 and Alliant's Reloader 15.

For 165 grain bullet loads in .30-06 you might try H4350, H414, Varget, BL-2(C), H335, Reloader 15,19 and22. Winchester 760 is another one. There are others but I won't go too far.

I have used AA 2700 but it is no longer recommended for the uses I intended. I was making government pressure loads for my M-1 Garand.

I notice that Reloader 15 is recommended for both calibers. This might be an economical choice if it it usable to your liking. This goes for H335 too.

Ah, the challenges of reloading. Happy Shooting!

I have a small variety of powders, including H-335, R15,
H-322 for the 30/30 and H-4350 and H-4831 for the 30/06 and different weights for bullets. It's just finding the time to reload and shoot that's the problem. When I have more information, I'll post it. Thanks for the advise.

A couple of tricks you can try with the Handi:
1) put an "O" ring on the stud that the front stock screw threads into. This kind of free floats the front stock.
2) Fill the area between the scope base and barrel were the base cantalevers over the barrel, to reduce vibrations to the scope. I used JB Weld on the scope base, besure to use some sort of release agent on the barrel.
These moidfications helped my .243 handi shoot better.