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Does anyone have a recommendation for 45 colt ammo in the Survivor. I have tried 250 gr semi-wadutters and can barely hold a 12" group from 25 yards off of a bench resting on sandbags. I complained to H&R and they had me send the gun back and they refitted a new barrel on it. Tried it out today and it's just as bad as the first barrel!
I cast my own bullets from pure lead at .452 dia., and have also tried Remington factory ammo but it is no better.

Welcome to the HR1871 Owners Forum !!

Sorry...I'm not the guy to ask.

But stick around, I'm sure somebody will be able to help you out !

oldshooter wrote:Does anyone have a recommendation for 45 colt ammo in the Survivor. I have tried 250 gr semi-wadutters and can barely hold a 12" group from 25 yards off of a bench resting on sandbags. I complained to H&R and they had me send the gun back and they refitted a new barrel on it. Tried it out today and it's just as bad as the first barrel!
I cast my own bullets from pure lead at .452 dia., and have also tried Remington factory ammo but it is no better.

That is an incredibly broad dispersion of shots from a rested shooting position.

What kind of group can you shoot using .410-gage shotgun slugs?

H&R's instruction manual specifically says "Do Not discharge 410 slugs from this firearm". Accordingly, I have not done so. I returned my gun to H&R and they replaced the barrel, but the new one is just as bad as the first one. I've tried using harder cast bullets (Lyman No. 2) and it made no difference to the accuracy. I wrote to the President of Remington Arms (they now own H&R) but he just ignored my letter, and "blew me off "just" as H&R's Customer Service Department has done. I can't recommend H&R firearms to any prospective buyer....stay away from them!

I sent my gun back to H&R (at the Remington Illion, NY service center) twice. The first time they just put a new barrel on it and returned it to me. The second time they actually test fired it over and over again and tried to get it to shoot a decent group. Finally, after mounting a scope on it they were able to get a 5" group at 50 yards using lead bullets. This is all that the gun is capable of. So if you are thinking about using it for hunting, it had better be at short yardage.

That is really disappointing to hear; I would expect a lot more out of H&R.

That is the worst performance from a rifle that I think I have ever heard of.

My Handi's have been very good shooters and the .357-magnum version I own has seen nothing but handloads including LOTS of cast (from wheelweights) and it shoots under 1.5" @ 50-yards so I cannot imagine why your rifle does so poorly even with a barrel swap.

nitesite

The reason my Survivor rifle is so inaccurate is that it is chambered to take both 45 colt and 3" 410 shotgun ammo. The difference in length between these two cartridges is about 1 1/2". That means when the colt is fired it has to jump a full 1 1/2" before it can engage the rifling in the barrel. If the bullet doesn't enter the barrel absolutely straight it gets distorted and there is no way of predicting how it will fly when it leaves the barrel. I'm going to try fully jacketed bullets to see if they might work somewhat better.