H&A underhammer

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can still get parts, building a .36 cal underhammer now. hope to have done for huntin tree rats this fall
 
Old Ford said:
Hi Guys,
Reading this post and taking the age of persons that posted, although some people posted more than once, and others do not post their age, the overall age of geezers that like and enjoy the under hammer rifle, is 71.3 years old.
How did we find this amazing rifle way back then, and even today. It was not marketed too well, although the price was great.
What is also so neat, is that this simple rifle will kick the pants of most other rifles, that are worth ten times it's retail selling price.
Any newbie that bumps into one of these fine rifles, should grasp it for the many years ahead.
I will hang onto mine until I can't shoot anymore.
And yet, it still is the ugly duckling on the rack, waiting for the next target shoot, when it will smile again.
Fred


Well said, Old Ford. :applause:
I sold them in my shop back in the day. We had three for family use. For target/range I stoned the sear down to a light trigger pull. A beauty of those rifles was in their simplicity. I would disassemble and replace the target sear with standard factory pull for hunting. Those inexpensive rifles won many competitions. My wife has a shelf full of medals she won with the short 'Buggy' version. My son placed high at Nationals in the junior Buffalo matches with the heavy barreled 'bench' version. Sad to see them pretty much drop by the wayside. :(
 
Tinker2 said:
I got my first H&A new in 1963 OR 64 I think.
Mine came with a 20” .36 caliber barrel, marked The Offhand
When new they/mine did not have a forearm or a way to install one.
It came with a scissor type .343 mold.

The rear peep sight that came with it.
GiguBOH.jpg


The parts of it
M4NvnNt.jpg


At this time I have a rifle, shotgun and pistol.
By your serial number (1294) yours is older than mine.



William Alexander


A "20"" barrel? I assume that's a typo? My .36 Off Hand has a 31" barrel. And it has a fore end.
 
Gene L said:
A "20"" barrel? I assume that's a typo? My .36 Off Hand has a 31" barrel. And it has a fore end.

Gene
“A "20"" barrel? I assume that's a typo. My .36 Off Hand has a 31" barrel.”

Nope, it is 20”. It’s marked “The Offhand” but looks like the buggy rifle.

And it came with no fore end.
I think it cost me $35. maybe new.



William Alexander
 
I just purchased this one, now I wait for it to come in the mail. It's the Deluxe Buggy model with the 20" barrel. Will be ordering a new nipple, and a few trigger's and springs and a spare take down pin.
20180307_091314.jpg
 
Good for you. You will enjoy. Spare parts are always a good thing to have around but unlikely you will ever need them. I would have ordered several nipples. I consider nipples disposable items.
 
Tinker2 said:
Cajun72 said:
Yes .45 cal, forgot to mention that

If I remember right the .45 caliber original barrels used a .433 ball.


William Alexander

We had three of them my family shot a lot. I don't remember ball size used. Should but don't. :redface: I lost about a dozen moulds in a move so don't have any currently that might be unusual size. That was a lot of help wasn't it? :doh:
 
If I remember right the .45 caliber original barrels used a .433 ball.


William Alexander
[/quote]

Yes you are correct, that buggy rifle prefers .433 rb. to shoot well.
That size of ball is almost impossible to find.
Bite the bullet ( pun intended ) and get a Lee bullet mold. They are cheap and work very well.
If you cant find some right away, I can cast some for you, but the postal charges are prohibitive.
Is there a threaded hole on top of the receiver?
If it does, you must get a tang site for your gun to get the maximum out of your gun.
I am a little over the top in favour of under hammer guns it is true.
I have long rifles worth much more than you paid for your under hammer gun, but not one of them can compete with your rifle at the target range.
Shooting off hand with your gun you will have to hold it differently and should always have a long sleeved shirt ( preferably denim ).
Rather than having your elbow beneath the rifle as we mostly do while shooting, you should have your elbow to the side, to prevent cap and flash burn.
If you don't, you will learn quickly. :nono:
Please come back and tell us how your rifle shoots.
Fred
 
hanshi said:
I went to Deer Creek's website and found no mention of H&A underhammer parts??

They probably still have them even though they are not listed. Deer Creek manufactured those rifles for a while several years ago and when I bought the parts for building my underhammer from them, he had to go search for all of the parts on the shelves in their warehouse. Give them a call.
 
Yes you are correct, that buggy rifle prefers .433 rb. to shoot well.
That size of ball is almost impossible to find.

To the best of my recollection, all the Numrich barrels used on the undies, and other H&A rifles, were bored the same. The Buggy bore was not different. And, yes, they all shot very well in the right hands. At that time several custom builders were using Numrich barrels. They were good.
 

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