The Hanic is a new boy on the block, a handy .410 lever-action shotgun cloned from the Winchester Model 94 Angle Eject. It could easily be mistaken for Big Red W’s original.
It functions just like the .30-30 Winchester. It also follows in the footsteps of Winchester’s own Model 9410, a Model 94-based .410 lever-action that sold from 2001 until 2007.
Every feature of the Hanic .410 is familiar to a Model 94 owner — the flat-sided receiver, exterior hammer, barrel bands on muzzle and forearm, and lever loop, all of which are smoothly polished before being given a deep black finish.
The forend and butt-stock are made of figured Turkish walnut, with the butt of the review gun showing an attractive tiger-tail figure.
In place of the traditional half-cock safety, the gun has a rebounding hammer and a two-position sliding safety on the upper tang. The knurled button is thumbed back to make the gun safe and pushed forward for fire.
Like the Winchester Model 94, there is a small pin protruding from the bottom tang, which acts as a trigger safety lever. It blocks the trigger and only releases it when the finger lever is drawn up into its fully closed position.
Outwardly, the Hanic .410 has the same traditional configuration as its Angle Eject counterpart. As the lever is raised, two large locking lugs engage matching slots in the sidewalls of the forged-steel receiver, at the rear of the bolt.
The trigger and hammer mechanism in the lower tang assembly employ a coil spring rather than a leaf spring, reducing the levering force, which results in a smoother-operating action.
All of the gun’s exposed metal parts have a highly polished, durable finish reminiscent of Winchester’s XTR finish.
The butt-stock is fitted with a classic black rubber recoil pad with a black spacer, and is attached to the action in the conventional manner by a screw through both the upper and lower tangs.
The tubular magazine is secured beneath the barrel by a steel band up front while another band holds the forearm of the stock to the barrel.
The Hanic is a handsome gun by any standards. Metal finish is a deep blue-black and wood-to-metal fit good and close.
I checked the firing cycle by loading five shells and working them through the action. It worked smoothly with Super-X 2½” shotshells throwing a payload of ½oz of No 6 shot.
Working the lever briskly caused fired shells to be ejected onto the ground about two metres away from the gun.
Trigger pull averaged 3kg (6½lb).
Five 2½” shells are inserted singly into the full-length tubular magazine through a loading gate in the right side of the receiver. The magazine spring is stiff and, after inserting the first shell, I pushed each successive round in with the nose of the next one.
The 24” barrel has a fixed choke and is mounted with a high-pointed blade front sight and height-adjustable rear sight with a vee notch. Windage is gained by drifting the rear sight to one side or the other.
You might wonder why it’s fitted with a rear sight at all since it’s a shotgun, which is normally pointed and not aimed. Of course, some owners may want it for shooting rifled slugs, and there are no flies on a .410 rifled slug weighing 216 grains leaving the muzzle at 1830fps.
It may not qualify as a pig load, but it’s sure to deter a fox sneaking out of the hen house carrying a chook in its mouth.
What puzzles me about the Hanic’s rear sight is why they didn’t design it to fold down for use with shotshells and be raised when shooting slugs or buckshot.
The action is drilled and tapped so a better solution would be to attach a red dot sight using Winchester AE Weaver-type bases or a Picatinny rail. More about this later.
The Hanic’s bore measured .405”, a constriction of .005”, which indicates a modified choke. A cylinder-bored .410 would probably be better for rifled slugs, but the extra degree or so of choke should add a little density to the patterns with shot pellets. I did manage to bag a couple of rabbits with the Hanic, both within the 25m zone.
The Hanic is chambered for 2½” shotshells, which the designers say give smooth cycling that cannot be achieved using the 3” shells. Many shooters may prefer 3” loads for game hunting, but 2½” loads come in #4 and #6 shot for hunting as well as target and sub small-bore skeet loads throwing ½oz of 7½, 8 or 9 shot.
Federal Hi-Brass .410 is a high-pressure load and velocities are high at 1200fps, but throwing only ½oz of #6 shot, patterns are spread very thin beyond 25m.
Actually, patterns with the Federal load average 65 percent at 25m. For field use I much prefer 6s rather than 4s for their increased pattern density.
The Hanic’s receiver is drilled and tapped for a scope mount, so I attached a compact Aimpoint H1 red dot sight to try rifled slugs. The red dot is quicker than the irons to point and aim with.
In the past, I found .410 slug loads to be pretty much like the 86gn bullet in the .25-20. They proved to be capable of taking foxes out to 50m, particularly when using the red dot sight.
Undoubtedly, the little .410-bore shell is reasonably capable of getting the job done when the right load is used.
Winchester’s 2½” slug loads in the Hanic shot well through the modified choke. At 25 metres three 93gn slugs grouped into 1½”. On the 50yd target, three slugs landed in 2½”. That’s pretty impressive accuracy from a smoothbore, and ideal for vermin like foxes, but at around $20 per 25 shots they’re a bit expensive to waste on target practice unless you reload.
The Hanic .410 should be effective on small game out to 30 metres or so.
Camp meat provider and just plain fun to shoot, the Hanic .410 lever action is a quick-handling repeater that will appeal to adults and youngsters alike for hunting situations where a larger gauge may be too much gun and the .410 may offer an ideal alternative.
Finally, the Hanic is a well-made, nicely balanced firearm.
SPECIFICATIONS
- Manufacturer: FSM, Turkey
- Type: Lever-action repeating shotgun
- Calibre: .410 bore
- Magazine capacity: Five 2½” .410 shotshells
- Barrel: 24” smoothbore; fixed modified choke
- Overall length: 42.32” (1075mm)
- Weight empty: 6.75lb (3.6kg)
- Length of pull: 14” (355mm)
- Stock: Turkish walnut, un-chequered
- Finish: Deep blue-black
- Sights: Fully adjustable rear; tapered blade front; action drilled and tapped for Winchester 94 Angle Eject bases
- Trigger: Non-adjustable, single-stage
- Safety: Rebounding hammer, two-position button on upper tang; trigger pin
- Indicative price: $1400
- Distributor: Hunt’s Shooting Supplies
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