I recently purchased a NEF Handi-rifle in .223. I am wondering if anyone has a similar rifle, and what kind of groups you get with it? Do you have a favorite load that works well for you? I can shoot one inch groups with factory ammo. I am going to develope some loads for it and see what it can do.

Elkhntr: I personally don't have a .223 Handi, but I thought you might want to know about the H&R forum. A quick search there will get you a lot of info about Handi's, including accuracy issues and loads:


http://www.hr1871.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi

Good luck with it!

Shot these groups with my NEF HB .223 sorry about the 82 yds that was prior to getting my 100yd range set-up.
Second group was shot @ 100yds with RL-10x if you need more info email me. Good luck

I own several Handis; .22mag, .30-30, .223bullbarrel, .223regular synthetic and a brand new, as yet unfired .243 laminated.

Each of mine were purchased after other folks traded them in for not grouping well.

The .223 regular weight will group Winchester "varmint pack" from WALLY WORLD under 3/4" every time, I shot over 30 sub 1" groups with it. It also shoots the Federal 55 gr. fmj. about the same. It won't shoot anything over 55 gr. PERIOD!!! You can shoot about 3 or 4 quick shoots before it starts to verticlly string the shots. Don't forget to give it some wear, none of mine really started to shine until 200 rounds or better.

The .30-30 shoots like a .308, out to about 175 yds. lol. I've taken several 'yotes over 150 yds. and a couple right at 200. It loves Winchester/ silver box cheapos/ 150 gr. hp.

The bull barrel .223 just never did get off the ground, my brother has had it for a couple of years and I don't care if he ever brings it back.

The .22mag shoots REM/33gr/PREMIERS very well, around .33"@50 yds. Surprisingly, it will shoot Armscor 40 gr. sp. or hp. on avg. .25" at 50, from sand bags no wind.

I am in the process of lapping the new .243, I want see how that will help the process.

My friends used to make fun of my .223, a $150.00 rifle, wearing a $275.00 scope, till they saw it shoot.

All in all, I would say the little .22 mag was the best $100.00 I ever spent on a firearm. Day before yesterday I fired 6 shots and killed 5 squirrels, all but 1 head shots. All were over 50 yds. and 1 was at least 75.

These little rifles sometimes have issues, none that can't usually be handled at home, for cheap. I just thats the price you pay for a low cost hunting tool.

The .22 mag and the .223 both wear Bushnell 4x12x40 A.O. scopes in KWIK-SITE rings on factory bases.

Mine seems to do it's best work with 40gr Nosler Ballistic Tips, and a stiff load of Win 748.

My rifle has a very long throat. What OAL have you guys been loading in .223?

I can't seem to get my rifle to shoot anything over 55 grains either. I'm assuming its becasue of the slow twist. I am trying to develope a load with H 335 and Hornady 50 grain SP's. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

I have been able to chamber a cartridge with the bullet in the case just enough to hold it, maybe .015". It has a VERY long throat. It shoots best with about .06" in the case.

Talk to Jeff223 on the NEF Board. He can make Handi .223s shoot like $700 dollar guns.

There is a yahoo group for NEF rifles, when you join they send you this:

The following are a few steps to help increase the accuracy of these wonderful single shot rifles:
First thing to increase accuracy is floating the barrel.

This is done in two steps. First step is to go to Home Depot or Auto Zone and get a flat piece of rubber material. It only has to be 1/16" to 1/8" thick. Cut a hole in the rubber large enough to slide over the forend hanger lug. This will fit between the barrel and the forend. Just snug it up, don't crank down on it.
Second step (this is optional) is to sand some of the stock material out of the forend to make sure it doesn't touch the barrel. I like to put two business cards together and be able to slide them between the stock and barrel without obstruction.

Second thing is trigger job.

There are many homemade recipes for reducing trigger pull, but the safest and best way is send it H&R 1871 Inc. They will bring the pull down to 3 pounds free of charge. You pay shipping though. For a small extra fee, they will reduce it lower that 3 pounds. Another option is to take the rifle to a qualified gunsmith. The fee is usually $25 to $40. Being that the NEF has a solid, one-piece receiver, it makes assembly difficult, it can be done though with much patience and loss of hair.

Third thing is bed the scope mount.

This is optional, but you definitely need to take the screws off and put Loc-Tite on the screws and tighten them down real good.
To bed the scope mount, remove the mount from the barrel. Also take the scope and rings off the rail. Drill two small holes in the end of the mount that hangs over the end of the chamber. Don't drill all the through. Just make them shallow holes. Also rough up the same are with some 60 grit sand paper. This gives more surface area for the epoxy to grab. Now spray the top of the barrel at the chamber area with Pam cooking spray. This is the release agent. Clean the bottom of the rail with acetone or gun scrubber, it has to be squeaky clean for the epoxy to stick. Now mount the scope rail and screw it down tight. Mix up the epoxy (I use JB Weld) and press it down into the space between the barrel and rail. Some tape on the sides will help hold the epoxy in. Let it set up for an hour or so, then clean the excess with a popsicle stick and some acetone. Now let it set up over night. Next day you can take it off and clean it up with a file and sandpaper.

Fourth thing is location of sandbags.

When shooting from the bench, make sure that your rest is moved as far back as possible. This will make things more consistent from shot to shot.

This should get you started. I suggest before doing any of these modifications, take the rifle to the range and put 30-40 rounds through it and see how it shoots. It may shoot good right out of the box.

I have one CF rifle, a stainless/synthetic .243. I put a Burris 3-9 Fullfield II on it. It does not like Winchester factory 100 grain ammo. Besides shooting 3 inch groups, it had problems with extracting/ejecting about every other case. It did better extracting/ejecting Remington cheapo 100 grain ammo, but groups were maybe 2.5 inches. I experienced no failures to eject with a box of Federal basic 100 grain ammo and it grouped about 1.7 inches.

Have any of you seen a Handi Rifle with peep sights? I might be interested in one, if I could find a good peep outfit to put on it. Peeps are just so much fun to shoot.