glockky
Member
Whats your opinion on a Handi Rifle. I was thinking of picking one up to play with in 22-250. What have your experiences been?
Handi Rifle
- Thread starter glockky
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i had a very old one, early 80s or so i think, in .30-30 and loved that little rifle/shotgun. Ive heard the new ones arnt that great, but the only one i ever handled seemed like a pretty solid little rifle, if a bit lacking in fit.
But that's no so much a factor of the rifle but hte shoother since you have to completely reacquire the target and re-aim between shots. When all that matters is putting the first shot where it's aimed, they do fine. Accuracy vs. precision.
I have never had a problem with my .25-06...........
doubleh
Member
I've had two. They are long gone. I know they must make some good guns as a lot of people brag on them. I just didn't manage to get one either time.
One was so-so. The other was the most inaccurate rifle I've ever owned and nothing would make it better. I won't take a chance on another.
One was so-so. The other was the most inaccurate rifle I've ever owned and nothing would make it better. I won't take a chance on another.
I had the 45/70 ultra hunter and it was very accurate. That said you had to yank the trigger really hard to get it to strike the primer. I traded it off and they said that has been happening a lot with those rifles. I won't buy another one, it caused me to almost lose an eight point! Dysfunctional transfer bar system to say the least.
hardluk1
member
A good friend got one of these in .243, and I've shot it just about as much as they have. I can't see why anyone would purchase one of these over one of the similar priced bolt actions. Just looking it over, the trigger is pretty rough, but I know I've read some of them have decent triggers, while others are horrible. Other than that appearance wise it looks nice, that is until you go to shoot it.
The first time they shot it, it was kicking open after each shot and shooting the spent case back into your face. This was a serious safety concern. After looking around online, we found that this is a very common problem, and the only solution seems to be that you need to have the breach face completely dry or it does this. So they cleaned it and got it completely dry and clean, and it seems to have fixed it. It's still one of those things where it seems like a half assed solution, and every time you fire it, you wonder if it's going to do it again. Always, I repeat always wear eye protection with these rifles.
After they got that fixed, they went to sight it in and noticed every couple of shots the spent case would stick in the chamber, and they would have to knock it out with a cleaning rod. This time they sent it to a gunsmith. He checked it out, and said the chamber wasn't cut deep enough, and it was way out of spec. So he cut the chamber deeper so that it would meet SAAMI spec. Upon return it still does this occasionally, but not nearly as much. So we got online and did a search for this problem, only to find out that it's also a very common issue. No one seems to really know how to fix this other than recommending you cut a notch in the barrel so that you can get a knife or screwdriver behind the rim of the case to pull it out when it does this. The solution of others was to take a cleaning rod with them to the stand. Many of the reports I'd read were from people who had sent their rifles back to the factory only for them to return with the same issue, others who had sent theirs to a gunsmith only to have the same issue, and others who had tried stuff themselves and had no real solution. Apparently, on the newer ones they have a notch cut there from the factory so that you can get the shell out, or at least that's what the reports of the new ones I've read say. Who the hell wants to buy a rifle where you have to pry the shell out? Not me. These things just don't seem to be good at all when it comes to the mechanical aspect of them.
Onto the accuracy aspect, it's more accurate than I expected, but still not what I'd consider good. I read report after report of guys getting 4-6" groups at 100 yard. This one shoots around 1.5" groups on a regular basis with handloads, and approximately 2" groups with factory Winchester Power Point ammo. IMO this isn't great, but it's certainly better than what I've seen reports of some other people shooting. I occasionally see reports of great groups, but they seem to be rare.
My friends brother has one in 45/70, and this one ejects the shells properly, but they never shoot it because it shot so poorly that they never could get enough of a group to sight it in with the scope. It just shot all over the place.
All in all, I know our local Walmart had these on clearance recently for $270, and I don't understand why anyone would pay that for one. They are unreliable, they aren't accurate, and they aren't even that cheap. If it was $100 I could understand because you can't get anything else for that price. However, at this price, you can get a Savage Axis/Edge or even better a Stevens 200 in that price range, that will not be a single shot, will be a lot more accurate, and won't have any of these mechanical issues. Or for an extra $130 you could get a Savage 10 with the accu trigger, and have a gun that's 20x better than these pieces of junk. I just couldn't honestly recommend one of these Handi Rifles to anyone.
That said, I've read posts on the Greybear Outdoors forum of guys that like them, but if you read the posts, most all of them are constantly working on theirs trying to get them to shoot decently. Who wants to do all of this work on these guns, when in the end you still have a single shot that will never shoot nearly as good, or be as reliable as several of the similar priced bolt actions out there? The answer is, not me.
The first time they shot it, it was kicking open after each shot and shooting the spent case back into your face. This was a serious safety concern. After looking around online, we found that this is a very common problem, and the only solution seems to be that you need to have the breach face completely dry or it does this. So they cleaned it and got it completely dry and clean, and it seems to have fixed it. It's still one of those things where it seems like a half assed solution, and every time you fire it, you wonder if it's going to do it again. Always, I repeat always wear eye protection with these rifles.
After they got that fixed, they went to sight it in and noticed every couple of shots the spent case would stick in the chamber, and they would have to knock it out with a cleaning rod. This time they sent it to a gunsmith. He checked it out, and said the chamber wasn't cut deep enough, and it was way out of spec. So he cut the chamber deeper so that it would meet SAAMI spec. Upon return it still does this occasionally, but not nearly as much. So we got online and did a search for this problem, only to find out that it's also a very common issue. No one seems to really know how to fix this other than recommending you cut a notch in the barrel so that you can get a knife or screwdriver behind the rim of the case to pull it out when it does this. The solution of others was to take a cleaning rod with them to the stand. Many of the reports I'd read were from people who had sent their rifles back to the factory only for them to return with the same issue, others who had sent theirs to a gunsmith only to have the same issue, and others who had tried stuff themselves and had no real solution. Apparently, on the newer ones they have a notch cut there from the factory so that you can get the shell out, or at least that's what the reports of the new ones I've read say. Who the hell wants to buy a rifle where you have to pry the shell out? Not me. These things just don't seem to be good at all when it comes to the mechanical aspect of them.
Onto the accuracy aspect, it's more accurate than I expected, but still not what I'd consider good. I read report after report of guys getting 4-6" groups at 100 yard. This one shoots around 1.5" groups on a regular basis with handloads, and approximately 2" groups with factory Winchester Power Point ammo. IMO this isn't great, but it's certainly better than what I've seen reports of some other people shooting. I occasionally see reports of great groups, but they seem to be rare.
My friends brother has one in 45/70, and this one ejects the shells properly, but they never shoot it because it shot so poorly that they never could get enough of a group to sight it in with the scope. It just shot all over the place.
All in all, I know our local Walmart had these on clearance recently for $270, and I don't understand why anyone would pay that for one. They are unreliable, they aren't accurate, and they aren't even that cheap. If it was $100 I could understand because you can't get anything else for that price. However, at this price, you can get a Savage Axis/Edge or even better a Stevens 200 in that price range, that will not be a single shot, will be a lot more accurate, and won't have any of these mechanical issues. Or for an extra $130 you could get a Savage 10 with the accu trigger, and have a gun that's 20x better than these pieces of junk. I just couldn't honestly recommend one of these Handi Rifles to anyone.
That said, I've read posts on the Greybear Outdoors forum of guys that like them, but if you read the posts, most all of them are constantly working on theirs trying to get them to shoot decently. Who wants to do all of this work on these guns, when in the end you still have a single shot that will never shoot nearly as good, or be as reliable as several of the similar priced bolt actions out there? The answer is, not me.
TexasPatriot.308
Member
I had one in .22-250, even with good optics, it shot all over the place. basically you get what you pay for. a buddy bought an identical rifle, he loves his. we both have lots of nice firearms, but he likes his, I replaced mine with a Ruger No. 1 .22-250, again I did get what I paid for, a beautiful accurate varmint type rifle. my handi rifle would sometimes break open when I fired too. unloaded it at a pawn shop. I can just imagine shooting one in large calibers like .45-70, it should kick like a mule.
hardluk1
member
Stuck case's can be easy to fix with a battery drill some metal polish, cloth and a bore brush. Wrap a a large patch around a brush add a good amount of bj's bore paste or mothes mag polish to the cloth patch, tigh'n into a drill and let it polish away. Just keep moveing the brush in and out. You may have to do that several time . Clean up . It will smooth up many extraction problems.
I have two Handi Rifles. One is a .30-06. I have a Nikon Buckmasters 3-9x40 scope on it. I have experienced none of the problems mentioned. Over the last four seasons I have killed seven deer and one coyote with it. When I bought it I beleive I paid a little over $200 for it including a Tasco 3-9 scope.
My other Handi Rifle is a .50 caliber muzzleloader with an additional 357 magnum barrel. I have killed two deer with the .50 caliber. The only problem I have had with the muzzleloader is that if I don't get the flash hole clean enough, it will sometimes hangfire. But if I keep it clean, no problem. The scope on the muzzleloader barrel is the one that originally came with my .30-06.
I hit all of the deer I shot with both guns right where I was aiming. The range varied from 25 to 125 yards. All were one shot kills. Some dropped in their tracks. None ran more than 100 yards.
My other Handi Rifle is a .50 caliber muzzleloader with an additional 357 magnum barrel. I have killed two deer with the .50 caliber. The only problem I have had with the muzzleloader is that if I don't get the flash hole clean enough, it will sometimes hangfire. But if I keep it clean, no problem. The scope on the muzzleloader barrel is the one that originally came with my .30-06.
I hit all of the deer I shot with both guns right where I was aiming. The range varied from 25 to 125 yards. All were one shot kills. Some dropped in their tracks. None ran more than 100 yards.
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