Inexpensive .223 single shot rifle on my radar

Which one or comment on "Other" not listed

  • Rossi .223 w/ heavy varmint barrel

    Votes: 3 7.3%

  • H&R 1871 Handi-Rifle .223

    Votes: 24 58.5%

  • Rossi Wizard Centerfire Rifle .223

    Votes: 1 2.4%

  • CVA Elite Stalker .223

    Votes: 6 14.6%

  • Other

    Votes: 7 17.1%
  • Total voters
    41
  • Poll closed .
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Bullseye

Bullseye

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Jan 2, 2008
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1,598
Which one of the poll entries would you get or if you own one of these, can you give a short review.
There are times, I'd like to use .223 for groundhog or crows and wouldn't mind having one handy for other varmints around the house and getting out the AR just seems to be a little bit much.
I have other rifles for more serious surgical shots but for 200.00 - 300.00 bucks some of these are tempting me in that range.
 
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I can't see the poll on my phone but I have a Rossi Wizard in .223 that shoots pretty nice with my hand loads. It was under $200 at my lgs.
 
I can't speak to the quality of the CVA, but Cabela's will be selling a break action CVA Hunter in .223 for $170. That's a tough price to beat.

Personally, if this were two years ago, I would have gone with the H&R because you could have also gotten extra barrels in other chamberings back in the day.

Another good thing Freedom Group had to kill.
 
srtolly ... it's in the poll
Have to check that out with Cabelas.
Durn ... another trip to Cabelas :banghead: lol
 
The H&R won't let you down.

They also aren't made anymore, but can still be found for cheap and the parts are EVERYWHERE.

Excellent guns for the money.
 
I have concluded, after handling and shooting a handful of examples, that the Rossi's are not made to a quality level acceptable to me. I don't mind shooting a cheap gun but I won't shoot a gun that has such a poor build quality that it scares me.

The H&R is a solid bet if you get one that is reasonably accurate out of the chute. The Contender G2 would be a good bet, but it's a very pricey option well outside of your range. Frankly, for less than $300 most folk just buy a cheap used Savage 10 derivative.
 
My H&R is in 300 Blackout and is a handy Texas pig shooter, I gave my .223 Handi to a friend it was a tack driver but was definitely chambered for .223 and not 5.56. A 223 cartridge would chamber and extract without difficulty but a 5.56 required a cleaning rod to remove a fired case. If I trimmed my hand loads the 5.56, brass would chamber and extract like normal.
 
I picked up a Thompson Center "Encore" with 2 barrels. .223 and .44 Magnum. The .223 barrel is 24" and wicked accurate. Used, I've seen them go for $250 to $350 with 1 barrel. I got mine with the 2 barrels in a local pawn shop for just under $425.

Not the cheapest singleshot but considering the accuracy I'm getting it was worth it.

I carry a .44 special revolver so having a rifle that can fire the same cartridge comes in handy at times. With only a screwdriver, you can swap barrels in less than 5 minutes. Any mounted optics stay with the barrel.

Jim
 
I also have the Thompson Contender with the .223 barrel, and it too is very, very accurate. Not sure if you have the Contender or the Encore, however you can get the barrel from Ed's Contender's out of Nebraska I believe for right at $200-300.00.
 
cheap scope on a cheap rifle results:

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my handirifle is a pretty good shooter.

murf
 

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Handi is probably a 1:12 twist. Great for the 45 grain varmint bullets.
 
you know the drill, sigsmoker: pics and a range report!

hope you get a good shooter.

murf
 
I'll let ya know how it goes on the range. The Dad must have taught the kid a good life lesson as it was new two weeks before it came back to the shop. He just shot it without his hearing protection and back to the shop they went.
Dad was tough but I admire him for that. The kid has a good Dad and will he be more careful from now on, taking firearm safety more seriously.
I am sure this is a little rifle, youth model, but I can adjust to shooting it. I'll see what scope it deserves down the pike.
I have one of those BSA Sweet .223 scopes to get me started.
$192 bucks shipped isn't bad at all and I am picking up some handguns at the same time so transfer should be combined if I do it same day.
I guess if it is a really good shooter I could always get a boyds stock for it.
 
murf, I got out there with it and had a hard time getting my scope to hit the paper at 100 yds. I only had so many cartridges and have to do it again starting out at 25 yds to get zero-ed in.
The rifle has a new varmint buttstock and a BSA sweet .223 on top. Ejects the cases almost as good as the bullets go out the other end. :eek:
I was in a hurry. Next time I get out, I'll post a pic of the target and rifle.
The whole idea behind this was to put together a groundhog gun for a small amount of money. Now the idea is to be able to shoot the groundhog at 200-300 yds. Might need a different scope. Not so confident with this BSA on top.
 
yup, if you don't put your hand behind the barrel it will eject the empty back over your shoulder.

make sure the scope rail is tight to the top of the barrel. the mounting screws may be a bit loose.

lock time on these rifles is on the long side. a good follow-through is essential.

murf

p.s. make sure the stock doesn't move on the receiver. the fit back there can be a little off. make sure the bolt is tight and check for movement often until you're sure it stays tight.
 
I have a couple of those, one with a taper barrel and one with a 22 inch bull barrel. They are both lights out when I pull the trigger. Makes it hard to miss.;) Mine are both 1 in 9 twist NEF Handi Rifles.
 
Just to update ( 5 months later ) ... Here's what I ended up doing with it and it shoots awesome with 40 gr Hornady V-max bullets and 27.1 gr Benchmark.

picture.php
 
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