H&R anybody?

[CoastieShep]

Anybody have any experience with these rifles? Walmart has one in .243 with a cheap, no name scope. It feels and handles nice, seems pretty solid, has a nice heavy barrel on it. All for $270. I like the top break single shot idea and the price. It's going to be my deer/hog gun. So, anybody have any experience? Thanks, and here's a link to who Im talking about.
http://www.hr1871.com/Firearms/Rifles/youth.asp

 

[Boomie]

I have some old (H&R, pre H&R1871) ones and I love them. Last year I got one of the new .243 "Ultravarmint" rifles in .243. The foreend was crooked and the trigger had a 12+# pull. Sending it to the factory improved the trigger pull but then (after a 6 month wait) it wouldn't reliably ignite rounds. Between the trips to the gunsmith, the trips to the factory and all the ammo I burned through trying to see if the problem was the ammo or the rifle I could have bought a Savage, Remington or Howa .243.

I would not buy again.

 

[rbernie]

I have a handful of recent-production H&R's, some made in the old plant in Gartner, MA and one made on the Remington campus in Ilion.

None are absolute tack drivers, but they all shoot well enough for hunting and I think very well of them. I use the lowest Rifleman rings and a Leupold VX-1 2x-7x on them; that combination costs me less than five bills total for the whole package, is rugged and reliable, and puts the optic at the correct plane for a proper cheek weld.

I prefer the H&R to the other bolt guns in the same price range for several reasons; they carry better afield (and I still-hunt instead of stand hunting), they are shorter/handier, and other than optics and a sling none of mine have needed anything else to make them hunt-worthy. I cannot claim the latter for my Stevens 200, which came with a stock that was absolutely untenable for anything other than the most casual of bench use, and the bottom-end ATR appears to suffer from the same poor furniture issues as the Stevens.

Are there better rifles? Sure. But none that can be had in 'ready to hunt' condition for less than twice the cost of an H&R.

 

[thunder173]

Both my pre Remington H&R .223 and .308 barrels will cut 1/2 inch 3 shot groups at 100 yards when I do my part,..and have put deer down DRT. Are there better? Most certainly. Would they do for taking anything out to 300 yards,..I haven't done so,..yet,..as most of our hunting shots up here are more likley under 100 yards,....but I would not hesitate using it to do that.

A lot of folks would belittle the old top break design because it doesn't cost an arm or leg,..and isn't anything near tacit-cool,...but,..some of us old farm boys can and do still use them with pretty good results. Get one that works,..you'll never part with it. About as simple as simple can get..and as reliable as you could ever want.

Just .02,...ymmv of course.

 

[FLNT4EVR]

I have 6 and will have more.They are a tough , dependable, and accurate rifle.If you buy one ,you will buy more. Go to www.graybeardoutdoors. and click on the forums.Then scroll down to the NEF, H&R section .Every thing you ever wanted to know about the Handy rifles can be found there, and they are a real friendly group of people,always willing to help all who stop by.

 

[CoastieShep]

Well thanks everybody. Hopefully I'll have better luck than Boomie and get a good one. I do like the simplicity of the rifle. Very little to go wrong, makes cleaning that much easier. Oh and one more thing, I generally hate anything that says "tactical" on it. Actually broke out laughing the other day when reading a bow hunting magazine and saw a tactical hip holster for a bow. I think that's just taking it way to far now.

 

[Klusterbuck]

Not an H&R Rifle, but an H&R Ultra Slug Gun....... I love it, but I'm just a poor country boy.....

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I have a Handi Rifle. It's a synthetic .280 Rem I bought about eight years ago for $155. I like it just fine. Like has been said, it's not a moa shooter, but I can get 1 1/2" to 2" groups all day and that's plenty for deer huntin. I think they're a great value. I'm thinking about getting one of the stainless models in .243 myself for the wife and little one to use.

 

[conhntr]

I have a 22hornet/243(ultra 24")/45-70. All weaer bases no sights. It has the laminate brown stock. The 243 was sighted in but needed the scope on another rifle. The 22hornet was shooting 1.5" at 100 and the 45-70 a bit over 2" (probably better but hard to shoot due to recoil. Both had weaver fixed 6x scopes. When at the factory i also had the trigger job which gives it a trigger about equivelent to most stock bolt guns

The rimmed cartriges seem to be the best i (and many others) have had issues with the more modern catriges i.e 243 with fqilures to extract

Btw the gun (no scopes) is for sale!

 

[TexasPatriot.308]

my hunting buddy and I bought identical SS handi rifles in .22-250, his is a tack driver,, mine wont shoot with even real good optics, but still not a bad rifle but still got rid of it, stepped up (quite a bit) and got me a Ruger #1 Varmint in .22-250, helluva shooter, also sometimes when I fired, the action would break over open on its own, kind of scary.

 

[Boomie]

Well thanks everybody. Hopefully I'll have better luck than Boomie and get a good one. I do like the simplicity of the rifle. Very little to go wrong, makes cleaning that much easier. Oh and one more thing, I generally hate anything that says "tactical" on it. Actually broke out laughing the other day when reading a bow hunting magazine and saw a tactical hip holster for a bow. I think that's just taking it way to far now.

As bad as my experience was, you should be fine as long as you don't do what I did and buy one site-unseen over the internet (Gallery of Guns in this case). Go to a bricks-and-mortar store and actually try out the trigger first. A lot. Even better, find a used pre-Remington one.

 

[doubleh]

I bought one in .223 several years ago. Spent about two years trying to get a decent group. Several brands of factory ammo and many, many different handloads and I never got a good group with the thing. Never got it to shoot good enough at 50 yards to try at 100 yards. I know what the problem was but figured I would get the "it's within specifications" thing if I sent it in and I was so disgusted I just wanted rid of it. Traded it for a Stevens 200 which immediately gave me .6 -.7 inch groups at 100 yards with some of the handloads that wouldn't group in the Handi. I know a lot of people love them but one was enough for me. Oh yes, that same load gives me .25 -.4 inch groups in a Contender G2.

 

[conhntr]

Like i said i think they are great for 22hornet, 30-30, 45-70. Not good for putting a siper heavy barrel on because they will only end up as accurate as a sporter wright bolt gun anyway

For a budget priced superlight? Try to see what you can findmin the low 5# range that will shoot any better for even 3x the money

 

[BigDeesul]

I just picked up a handi-rifle chambered in .204 Ruger, and unfortunately I haven't had the chance to shoot it yet. Paid $199 brand new, and it seems like a hell of a deal.

 

[HOOfan_1]

My dad bought one in .223 and sent it to their/Remington's factory to have it fitted for a .357 barrel and a .22 Hornet barrel as well. It has killed probably 7-10 groundhogs with the .223 barrel. Ranges from 15 yards to 200 yards. The trigger is actually not that great...very heavy. Never seemed to notice it when I was nailing ground hogs, but when I took it to the range, my shooting was not that great because the trigger was so heavy.

Awesome gun for the price though. Plenty accurate enough to kill a deer

 

[Benmarine]

!!worst gun i ever bought!!

I loved the idea of a small compact light rifle for hunting in the backcountry of the wilderness areas here in Washington State. Hence the 243 handy rifle I bought about 4 years ago. Sadly, my buddy thought I was on to something so he bought one too in 308. My experience was 12 – 24 inch groups at 100 yards misfires about every 10 rounds and before I got thorough the first box of ammo, an action that broke open every time I fired a round (nope not shooting hot loads) . Good gun? My buddy’s experienced a fabulous 14 inch group at 100 yards in a straight vertical pattern and, finally, just like mine the action breaking open every time he shot. He sent his back and had it “Fixed” when it was returned the same vertical group and this time BOOM! The action shattered on the 10th round, as in the gun Broke. These things are such C$%P they are not even worth the money returning them to get fixed, nor will we sell unsafe guns. Soooo you may get lucky but would say STAY AWAY:banghead:.

 

[cwbjaxfl]

i bought one form walmart about 3 months ago for shooting yotes with and its the .223 heavy barrel handi rifle and with .55gr vmax, its a tack driver.

 

[Armored farmer]

I've been really happy with my H&R slug guns here in (slug-only) Illinois. I bought a Handi-Rifle in 30-06 for a Ont moose hunt a few years back. It is rugged, short, idiot proof.
With no wind, not too much coffee, a good rest, tongue out corner of mouth, one eye closed, it is minute of paper plate accurate at 300 yds with a 3x9 Bushnell mil-dot. Maybe not the most accurate rifle in the rack, but good enough for me.
BTW
The H&R performed flawlessly on my hunt. Seven days in the bush...all we saw were tracks. lol

 

[JShirley]

this time BOOM! The action shattered on the 10th round

Benmarine, what ammo were you using, and do you have pics?

John