School me on Single Shots

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Rocketmedic

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So I found and put eyes and hands on a Rossi Youth .243 single shot rifle with fiber optic sights and a scope mount, and it got me thinking....why not a single shot for centuries target shooting when I don't want to take the Mosin out? What's the deal with single shots? Your thoughts?

It would be a generic do-most rifle, augmenting my 22s and my Mosin. Might sell my 12g to finance it.
 

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Single shots in general are great fun but the Rossi's and H&R single shots are really hit or miss on accuracy. There is a lot of things you can do to improve on the accuracy of them but the barrels are not much for quality so there isn't much foundation there for accuracy. The method of lockup that is used on those two tend to be prone to stringing shots. The more expensive break action rifles like Thompson Center and CVA apex rifles work a little different and are generally very accurate and high quality.

If the lockup on it is right I would expect 3-4" 100 yard groups. If not it could be 6-8" groups. By playing with floating the forend they can often be made to shoot 2-3 inches and sometimes even better. I got rid of all my handi rifles except 1 which is a 444 marlin with a nice birch stock. After an extensive amount of tinkering its a 1-1/2 moa gun but the point of impact moves down by 2" or so as the barrel heats up. It took alot of work to make that happen and I've been battling weak hammer springs along the way. First shot is a bullseye and after that you have to compensate for impact shift. Its one of my favorite rifles regardless. I personally wouldn't pay as much as they want for that Rossi even if it was new. Mabey $150. I think the H&R's are nicer guns. If you just want trouble free accuracy one of the low cost bolt guns on the market would serve you better.
 
It's not gotta be awesome for accuracy, those groups sound fine. I really like the idea of making a box of ammo last a while, and if I move, a single shot is about as inoffensive as it can get.
 
someguy2800 said:
Single shots in general are great fun but the Rossi's and H&R single shots are really hit or miss on accuracy. There is a lot of things you can do to improve on the accuracy of them but the barrels are not much for quality so there isn't much foundation there for accuracy. The method of lockup that is used on those two tend to be prone to stringing shots. The more expensive break action rifles like Thompson Center and CVA apex rifles work a little different and are generally very accurate and high quality.

If the lockup on it is right I would expect 3-4" 100 yard groups. If not it could be 6-8" groups. By playing with floating the forend they can often be made to shoot 2-3 inches and sometimes even better. I got rid of all my handi rifles except 1 which is a 444 marlin with a nice birch stock. After an extensive amount of tinkering its a 1-1/2 moa gun but the point of impact moves down by 2" or so as the barrel heats up. It took alot of work to make that happen and I've been battling weak hammer springs along the way. First shot is a bullseye and after that you have to compensate for impact shift. Its one of my favorite rifles regardless. I personally wouldn't pay as much as they want for that Rossi even if it was new. Mabey $150. I think the H&R's are nicer guns. If you just want trouble free accuracy one of the low cost bolt guns on the market would serve you better.
Click to expand...
Throw on top of that that they are a PITA to take apart to do a trigger job on-I had a .223 Survivor that I did a trigger job on. Not fun, and in the end, really not worth it. Never got better than 2" at 100 yds, with handloads worked up for that twist (1:12), with 40 and 50 gr. bullets. I sold it when I needed a vehicle, and when I finally replaced it, it was with a Savage Axis that is more accurate with heavier bullets (1:9 twist), and I haven't done any trigger work to it.
They are good "walk through the woods" guns; I wouldn't mind one in .22 Hornet or .25-20.....
 
Ive worked with two of those Rossi now. One was a 5-8" gun, the other is a consistent 1-3" gun with winchester 100grn power points, and duplicate loads with sierra and hornady 100grn softpoints, producing 1-1.5".

One thing about break action single shots is they flex and try to pop open, one with good lockup this is pretty consistent.
Also some thing to consider, the higher the thrust the more flex, so ive generally found that lower end loads produce better accuracy, and loads near max tend to open up suddenly.

Now take into account the two piece, offten soft plastic stocks, and you can see more issues with consistency.

That said they offten produce acceptable, to very good accuracy, with the higher end models being more consistent.
 
I like single shots. I have a Handi Rifle in .357 mag that’s a hoot. And I’m looking forward to getting my hands on one of the new Henry single shots. No experience with the Rossi.
 
I don't have any center fire single shots, but love my .22 single shots. It's a fun way to make 100 rounds last an entire hour, and they really make you slow down and appreciate each shot which will lead to better accuracy. I used to have a Contender .223 "Super 14" handgun that was also a lot of fun, but really only good for bench shooting.

For center fire I'd probably skip the Rossi in favor of an TC Encore, unless I just wanted a cheap groundhog gun to keep in my truck.
 
Single-shots are awesome! I prefer TC Arms, but also like H&R, NEF, Ruger.

Geno
 
I see all this crap about how the h&r's are not good shooters funny thing is I've owned a bunch of them and every one I had was really accurate, maybe its because I reload my shells so I can find the sweet spot!!
 
oh well, worth a shot lol
if you get the chance have her handle one of the nicer singles. Ill put good money on it that she'll decide she likes them.
They are much more impressive in person that in theory.
 
There's always the NEW Henry single shot rifles...

They look pretty nice, from what I've seen in picts.

DM
 
The H&R's that pop open upon firing have a simple fix. Clean the oil off of the locking block and latch. Done.

All my Handi's are quite accurate, like one to one and a half MOA.

To bad they quit making 'em.


Cat
 
So I spied a .243 Handi-Rifle at a local pawn shop for $180 or so, with a scope, looks clean. Worth it?
 
That's a negatory from me. About 8 years ago I was hunting deer with a T/C Encore, and after taking a shot, the brass would not extract. I still needed to keep hunting (had more tags) but had to go home instead as I had no rod in the pickup to push the brass out. Divested of my Encore and other SSs after that. Also have had brass stick in the chamber in NEF Handis at the range. Maybe with a low pressure round (.35 rem / .30-30 ish on down), they'd be a viable tool, but too much risk of a ruined hunt if any debris gets in the chamber with a high pressure bottle necked round. There's a *reason* turnbolts are THE hunting rifle style and high on the list of their many benefits is positive extraction in the worst conditions.
 
It can and does happen to all styles of weapons...

I had a guy bring into my shop a Ruger 77 with a stuck case in the chamber, (factory load) it had ruined his hunt too... He couldn't get it out with a cleaning rod, he had also tried a dowel and broke it off at the muzzle...

I also had a Remington 700 come into my shop with a stuck case in the chamber...

chithappens!

DM
 
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