What the hecks up with NEF??

[9 m&m]

My dads had TWO New England rifles before. Both of them were horribly inaccurate. The two rifles were a .22 magnum and a .243. He tried SEVERAL types of ammo in each rifle and none of them were any kind of accurate. Pretty sure it wasnt the scope cuz eveything was tight and he had a nice scope with steel rings. What could possibly be wrong with them??? He has gotten rid of both of them but the reason Im asking is because I am currently wanting a .22 mag single shot that is pretty accurate, so any help would be appriciated.

 

[crawfordew]

I don't own one myself so I can't speak from personal experience but I've seen numerous posts on other forums complaining about them being chambered with very deep throats. A bunch of bullet jump to get to the rifling can't help accuracy much. FWIW
Gene

 

[JShirley]

9mm,

What kind of groups does your Dad typically get?

 

[Brian Williams]

I have 2 243's in my house that are 1 moa and 1.25 moa out to 200yds. try the rubber O ring between the barrel and foreend.

 

[9 m&m]

At 100 yds. he is getting around 5-6 inch groups

 

[7.62FullMetalJacket]

Well, I would direct you to the H&R Forum, but they pulled the plug.

I have heard consistent good marks for accuracy out of the handi-rifle. I have one in 45/70, which is considerably larger than a 22 WMR, and a centerfire. 1.5" MOA with that beast with open sights is good in my book.

 

[Balog]

No offense, but what kind of groups does your Dad get with other rifles?

 

[JShirley]

(thanks- that was actually my question, too)

 

[David4516]

I have the NEF "Ultra" .22 WMR and LOVE it. It's my most accurate rifle. I can shoot 3/8 inch groups at 50 yards. I let my friend try it (he is a better shot) and he got 1/4 inch groups at 50 yards. I've also tried it at 100 yards, got about 1 inch groups, and even with the 50 yard zero there was very little bullet drop (maybe half an inch)...

I'm a .22 WMR fan, mostly because of this rifle

On the other hand, I have heard horror stories of NEF lemons. I think another friend of mine ended up with one. He's got one in .308 Winchester that just doesn't want to group...

I think that most NEF rifles out there are pretty good however, and I plan on getting one in .280 as soon as I can come up with the cash (maybe my tax return?)...

 

[clubsoda22]

Buddy of mine has an NEF .243. He gets supprising accuracy out of it. Sub MOA

 

[David4516]

"try the rubber O ring"

I wonder if that would make a differance in my friends rifle. How exactly does the O-Ring fix work?

 

[SapperLeader]

Ive been looking at nefs for a while, and several seem to come with a pretty abysmmal factory trigger. Good news being that you can send it back to the factory and they will adjust down to 3.5 pounds(I think) and can have extra barrels fitted while its there. But if there was a 7 or 8 pound trigger that might explain your dads issues.

 

[Brian Williams]

The O ring Trick is to get a O ring or rubber washer and put it between the foreend and the barrel where the screw goes thru, kind of like free floating a full stock foreend.

 

[cdbeaver]

Thr NEF Handi Rifle can be a sweetheart of a gun, but it may require some effort and TLC on the part of the shooter to get the most of it.

Some rifles, notably in .357 caliber, have been criticized for having excessively long throats; some rather hot calibers (.223, .243) have had problems with fired cases stuck in the chamber. Trigger pull is a problem in every one of 'em.

Some .357 owners have had their rifles rechambered to .357 Maximum and have had excellent results. Hand polishing AND CLEANING of the chamber has reduced the problem of sticking fired cases. And, unless things have changed, the factory will hone your trigger to an acceptable 3.5-lb. pull free of charge.

The nicest thing about the little NEF is that late manufacture models allow for interchangeability of various caliber barrels. For instance, mine has both a .45-70 and a .22 Hornet barrel. Just remove the forearm screw, break open the gun and remove the barrel. If each barrel is scoped, return to zero is no problem when barrels are swapped.

With the .45-70 I have no problem getting 1.25-inch five shot groups at 100 yards. The Hornets gets as low as .75 under windless conditions.

 

[Lee F]

I currently have two NEF rifles and have owned several more in the past. Accuracy is a random factor. My 223 would outshoot my Remington 700 and Colt AR. My 308 is an absolute POS. Rubber O rings don't help its accuracy. My gunsmith said he could fix it, I should take it to him and he would sell it for me. The 308 also sticks empty brass in the chamber. NEF tried to fix it so now it only sticks 1 in 4 rounds instead of 1 in 3.

These rifles are best in rimmed cartridges. When you get a good one though it is amazing. My heavy barrel 223 would shoot .35" five shot groups at 100 yards with several different brands of ammo. My 308 will do 5" or 6" groups with Federal Match ammo. My 357 is the ultimate toy. It was absolutely reliable and grouped well.

 

[9 m&m]

Balog, with my dads other rifles he can touch the bullet hole he made before with another at 100 yards.........easily.

 

[9 m&m]

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