I had 3. One in 22 hornet, one in 223, and one in 17HMR. The hornet never shot any better than 1-1.25" but killed a few cats and fox none the less. Loaded cases would stick in the chamber. Accuracy for the 223 was much the same. The HMR on the other hand has out shot a couple Ruger HMRs on more than one occasion. It has now been cut to 16" and threaded and plays host for my 5.56 can.
The hornet and 223 were traded for a Ruger 25-06. Dang good trade I might add also.
Handies are not and were not meant to be bench guns. Most will shoot minute of coyote/ big game . That's good enough if you can live with that. Occasionally one will shoot extremely well. I'm betting that is the exception and not the rule when you look at the big picture.
JMHO.