How can i make my .223 handi rifle more accurate??

Snyper85

New member
2 in groups at 115 yds with hornady vmax 55 grain bullets topped with a nikon pro staff 3-9x40. is there anything i can do to the gun to make it more accurate?
 
Never owned a Handi but there's quite a folling over on greybeard.com that talk about O-Rings under the stock and such.
Might want to check em out.
Luck
 
Originally Posted By: Snyper852 in groups at 115 yds .... nikon pro staff 3-9x40.

Not knocking the Nikon at all (I have several) but FOR ME, that's about as good as I'm going to get with a 9x scope @ 100 yds.
huh.gif
Now ... bolt a 12x or higher on there and I'd expect much better.
wink.gif
 
First thing I would try is a ligher bullet, something in the 40 - 45gr range. The handi has a 1:12 twist.

My nephew shots a handi in 223, and has really good luck with the factory Hornady 40gr. V-Max. It will shoot sub 1 inch groups.
 
Scope has nothing to do with it. This group was shot with a 3-9x40 Nikon prostaff from an AR15...
SDC11086.jpg

Those rifles are not known for being accurate. Once in awhile they make a jewel that shoots MOA, but in most cases they would be better off sticking to inexpensive single shot shotguns.
 
I have owned a handful of handi rifles over the last years as I think they are the perfect kid’s gun. Almost all of them have shot adequately some surprisingly and a few not so good. The one thing I have done on all of them that seemed to tighten up the groups was put a castration band under the forearm. A castration band if you don't know what it is basically a fat O-ring. It is what is on most open reed calls to hold the reed in place. This essentially floats the barrel. On one that wouldn’t shoot I recrowned the barrel. This gun went from 3" to 1.5 inch groups doing that. I just used a carriage bolt in a drill with some buffing compound so a real crown job probably would have made it even better. Also make sure your bench technique is good as these guns seem to be picky about forearm pressure. I also own several TC single shots, contenders and encores and I feel the handi rifles in my experience though not as polished shoot just as well for about a third the cost.

Hope you can work it out. I had one in 308 that I never could get to shoot so it went down the road. I still have a couple that I use when I take kids hunting.

drscott
 
I think that the Handi is a little bit of a crapshoot as to accuracy... My son-in-law bought one a few years ago that is a tack driver with the right ammo (.223, Fed 50gr HP) but it doesn't like some of the 55gr that he picked up...

I've offered to build some loads for it, but he doesn't shoot it that much and just keeps it for pests that show up around their house..

I installed a 24x scope on it for a PD shoot in 2006 and he was hitting PDs at 250+ yards on a consistent basis...If it were me, I'd definitely be trying some various ammo configurations to see if I could find it's preference...
 
MPFD, I agree that a scope will not make a gun shoot better my any means but it will make a better shooter. In the BR 50/50 rimfire shoots I go to, the sporter class is required to use a maximum 6x scope while the 10.5lb and heavy gun classes, can use up to 36x! There are several people that have twin rifles one for sporter and one to shoot in the other two classes (only difference being the scopes). I assure you that the scope makes the difference! a 225 4x for the sporter score and a 248 10x for the heavy gun? Huge difference! Although that isnt going to apply to just shooting 1" groups out of a handi rifle, but it can make a The diff. in winning a match
 
Originally Posted By: drscott A castration band if you don't know what it is basically a fat O-ring.



Dang. Is that really what the name of it is? All this time all that I ever heard it called was a wedding ring.

Learn something new every day.
 
Like others have said try some different bullets. I have two handi rifles in .270win and .45-70 gov't and both seem to be picky with ammo.
 
Originally Posted By: TwoSeventy The handi has a 1:12 twist.




Not all of them do. The one that I had was a 1:10 twist. Verified from H&R. Call them and give them the seriel# and they can tell you what you have. Sold it years ago, but if I remember right, if the seriel # starts with an "M" it was a 1:10 on the .223's.


Chupa
 
I guess ill try some lighter bullets then. all i have been able to find is the 55 grain bullets [beeep]. Would bass pro have them?
 
Mine shoots 50gr inside an inch. I haven't tried 55's through it. It groups anything core-lokt inside of 1-2 feet with the occasional flier.

The biggest thing you want to check is that your for-arm is tight and that you're resting it about the same from shot to shot. Bagging mine and bipod'ing mine gives a massive difference in POI, 10x that of any other rifle I own. Since the barrel/arm support comes from that 12 screw, changing where the barrel is getting support from changes it quite a bit.

But I've got 1 in 45-70 and .223 and they're good little guns. I had one in .243 and it wouldn't shoot well regardless of what I did. That caliber in a handi isn't a crap shoot, they all shoot badly.

DSCF3103.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: drscott I think they are the perfect kid’s gun..........own several TC single shots, contenders and encores and I feel the handi rifles in my experience though not as polished shoot just as well for about a third the cost.






Personally I think a breakaction rifle with a poorly made stock, a crunchy 10 lb. trigger and lock time that can be measured in minutes is a poor choice for a childs gun.

Not as polished ? Handis/NEF are far from polished and often have a finish that appears to be done with a rasp.

Cheap is as cheap does. They will never match up to any of my TCs in any way including the range.
 
Back
Top