Who's got experience with the H&R Handi Rifles? Are they fairly accurate?

I'm considering getting one in .223 to plink/hunt with and possibly for my 10yr old son to go out coyote hunting with me this Winter/Spring. I like the idea of a single shot configuration for my young son and the cost of these are low enough that I'm not too worried about getting one and if it gets used, great, if not, no big deal.

My son had one of the youth models in a 243 and it shot pretty good.It was very short and easy to get around. He just upgraded last week to a bolt gun.

If your mind is set on one than I say go for it. But if I might make a suggestion take a look at the Ruger American Compact they make it in 223,243, and they are really good shooters. Just a thought. Good Luck

I had one in 243 that shot as good as I ever seen! Gave it to my son in law.

My friend has had 2, one with the bull barrel and a standard one both in 223. Both shot just fine he did get rid of the bull barrel it was a pain to carry with a sling kept wanting to tip over with it over your shoulder.
J

IAyoteHNTR,
we had one in 270 -- at the time similar ammo to others. worked well for brush and kids as they grew up... have since sold it to a family member for their son to use. price at the time new was A LOT cheaper than today and compacts were not as common at that time. If I was to do it all over again I would look hard at a Ruger compact bolt like Bill 204 states. One of my kids grew out of the H&R and now has compact bolt....makes me wonder if it was a bolt from the beginning one of the kids would have grown into it from the start. Also the compact the kids have grown into is a Remington LH 7mm08.... little bigger than 243 but nice size for deer and larger it is not used for coyotes. good luck let us know how you make out.

The last handyrifle I had was in 17hmr and it shot as well as my Savage and Marlins do.The only trick is to use consistent closing action for best accuracy. Also you need to wear a glove on your right hand while shooting prairie dogs as I tore up my thumb.

you guys had better luck than I did with the 243 in the break open I bought a rossi trifecta for my son to hunt with it was 243 20 gauge and 22 easy to swap barrels and fit him perfect but that thing just would not shoot im talking 8 to 10 inch groups at 100 yards I tried different factory loads brands bullet weight and so on but nothing worked so I traded it in on a savage axis for him but from what I have read the 223 is a shooter maybe its just the rossi but they are good guns.
the only down side that I have heard from a gun smith is that some of the chambers on these guns are just a touch over bored as I was looking at getting a 22 hornet and making it a k hornet he said that some of these were over drilled and the chambers were to long to make it work .I don't know if this is on just the hornet or others .

I had A 25-06 and a 270 both very accurate.

The boy Shoots and loves his Handi Rifle in 204 rugar its got a bull barrel so it is a bit of a brick but many of sage rat and rock chuck has fallen to that gun.

I had one ,friend's young son "acquired" it, in .223. Accurate, good, all around ranch rifle that lived up to it's name.

Accuracy can be all over the board with Handis. A friend had two .243s for his daughters to deer hunt with. One was very accurate and the other was minute of softball no matter what we did to it. I had a 7-08 that shot about 3 inch groups until I tinkered with for end pressure. Then it shot about an inch. The Superlites had the worst reputation for accuracy with the thin whippy barrels. The .30-30s seem to be the most consistently accurate of all barrels.

i had one in 223 long ago and it was ok. in all honesty I would consider one of the entry level bolt guns. such as an axis or an American. they shoot darn well and can be single loaded, also they will never be "outgrown" just my 2 cents.

I have one in 22 hornet and another in 223 both shoot under an inch at 100yds. I did have a 243 that just didn't like me or maybe it was just the loads I tried. I tweaked mine a bit to get them to shoot better with the help of H&R shooters over on graybeard outdoors,they have a complete section for them. Mine are both the ejector type and I have had a few fired cases stick in the chamber so now I have an elastic cartridge holder on the butt and I keep a 4" long piece of brass rod tucked in behind it as a just in case. They claim the extractor model works better against getting cases stuck.

My soon to be ex-son in law had one in .223 (pic below) and after I put an adequate powered optic on it, he was having no problem hitting PDs at 300 yards with factory rounds...


It had the bull barrel and I think we were both surprised at the accuracy..There are some old threads on the board about improving the accuracy on those that might exhibit accuracy problems...For an 'emergency' or easy to maneuver 'truck gun', I think they are worth the money...

I had one for a time and put quite a few dollars into reloading components and gasoline driving to the local shooting range. I also tried every trick I could come up with and every trick I read about on the internet. Net results; I never shot a good enough group at 50 yards to justify shooting at any farther distance. I traded it for a Stevens 200 in the same caliber and got .6-.7" groups at 100 yards with a couple of loads I had no luck at all with in the Handy.