Additional barrel for youth handi-rifle

[Dog88]

My son has a superlight youth .243 handi-rifle. Can I get a 44 mag barrel for his gun? I've
called customer service at H&R several times but can't get past the answering machine.

Thanks in advance.

[MSP Ret]

Welcome aboard and Merry Christmas to you Dog88, You sure can get a .44 Mag barrel fitted to your sons .243 by H&R/NEF. You also could buy a used one here and fit it yourself. I am surprised about your comment about the answering machine, I get right through to them each time I call after a minute or so on the machine. Perhaps you called when the factory was closed for their hiatus which happens every year....best of luck to you and your son....<><....

[Dog88]

Thanks, MSP Ret, and Merry Christmas to you and your family!

How easy is it to "fit" a barrel to the receiver? Everything I read said you needed to mail the receiver to H&R so that they could fit it properly. Also, how easy and practical would it be to swap barrels back and forth during a hunting season? The scopes are mounted to the barrels, but would swapping back and forth create sighting issues and necessitate re-sighting the gun each time the barrels are swapped?

[quickdtoo]

Welcome aboard Dog88!  Barrel fitting info can be found in the FAQs and Help sticky, since each barrel has it's own dedicated scope or sights, once they're sighted in, swapping barrels doesn't required any additional sight in.

Tim

[MSP Ret]

Hi again Dog88, when you have talked to Tim (Quickdtoo) you have talked to the MAN. Barrel fitting is easy and there is a good chance the barrel you buy here might fit your frame with no work at all. If there is fitting to be done there is all the help you need available right here on this site. As Tim suggested look over the FAQ's about barrel fitting but do not get intimidated. it's simple and straightforward, just go slow and take your time. If you buy a used barrel here barrel and it does not fit your frame at all (HIGHLY unlikely) you can always just sell it here and buy another, BUT, be careful it's addicting. I have even seen barrels sold here conditionally with the buyer offering to pay the shipping both ways with his purchase price refunded if the barrel did not fit. For those known here and with a good track record (Trader Feedback) a barrel could be sent with no payment and payment conditional upon fit, again the prospective buyer would be expected to pay shipping both ways since the seller is offering the barrel for trial. If it did fit, the seller usually  would assume the initial shipping cost, depending upon the arrangement between the buyer and seller. Most sales would preclude any shooting of the barrel...<><....

[quickdtoo]

You have one more option on used barrels that isn't widely known or mentioned much, IF the barrel underlug is long enough to be fitted, H&R will fit it if they can for $25, that's the same fitting fee and return shipping they charge for a new barrel. But, there's no guarantee that they can, if they can't, you'd be out the $10 return shipping, plus the cost to ship to them. A barrel that they'd likely be able to fit would be one that you can't get it close to being closed and locked up, if it's loose and locked up with a gap at the barrel and standing breech, they wouldn't be able to fit it at all.

Tim