huntsman's sight's gripe

[Scibaer]

when i got huntsman, i did not realize it has plastic sights untill i tried to set it up.
 i was a bit unsure if the plastic would hold up in the cold out in the woods.
it didnt take that long, i somehow snapped the little filiment  in the rear sight and one piece of it would not stay in..
well i need my tools to be reliable, so i removed the sights from the barrel completely and found two more interesting things.
the plugs that fill the scope rail holes are plastic too, and the first hole for the rail runs clean thru to the reech plug area.
so, a trip to my gunsmith supply store ( dick williams gun ) was in order. i picked up some steel filler plugs for the barrel and a large brass bead for the ML barrel.
im mounting a shotgun scope on the huntsman, filler the sight holes in the barrel and mounted a bead at the muzzle end.
the beads only partly usable, if the scope is off but i think its look nice. beats the plactic stuff anyhow.
ok i feel better now 
glenn

[MSP Ret]

What year is that Huntsman? I thought H&R/NEF stopped using the plastic sights a couple of years ago. For a while they would exchange them for you if you complained and sent in the plastic sights but I think they stopped that soon after they got rid of the plastic sights. I don't have a Hunstman but this is as I recall reading here. Also I would be interested in that sight or rial screw hole that is drilled completely through and into the chamber area. Probably safe in a ML but it should not be like that from the factory. Perhaps a call to CS is in order....<><....

[Scibaer]

Just to clarify, my huntsman came as a .50cal ML/.243 Win combo from NEF. no one wanted it ( appearently ) as it sat for a few years at my local gun shop. i paid $295 for the set. its marked NU, as i understand it, that means the date of manufacture was 2004.  so your though about NEF stopping use of plastic sights could be accurate. no matter if they would exchange them or not, i fixed the issue myself, but i would have infact kept the sights had they been metal
  i'll describe it best i can, there are three screw holes, tapped into the barrel, they are at the breech plug end of the barrel. the first one is about 1 inch from the end of the barrel, and it goes clean thru the barrel and you could thread a screw into it and hit the breech plug threads. from what i understand, thats how it came from the factory. using the NEF original factory screws that are used for the scope rail, is not an issue, its short enough not to cause problems, after market screws may be an issue. im sure its not an issue as the pressure will be on the other side of the breech plug, as witnessed by the other two screw holes are not thru holes, they are where the pressures would affect them when firing.
i hope i explained it well enough. maybe others with huntsman's will comment and compare mine to thier findings

glenn

[Busta]

It is normal for the rear screw hole to go through to the breech plug threads on the 7/8" plugs. NEF had some problems the first year (2002) they came back out with the Huntsman with the small screw actually locking itself into the breech plug threads, but rectified that the next year by not countersinking the back hole in the scope rail as far. Now the breech plugs are 5/8" diameter and that gives them another 1/8" of meat for the hole.

The hole is not an issue as it is over the BP threads and no pressure problems that far back.

The plastic sights stink, they came on my 2003 SS Huntsman, but I remedied that by getting the Williams Fire-Sights and the WGRS for hunting out in Colorado. My Huntsman wears a scope for Michigan hunting.

[Scibaer]

thanks for the added info. you comfirmed what i thought, the first hole wont be affected by the presssure.
then i assume i have a 7/8" plug. i  opted to dump the sights all together, my ML wears a scope full time.
is there anything i need pay extra attention to because of having the 7/8 plug ?

[Busta]

is there anything i need pay extra attention to because of having the 7/8 plug ?

Nope, unless you order a .25 ACP breech plug and want the right size.

Good Luck!

[Scibaer]

ok, nope i'm ok with the 209 primers ( so far ) although it would be nice not having to use the carriers, just plug the 209 right into the breech plug, squeeze, bang and extract the used primer.. seems like that's be possible

[db22]

My Huntsman barrel was fitted to a shotgun frame last year and came with good-quality Williams sights, an adjustable rear made of aluminum and a one-piece Fire Sight front. My problem was that the front sight was too tall, and I could not get the rifle sighted in -- hit too low every time. I called NEF, but they wanted the entire rifle shipped back, so I just bought a nice steel one-piece Marble's sight from a mail-order place, a lower height, and now it's shooting just fine.

[MSP Ret]

Hey db22, I need a high firesight to set up with my receiver sight, would you be willing to sell me the one you took off?...<><....