New Barrel v.s. New Rifle

[RickC.]

I own 3 Handis now (.45-70, .30-30, .280), and have been fortunate enough to take deer with all 3 of them, all with handloads.

 The .45-70 is the most fun to shoot, the .30-30 has done a great job on deer with 130 Hdy, and the .280 is a great long range gun.  The .280 can certainly handle any situation I'd run into, but the 26" barrel makes it not as "handy" for tree stands and shooting houses.

 So I've been thinking (which is always a dangerous thing)- it would be nice to have one Handi rifle which would handle any situation out to 300 yds, regardless of whether I'm hunting from the ground, a tree stand, or a shooting house-- which brings me to a 22" barrel in either .308 or .30-06.  I have an old Rem 788 in .308 which has taken its share of deer in the 25 years I've owned it, but any of you who are familiar with the 788 know it's not nearly as easy to carry around as the NEF.

 So, given that a new barrel will cost me around $130 with the shipping and fitting fee, and that I can still get a whole new gun for around the $200 mark, why not just get a new Handi Rifle rather than send in my .45-70 for a new barrel?  I could of course have the .280 barrel cut down, but I like the 145 gr Speers flying near the 3000 fps mark and don't want to give that up-- besides, that rifle has shot groups of less than half an inch, I don't want to mess with it.

 So, Handiholics-- what did you think when you were facing the same decision?


 Thanks,


  Rick

[Swampman]

I'd get a .30-06 Handi Rifle for $199.00.  I'm a huge fan of the .308, but the .30-06 is IMO the best rimless cartridge ever.

[quickdtoo]

In addition to the .30s, you might consider the 7mm-08 also, not much different than the .280, just a shorter 22" barrel with a little less velocity, ~2700-2800fps. And I'd get the complete rifle, all of mine have their own frames now, if I was starting over, that's what I would do.

Tim

[MSP Ret]

I agree with Swampman and Quick, the complete new gun for about $70 more is the way to go, if you wanted to you could buy the gun, sell the reciever (to me) and the stocks (perhaps to me) and be ahead of the game, or against me best interests, and in your best interests, keep the new gun intact. That would be the best way to go. Also since I see by your post that you are a reloader definitely get the 30-06 over the .308 for more versatility with the same accuracy and world wide availibility of factory ammo as well....<><....

[turkeyeye]

I thought that the barrel accessory program was $85 for 22" barrel.  I have never gotten a barrel add on, so am I missing something here.

[Swampman]

The shipping both ways, really adds to the cost.

[quickdtoo]

That's just the cost of the barrel, there's a $15 fitting fee per barrel and $10 shipping per order on top of that, plus the cost of shipping the frame and stock to them, or just a frame as I'm doing now, ordering a barrel and a stock at once, cuts down on my shipping cost to them, a frame only weighs 1½lbs and I don't have to worry about damage to my stock in the fitting process which happens sometimes.

Tim

[Datil]

 I think I would complete rifle that you grab the right gun when you got ready to
 go hunting, not fool around changing barrels My 2 cents, Marv.

[turkeyeye]

Alright, thanks for the information.  Well, that hurts my case that I am bringing up before my wife about how cheap a new barrel is that I just have to have.

[Swampman]

For me the fact that a new Handi Rifle cost considerably less than an Encore barrel (and it shoots as good or better than the Encore) makes the Handi Rifle a no brainer.  I may order a .357 barrel, since complete rifles in that caliber are not being produced.  I hate messing with my forend screw once the gun is sighted in. 

[krod47nw]

To me, adding extra barrels is the "handi" part of the handi rifle.  It eliminates the need to have many rifles.   The $70 difference between the barrel and the complete rifle is better than half of the cost of yet another barrel, or all or part of the cost of a scope for it.  The price per barrel also drops if you order several at one time since you only pay the shipping once.  Just another way to look at it.

[bajabill]

To me, adding extra barrels is the "handi" part of the handi rifle.  It eliminates the need to have many rifles.   The $70 difference between the barrel and the complete rifle is better than half of the cost of yet another barrel, or all or part of the cost of a scope for it.  The price per barrel also drops if you order several at one time since you only pay the shipping once.  Just another way to look at it.

It is easier for me to copy that than to retype it  .  Also, for the bulk of the barrels, thay are probably less than 130 all said and done.  I think of them as 110 dollar items when buyin in pairs.

[old geezer]

I shipped one off in November, and the post office charged me $13 and change for postage and insurance, bring the total to $123 and change.

[Spanky]

You already have your 300 yard gun with a 22" barrel.  Your 30-30.

[kennyd]

Remember that the .45-70 stock has a different comb than the .280.  The .45 is made for open sights, the higher comb is for scopes.  A scope on the shotgun style stock works, but open sights on the high comb is hard to use.  The advantage of a complete rifle is it is easier to sell, a barrel makes a set and not everyone will agree with the combination of calibers.  The other advantage of a complete rifle is not having to wait for it to come back.