Author Topic: Are Handiholics brainwashed? (Read 3028 times)

fastbike · « **Reply #30 on:** January 24, 2007, 06:50:13 AM »

Well, I'm not looking for benchrest accuracy, more like real world accuracy.

My .223 Ultra Varmint shoots MOA with factory ammo with no work other than adding a bipod. I couldn't be happier. I bought it because it was simple and inexpensive, but I wasn't budget limited. This site was also a significant reason for purchase.

My son has a Handi 30-30 w/ iron sights that will shoot minute-of-deer all day long. The purist in him thinks I'm slacking because my old eyes use a scope.

It is a great beginner's rifle because it is simple and can shoot well. In my experience, beginner's are thrilled to hit the paper, so even 5 MOA isn't a big deal to them. Besides a lot of rifles can shoot a lot better than the shooter.

stalker1 · « **Reply #31 on:** January 24, 2007, 07:46:57 AM »

We get a lot of flak for our handi-holic mindset and that is fine with me for all the reasons stated in the previous posts. Look at all that is available for the 10/22 to make them shoot better and be more universal or all the other brands including military to make them shoot, feel and look better. We know what handi's are capable of (or where to find out) and we have many choices to increase these capabilities (mainly from all of the great input, advice, expertise and experience from those on this site) and a fair number of us just like to take something...anything, to a higher level just for the fun of it.

It is our choice and to heck with what others think!

mookster79 · « **Reply #32 on:** January 24, 2007, 10:05:21 AM »

I have heard of some handi's needing work, but I haven't done anything to mine(.223 synthetic, stainless with reg 22"barrel) except clean it shoot some different rounds to find a good one and I cleaned it again. I use the top of my hot tub as a bench with my bi-pod and bags for support. I shoot .5" groups at 100 yards and that is probablly me not pulling through right or some thing of that sort, or they would be even tighter.

As far as being brain washed, most people will knock a handi just because it is not a $600 ruger or something else really expensive. I have my share of expensive firarms, but I still love my handi. It is accurate, didn't cost a lot, ammo is reasonable for the results I have, and I wanted a single shot rifle. I like the single shot platform, most people would go for a bolt action, but I wanted a rifle to make me earn that first shot. It makes you slow down and pay attention to what you are doing. For the amount of fun this gun has brought me since buying it a couple of months ago I will be brainwashed. I also Invite anyone who doubts it to come out to the house or we'll go to the range and compare brass tacks, so to speak.

cascadedad · « **Reply #33 on:** January 24, 2007, 10:50:00 AM »

I don't really know what to call this "condition" that I have, but I want a 17 and a 280.

Warthog · « **Reply #34 on:** January 24, 2007, 11:23:25 AM »

Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.

Yeah, I really like the Handis and there are apparently many that don't. I've really only had problems with one gun (and truthfully that was because I probably was expecting more out of it than I should have). If I buy any number of guns, odds are I'm going to have some kind of problems with some of them that will require some work or tinkering. (Except Remington, and then I'm usually shocked when it works at all.) Handis are a good little gun at a good little price for a good amount of fun.

aulrich · « **Reply #35 on:** January 24, 2007, 02:56:54 PM »

I'd say yes a little brain washed

but in a good way, it's like the definition of the word "friend" as someone who knows you, but likes you anyway.

A 444 marlin would be a perfect cabin gun I hope one makes it across the border.

gstanfield · « **Reply #36 on:** January 24, 2007, 03:25:39 PM »

Hehehe, I'm just a cantankerous young thug, but I always love it when someone starts handi-bshing. I've offered guys at the gun club a chance at $500 of my money if they could outshoot my handi. Here's the deal though. I tell them we have to pro-rate the group sizes. If he spent $1000 on his gun and I spent $200 then whatever groups I shoot his has to be 1/5th the size

that gets them everytime. I just tell them that dollar for dollar my handi is a better rifle than their whatever. I've yet to find a guy who would put up $500 of his against mine in hopes of taking home some big cash. My 22 hornet will shoot .45" groups all day long with my handloads and so the guy with his $1000 rifle would have to shoot a .09" group to break even

It all depends on perspective. Even if you ignore the price break, these guns are still fun to shoot and accurate even if they sometimes require a bit of tuning to achieve. I know guys at the gun club who have spent $1,500 on a new rifle only to find it shoots 2" groups with brandX and .5" groups with brandZ ammo.

Sometimes you get what you pay for, other times you get what you want. To me the handi is both. It's a good gun for the money and it's a fun gun at any price.

George

Norseman112 · « **Reply #37 on:** January 24, 2007, 03:44:22 PM »

Well I like the idea of getting different barrels and they are an inexpensive rifle that do perform well. I am a lover of all rifles and always try to keep an open mind. I guess I will always have a fondness of the handi rifle. Besides that I have I have gotten to know some good people form this forum. Its always interesting to read how good these inexpensive rifles do and the happiness they bring. A gift indeed.

John

Dave Allen · « **Reply #38 on:** January 24, 2007, 06:58:19 PM »

hello..i sure don't think handiholic's are brain washed...far from it...i have checked in on this forum for a year or so then becoming a member several month's ago...one thing i have found to be consistent is the guy's who like them stick to there gun's...the guy's who don't move on i guess ?? if one really has a interest in making his handi a shooter there is ton's of help available here the moderator's & member's they are very helpful in making a handi a shooter...i have said on another forum i consider these rifle's hunting gun's not benchrest...not that i understand what a true bench gun is...that being said i feel a bolt gun is better off the bag's..."however" you start learning to shoot these handi's better with time...i appreciate the feel of handling a handi they feel good in my hand's...i really think that's why so many like them...

GregP42 · « **Reply #39 on:** January 24, 2007, 09:59:30 PM »

Hmm...

Nope, not brain washed at all, I have played with high dollar bolt guns and high dollar scopes when I was younger, sure they were nice, had a Savage tactical with a Swarovski mildot 15 years ago, yes it shot great, but my .223 HB Handi will shoot just as good groups as it did, and for a heck lot less money. I love to tinker, that is the great value of the Handi, I can tinker with it, I can for just a few dollars have a barrel rechambered to another round, right now I am waiting for my .223 Ultra barrel to come back from Wayne York as a .220 Swift, (11 more weeks, that is how long until ground hogs and coyotes get to yet). But there are people that will complain and bad mouth anything they can not understand or is not their cup of tea. Fine, leaves more for us I say.

Greg

robin-hood-90 · « **Reply #40 on:** January 25, 2007, 07:00:43 AM »

Hi guys Broken-arrow here, Yes I posted that on the PM forums. And I said I wouldn't post on GB anymore but my name was brought into this so I need to clarify something. I later posted this on the same topic.
Oh boy, I got the Handiholics wound up again.
OK,Yes I am the infamous "Broken-arrow". And to start with, I never said all Handis were junk. (But I know for a fact that SOME are.) I simply said you take your chances when you buy one. And that has been well established.As far as the "brainwashed" comment, if you read the post you'll see it was aimed at the lack of respect towards others opinions, not because you like your Handis so much. Every time I "got in trouble" as you put it,for voicing my opinion,I got PMs from other members who agreed with me. What kind of forum is that? Notice on this forum everyone gets heard and repected.This is mainly why I resigned from posting on GB,(No I wasn't kicked off) along with with a little personal disagreement with Quickdtoo, aka Wrongtarget which I won't discuss. And FYI Mac,I never settle for out of the box accuracy, I love tinkering with my guns and working up loads. Nuff said

We need to get something straight here, I know you guys love your little rifles and thats great, I have no problem with that, and I can respect that. But when someone puts countless hours and dollars into something and it still won't work, then he sells it at a cosiderable loss he has a right to be pi$$ed. And to top that off he gets criticized on his shooting skills, reloading technique, and general lack of persistance by certain members here when maybe the gun is at fault. Yes there are "lemons", not all can be made to shoot. Just look at the used gun racks, Handis are a dime a dozen. And in my experience if a guy gets a "shooter" he keeps it. So what does that tell you? It ain't rocket science.

BTW, I'm signed in as my son (Robin-hood 90) because for some reason It won't let me sign in as Broken-arrow. I asked one of the moderators here to "un-register" me a while back but I was told by Quick that I am still a registered member.

quickdtoo · « **Reply #41 on:** January 25, 2007, 07:44:42 AM »

BA, I see nothing wrong with your account, some members lost access when the software was upgraded a while back, dunno if that has anything to do with it, please contact Graybeard if you wish to get it fixed.

gbomgmt@graybeardoutdoors.com

EDIT: I dug a little deeper into your account, it was indeed deactivated, Graybeard will have to reactivate it if you wish. Sorry about the misinfo. Tim

I don't understand why you didn't have H&R fix the problem with your .308, they would have done just that if you would have given them a chance, but you chose not to. Jeffrey8mm was able to shoot 2moa groups with factory ammo with it and no other changes, so it was probably just a problem with your frame/barrel combination, certainly not a rare issue and easily corrected by the factory.

Tim

http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/smf/index.php/topic,52070.msg306263.html#msg306263

Swampman · « **Reply #42 on:** January 25, 2007, 08:09:23 AM »

They are just tired of getting spanked at the range when shooting their $8000.00 Dakotas. I really like my Handis, and they've redefined what I feel is the ideal hunting rifle configuration.

cascadedad · « **Reply #43 on:** January 25, 2007, 08:57:23 AM »

Broken Arrow quote from PM, "They refuse to accept the fact that some Handis simply will not shoot worth a c#$%."

That is a ridiculous statement. There are SOME of every rifle made that won't shoot and I think everyone here realizes and accepts that. Manufacturing mistakes HAPPEN in every factory.

Another quote from this thread, "I simply said you take your chances when you buy one." Duh, any time you buy something of ANYTHING, you take a chance. The only way not to take a chance is not to buy anything. Ever heard anyone complain about an Encore?

So, me being a newbie here, I have to ask the same question as Tim. If you had a problem, why didn't you send it back to H&R and let them fix it? I have never been in contact with their customer service, but almost everything I have read has been very positive experiences of people being taken care of. Of course, that is from the "brainwashed". It would have been worth a try.

What it all boils down to is that everybody has their own taste when it comes to "things" and guns are no exception. But, how can you complain when a company sells a rifle for ~$200 and you won't even send it back to them to give them a chance to fix it? YOU SHOULDN'T.

I personally really like Browning shotguns. I own an older 12 ga Citori that I LOVE! My son and I both have Browning Golds in 12 ga, that we have had no problems with. They were all $800 plus guns. I hardly ever hear bad things about a Citori, but I do often read about problems with the Golds. I also have never dealt with Browning customer service, but it is my understanding that they are NOT GOOD. I have $2-3K worth of their shotguns and I KNOW their customer service is not good and if something breaks, I am most likely on my own.

So, I don't feel too bad that I own a $200ish gun that if it doesn't perform to at least some standard, customer service will help me out. Personally, mine shot ~2 - 2 1/2" groups out of the box. That was with one kind of factory ammo. I started doing a little tweaking which I consider "fun" and am now at 1 1/2" or less groups. Again, that is w/ factory ammo under less than perfect conditions. With very few rounds through this gun.

Now, if it would have shot 5 or 6" groups out of the box, I think I would have VERY quickly determined that something was wrong and sent it to the factory. IMO, it just doesn't make sense to try to mess with something that isn't even close.

Oh well, I'll quite rambling.

stimpylu32 · « **Reply #44 on:** January 25, 2007, 10:20:14 AM »

Time to give this one a break guys , before things get out of hand .

stimpy

Swampman · « **Reply #45 on:** January 25, 2007, 11:49:44 AM »

Some folks can't shoot, but they won't admit it. They just blame it on the gun. As a Ruger buff, I've heard a lot more complaints about Rugers than NEF products.

lik2hunt · « **Reply #46 on:** January 25, 2007, 01:21:48 PM »

Quote

Hi guys Broken-arrow here, Yes I posted that on the PM forums. And I said I wouldn't post on GB anymore but my name was brought into this so I need to clarify something. I later posted this on the same topic.
Oh boy, I got the Handiholics wound up again.
OK,Yes I am the infamous "Broken-arrow". And to start with, I never said all Handis were junk. (But I know for a fact that SOME are.) I simply said you take your chances when you buy one. And that has been well established.As far as the "brainwashed" comment, if you read the post you'll see it was aimed at the lack of respect towards others opinions, not because you like your Handis so much. Every time I "got in trouble" as you put it,for voicing my opinion,I got PMs from other members who agreed with me. What kind of forum is that? Notice on this forum everyone gets heard and repected.This is mainly why I resigned from posting on GB,(No I wasn't kicked off) along with with a little personal disagreement with Quickdtoo, aka Wrongtarget which I won't discuss. And FYI Mac,I never settle for out of the box accuracy, I love tinkering with my guns and working up loads. Nuff said

We need to get something straight here, I know you guys love your little rifles and thats great, I have no problem with that, and I can respect that. But when someone puts countless hours and dollars into something and it still won't work, then he sells it at a cosiderable loss he has a right to be pi$$ed. And to top that off he gets criticized on his shooting skills, reloading technique, and general lack of persistance by certain members here when maybe the gun is at fault. Yes there are "lemons", not all can be made to shoot. Just look at the used gun racks, Handis are a dime a dozen. And in my experience if a guy gets a "shooter" he keeps it. So what does that tell you? It ain't rocket science.

BTW, I'm signed in as my son (Robin-hood 90) because for some reason It won't let me sign in as Broken-arrow. I asked one of the moderators here to "un-register" me a while back but I was told by Quick that I am still a registered member.

robin-hood-90 · « **Reply #47 on:** January 25, 2007, 01:36:29 PM »

Insert Quote
Some folks can't shoot, but they won't admit it. They just blame it on the gun. As a Ruger buff, I've heard a lot more complaints about Rugers than NEF products.
See there, thats exactly what I'm talking about. What do you know about my shooting skills? FYI I have a 250+yd shooting range right in front of my house. I reload and shoot a lot. I could show you some 200 yd groups from my 6mm or my 16 yearold sons .308 that I'm sure you wouldn't believe. Neither are $2000 customs. I gave $325 for the 6 and $265 for the .308.,both are older remingtons. Yes I tweaked them a little and took some time working up loads, as I do all my centerfires. As a matter of fact I have 7 centerfire rifles that will shoot better than 1 MOA. With my reloads and me, or my son for that matter on the trigger. Do you believe that, who cares, I don't have to prove anything to you.

millwright · « **Reply #48 on:** January 25, 2007, 01:38:58 PM »

I like my handi 243 for what it is and it does what NEF says it will do. I reload for all my calibers and if I want to shoot tiny groups I use my rem 700vs with the 24xscope. If I want to hunt whitetails long range I use my rem 700 mountain rifle in 270 cal. If I want to hunt thick woods Maine for whitetails I use my 444 Marlin with the receiver sights. If I just want to plink and have fun or hunt small game and predators I go with the NEF handi. I like it but remember you did not spend 1000 dollars on it. I also plink, hunt, and have fun with my ruger sbh 44 mag with 240 gr swc and 10 gr of unique powder. OK I am off this soap box.

Countryboy · « **Reply #49 on:** January 25, 2007, 02:38:31 PM »

This is just a stupid argument. Let poeple have their beliefs! I love my win 70s, my handis, marlin, savage, and so on. I have a friend with a Rem 597 22 that shoot dimes. I had the same gun and it missfed every other shot. I sent it in, 2 months later got it back and same thing. I got rid of it and will never get another. I found something else to fill the nich. Like what Mac said a Corvette and a Pinto will get you to the same (something like that) it's just about what you want.

Thats my rant.

quickdtoo · « **Reply #50 on:** January 25, 2007, 02:44:39 PM »

Hopefully it continues to be a discussion and not an argument.

Tim

Countryboy · « **Reply #51 on:** January 25, 2007, 04:52:47 PM »

Arguments are fighting, discussions(sometimes heated) are for family.

Mac11700 · « **Reply #52 on:** January 25, 2007, 07:30:29 PM »

Quote from: robin-hood-90 on January 25, 2007, 01:36:29 PM

Insert Quote
Some folks can't shoot, but they won't admit it. They just blame it on the gun. As a Ruger buff, I've heard a lot more complaints about Rugers than NEF products.
See there, thats exactly what I'm talking about. What do you know about my shooting skills? FYI I have a 250+yd shooting range right in front of my house. I reload and shoot a lot. I could show you some 200 yd groups from my 6mm or my 16 yearold sons .308 that I'm sure you wouldn't believe. Neither are $2000 customs. I gave $325 for the 6 and $265 for the .308.,both are older remingtons. Yes I tweaked them a little and took some time working up loads, as I do all my centerfires. As a matter of fact I have 7 centerfire rifles that will shoot better than 1 MOA. With my reloads and me, or my son for that matter on the trigger. Do you believe that, who cares, I don't have to prove anything to you.

Now now BA...calm down bro...You haven't been here in a while...so you don't know how some folks type...and I don't think ole Swampy is directing it at you per say...see...he likes make general statements about things...and just throw them out there....this is his nature to do this...and I have told him to try to be more specific...so...I think he's just saying there are "Some folks can't shoot...but they won't admit it..."...Which in itself is a very true statement...since there are a-lot of folks who fit this profile to a T...and there have been a bunch of problematic bolt guns...including Rugers of late...Also... since he didn't say something like this......"Broken Arrow...I don't think you know how to shoot...and you just won't admit it..."...you really can't say he is singling you out...so...again...and hopefully for the last time...Please don't take everything personally and out of context...I know your feeling defensive about it...That's perfectly natural..for someone in your position...What is past...is past...and sometimes it's better to leave it there...

Mac

FLNT4EVR · « **Reply #53 on:** January 26, 2007, 01:55:43 AM »

I like Handi's for exactly what they are. A strong ,accurate,inexpensive little rifle that you can tinker with till your hearts content.You can change stocks, barrels ,sights,all rather cheaply compared to other guns.you can try to do barrel bedding, you can cut the barrels shorter ,you can reshape the wood to what ever suits you.And if you make a misteak ,so what ,your enjoying yourself and learning at the same time. and the most money you would be out for screwing something up real bad would be what it costs to replace the part , probably less than $100. What more could anyone ask for.

bigjeepman · « **Reply #54 on:** January 26, 2007, 02:11:24 AM »

Yeah ... what FLNT4EVR said .... !!

Swampman · « **Reply #55 on:** January 26, 2007, 02:39:13 AM »

For me the Handi is a gun for the hunter/woodsman who is mature enough to understand what's important in a firearm. He's been through all the high dollar hotrods, and is ready for someting that gets the job done without a lot of fuss. I know thats what it is to me. It's a 7lb with scope, OAL of 36", +.308 caliber, freezer filler.

PartsMan · « **Reply #56 on:** January 26, 2007, 03:55:28 AM »

I work with a guy that thinks his browning A bolt in 300 mag with leopold scope
Is the least any one should shoot deer with.
That sounds like "brainwashed" to me.

I just LOVE tellind him when I kill a deer with my $200 handi and $50 scope,
or open sighted 30-30 marlin.

bigjeepman · « **Reply #57 on:** January 26, 2007, 04:03:18 AM »

Swampman ...

Even though I don't consider myself mature (I was told once it was never too late to have a happy childhood) ... very well stated and I totally agree with you. From what little experience I have with Handi's, I like the challenge of the single shot and tuning it to the point where you know that one shot will get the job done. I have several bolt guns but I have enjoyed the Handi's just as much ... and a big part of that is because you guys at GBO make it so.

Martinincanada · « **Reply #58 on:** January 26, 2007, 05:58:46 AM »

These rifles are reasonable priced, challenging, very safe, perfect for new shooters, beautifully shaped, easy to carry, reliable, accurate hunting rifles...they are sexy!

Swampman · « **Reply #59 on:** January 26, 2007, 07:57:17 AM »

Sexy like my tractor, but sexy none the less.

. I taking the .45-70 Handi out right now, and tomorrow. Deer are in rut here so I must go.