N E F newbe

[Mike Britton]

OK guys, one more opinion around the fire. I'm moving toward a Handi-Rifle in .30-30 to help my grandkids make the transition from rimfire to centerfire. Only problem is, after I get my hands on this, my third Handi-Rifle, the kids may not get to play !
I have loved these little carbines, one in .22K Hornet, one in .45/70 that in a fit of stupidity have both been traded for rifles that I thought at the time would be more fun.
Seems as you get older you begin to realize what fun really is. I had no idea that others felt the love for the little rifle that I did. This is cool, I can talk about the Handi-Rifle without being looked at as if I were new to the shooting sports and didn't have any idea what a "real"  rifle was supposed to be. Imagine, if you will, how popular this rifle would have been in the West. Cheap, small, easily packed on your back, or on a saddle, the perfect pack gun.
Now I see a whole world of shooters having a ball with the little rifle! This is going to be fun.
One question tho, is there anywhere I can go for better wood? Handi-rifles don't need much to look slick, and better wood would go a long way toward making them look,and feel, better. Later, guys, I'm off on the search for a .30-30. From what I've read, I may have to look for awhile. Mike

[quickdtoo]

Welcome aboard Mike! Please see the FAQs and Help sticky, it's full of useful info to answer your questions, all H&R stocks will fit all of the SS1, SB1 and SB2 frames with the exception of the forends of the 10ga/12ga slug guns, you can mix and match all you want, most stocks are listed on the Retail Price list page in the FAQs and there are 6 pages of pics in the link Let's see some Handis. If you want to finish your own, GBO sponsor GSI offers some real nice replacement stocks.

www.gunstocksinc.com

Tim

H&R stocks:

[petemi]

Hi and Welcome.  Keep checking the H&R/NEF classifieds right here, you may find what you're looking for.  The best thing about a Handi is there are lots of barrels available.  Personally, for my Grandkids, I'd go with the 7mm-08; about the same recoil and more versatility.  Good luck, Pete

[NAM70]

Hi
 I stripped the brown finish of of mine and rehaped  the butt stock. If I remember correctly I removed about 4 oz of wood.  I filled in the grain and refinished both the forearm and butt stock. Underneath the brown finish there is some attractive wood at least I think so. Dave

[Mike Britton]

Thanks, guys! I really struggle witth these forum sites, but I'll keep trying. You'd think after 60 years I'd learn something.  I just stumbled over all your responses by mistake!

[ro]

Mike, welcome to GBO, alot of great handi-rifle stuff on this site just look around it's here, when you get a good handi keep it, they are a great rifle for the money.

[Mike Britton]

Picked up a new .30-30 just the other day ! I'm excited to have another handi-rifle in the safe. I went to NEF's website and they still have the extra barrel offer there.But it's dated 2006, are they still doing that? Is it still $87 ? If so, I'm going back for another barrel in .45/70!
While I have all you guys, does anyone have any experence with the Williams fp reciever sight for the handi-rifle? I really like shooting iron sights and the reciever sight that Williams makes fits right on the last scope mount holes, cool. Also, what is involved in removing the rear sight on the barrel?
Thanks to all for writing me back, Mike

[quickdtoo]

Mike, if you spend some time in the FAQs, you'll find the answers to those questions and a lot more, see Peep and Firesights, you have 3 choices, the FP, the FP-target and the WGRS. See the thread down the page Accessory Barrel Orders for more on that topic.

It depends on what sight you have on the 30-30, current production has the WGOS with two mounting scews, older sights have a mounting screw under the elevator, you have to knock the hinge pin out to get at it, this info is in the FAQs also.

Tim

[Mike Britton]

Thanks for the info. I'm still having trouble learning how to navigate the site. I'm too used to carrying on a conversation face to face.

[Mike Britton]

Yea!!!!! I finally found the FAQ's !! I've spent the better part of an hour checking out all the things I can do. I'll really struggle with the math for the front sight to go with the Williams Reciever sight for my .30-30, but I'll figure it out. Maybe I can get my granddaughter to help with the math and measurements. Ohh, this is gonna be fun ! Mike

[quickdtoo]

The Brownell's sight calculator link on the Peep and Firesights thread does all the work for ya, all you have to do is measure and plug the figures in. 

Tim

[Mike Britton]

Thanks, I saw that. If I'm just going to install the reciever sight I should be able to keep the NEF ramp on the barrel, right? .30-30 isn't a long range round so I don't think I'd need all the elevation avalible in the Williams sight. Or am I not understanding the geometry. All my iron sighted rifles were that way when I got them so I'm new to the engineering of installing sights. I plan to buy a .45/70 barrel, and I really like the idea of ordering a new forearm to go with it. I get the impression from everybody on the forum that if I do that NEF will fit the new forearm to the new barrel. I see people with six and seven barrels. Now I understand the term "handiholic"!
I think it's a shame NEF never made this rifle in .22 rimfire. It would make a dynamite first rifle for the young ones.
I have two "left over" .410 barrels from previous Toppers, if one of them fits tightly, the pressure levels from .410 should be comperable to the .30-30. I looked at the reference, and my rifle is Prefixed NF which tells me it was made by NEF in 1991. There is no brass residue on the breech face, I don't think it's ever been fired ! I've never broken in a barrel before, I've never owned a new barrel.
I think I'm going to try on this one. I had a friend who owned a 788 in .30-30, and he loaded hpbt Sierras in it and got exceptional accuracy  from it. I know I used the excuse that I was buying the little rifle for my grandkids to transition on, but they may not get to play with it. At  least not for awhile! Thanks Tim, you've been a great help. This forum is really neat.

[stimpylu32]

Mike

Your starting to understand why these rifles are so much fun , as for the 22LR , they made 2 at one tine , the Virsa Pac which had a 410 & 22 LR barrels , the LR having an offset bore to use the CF firing pin location , sadly they desided to dis-continue that model .

They also still make a Rimfire only framed Sportster , that came in 17M2 , 17HMR , 22LR and the 22 Mag , some of these models may not be around anymore but the HMR and Mag can still be found in most gun shops .

I happen to like my 30/30 and it likes the pointed bullets as well as the RN & FP ones .

stimpy

[quickdtoo]

The 22Lr Sportster is still available in two models, also in 22mag and 17hmr as well as accessory barrels for the SS1 frame, but sadly the 17M2 has been discontinued as well as the 22mag Ultra.

http://www.hr1871.com/Firearms/Rifles/sportster.aspx

As for pressure difference between the the 30-30 and 410, there's a big difference, shotgun pressures top out at 14kpsi, the 30-30 runs at 42kpsi. You can use a shotgun barrel on a rifle frame, but not the other way around, H&R won't fit any rifle barrel to shotgun frames, although they do offer the 357 and 44mags on SB1 frames as complete firearms as well as in combos, but no other rifle barrels can be fitted to them.

Someone else will have to answer the question about factory front sights with the Williams sights, I've only used the FP Target sight with the .404" 17A sight on my 45-120 Buffalo Classic, it hits about 1½" high at 100yds with the sight at the bottom of travel with trapdoor level 405gr loads. IIRC, 8-10 clicks up puts 555gr bullets dead on at 200yds when started out at ~1800+fps. I've only used the Firesight with the WGRS as shown in the Peep and Firesights thread.

My 30-30 is scoped, but it shoots factory Rem 150gr real good, a little vertical stringing, but not enough to make any difference, that first shot is the one that counts, and the second right there too!

Tim

http://www.frfrogspad.com/miscellk.htm

http://www.hr1871.com/Firearms/Combos/handislug.aspx

[Mike Britton]

I shoot a lot of .45/70. Marlin1895, Original Remington #1 rolling block sporter, Trapdoor sporter, and a really cool Gibbs "Summit" built around the Enfield #4 action. I have a cute little 311 stevens double barrel in 16guage,23" barrels, that I've thought about lining one barrel in .45/70.
The cartridge is fun to play with, but uses a lot of powder. I've just about given up on black powder, using old
 reloading manuals to find light smokeless loads with low pressures. For me it's more about the boom and the recoil than power and accuracy. If I want power and accuracy, I'll take out the Ruger M77 in .308.
I would have given the .410 higher pressures than that. That's interesting, I bought a Ballard once from an old man in .44short cenerfire that he recahambered, (with a drill bit! ) for .410. Then he reallized he could get .444 brass to fit, and finally sold it  to me because his.444 handloads were sticking in the chamber!
I'm really enjoying this forum, Tim. Most of my gun buds are either collectors that don't shoot, or they are my old hi-power competitors that shoot black rifles and I have nothing in common with. It's fun to talk with guys that go out and punch paper just for the fun of it.
I'm learning better how to navigate, and I'll bet there are some collectors out there on this site with similar intrests.

[quickdtoo]

I don't have many rifles other than the H&Rs, but I do have a lot of them, 43 so far, mostly rifles, so I guess I could be classified as an H&R collector. 

Tim

[Mike Britton]

Beats the hell out of some other vises we could have, right Tim?