.243 question

[DaveP]

Thinking of picking up a Handi youth in .243 for my daughter.
She's 5'3', 105#, and not particulary recoil sensitive, although she is thin armed,and weight is sometimes a problem.

Anyway, had my mind set on the 243 youth, until I started hearing all the horror stories, about the Handi in .243 being more problematic than other calibers, and recent fit/finish problems with newer Handis.

I have an older, bull-barelled .223 that, after some tinkering, I am VERY happy with.

We're taking her out after antelope this fall,so I need to get moving NOW!

Any ideas,thoughts,or suggestions?

Also, can I buy and add a youth stock to a full sized Handi? I do not see them listed on their website.
A buddy MAY sell his full sized 7/08, so that is another option I am considering. 

Thanks, Dave

[VTBrat]

Purchased a youth model .243 for my 9 year old son last summer.  Then, I sent the frame off to H&R and had a 20 guage youth barrel fitted and purchased an adult pallet stock.  I've been very pleased with the gun so far.  The adult pallet stock will permit us to change out the stock as he grows as they are interchangable.  I don't reload and found a couple of factory loads that he was able to shoot comfortably at the 100 yard mark, plenty of range for the whitetails in SW VA.  If we allowed the barrel to cool between shots, everything was fine.  If we didn't, the shots would start stringing for sure.  My son is still a little guy, small framed and light in the weight department.  I took off the factory recoil pad and replaced it with a Limbsaver slipon.  No issues for him to shoot comfortably.  Good luck with your daughter.

[quickdtoo]

See my 260 Remington range report down the page to see how accurate a 20" Superlight(same as youth) barrel can be, it was a 243 before I had it rebored, I also have a 243 Superlight that shoots almost as good, keep the barrel cool and it will do well for you, the thin barrel heats up fast and accuracy degrades. All I do to mine is float the forend and relieve forend pressure(FAQs) so heat doesn't affect it as much, no special bedding needed.  The Superlight contour barrels will never be good for colony shooting varmints like prairie dogs, but for a light carry hunting rifle, they excel. The 243 may not be the best youth chambering either due to the muzzle blast and sharp recoil, consider the 223 Youth also if it's legal and hunting will be supervised.

Tim

[necchi]

The 7-08 IS a nice round, got it for the boy, but he's currently bout 140#. The 7-08 leaves alot of room to grow into,,he likes it so well I don't foresee him wanting to change cal for years. I'd put money that he'll be fond of that round well into his adulthood.

If your buddy is near ask to try it. If you load, Hodgdon has the youth loads for big game. It doesn't take alot for those goats;
http://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/Youth%20Loads.pdf
Proper fit is a big deal.
I cut an adult stock and added a "grind to fit" limb saver so I could get a 12 1/2" pull, I think the youth and ladies stock available is 11 3/4, that's a mite short for him, but you can always sell/trade in the future. Constant market for youth items.

[nova71]

I think the 243 is a great round I started my daughter with it and she still uses it , that's been over 20 years ago,.....geeez, I'm getting old!!

A question while I'm here, you talk about letting a barrel cool, how many shots before you need to do that? I shot 10 shots through mine yesterday in about 10 minutes and I could tell no difference. my reason for asking is the gun club I'm in has a varmint shooting match and I am planning to use my Handi 243. I need to be able to take 20 shots within 15 minutes, will there be a problem with that??.... Larry

[quickdtoo]

The 20" Superlight gets warm pretty fast, not a lot of metal there to dissipate heat, the 22" standard and bull barrel is much more tolerant of multiple shots in a short time. 

Tim

[necchi]

I need to be able to take 20 shots within 15 minutes, will there be a problem with that??.... Larry

Larry, best thing is to try it.
 THE biggest problem folks have in a timed event is they shoot too fast! Most people given 15 minutes, will fire all their rounds in 8 minutes. It takes a cool head AND a kitchen timer AND practice to know how much time you have. After all the pressure IS the time and it makes most folks mess up. Ya outta see folks scramble when the "5 minutes remain" call is made! I always like the guy that put's his gun down at that point and stretches his arms and cracks his neck abit,
 If the last 4-5 rounds start to string high because of a hot barrel you can compensate the hold 

[DaveP]

Thanks guys, appreciate the input.

But can anyone address concerns about recent quaility issues, and the .243 chamberings alleged rep for being finicky?

[coop2564]

I bought one for my son about 8-9 yrs ago and it would not shoot bullets 85grs and up well enough to satisfy me. It did OK with 55gr and 70gr bullets! I spent a fortune on bullets at least $200 trying to find a load it would shoot. sent it back to factory 3 times they would just send back with this shunk down picture saying they got the gun to shoot 2" groups with 80gr rems. Thats not a very good deer bullet and the best I could group it was 2.5-3" on a good day. He killed a couple of deer with it up close, but was beggin for a bolt after 2 yrs. As touchy and finicky as these guns can be (having to hold and rest forearm same place every shot) if you can afford a bolt gun you both will most likely be happier. IMO!

[gcrank1]

There are a bunch of us here who do pretty good with these, and a few who dont. I even know of new , more expensive, bolt guns that dont do any better than mentioned. In any cross section of product you will get much the same.
FWIW, just try to sell that more expensive 'whatever'  if it doesnt work. At least with a 'Handi' you can part it out and get your money out.
As for spending X$ on bullets/reloading......all trigger time is training.

[quickdtoo]

Thanks guys, appreciate the input.

But can anyone address concerns about recent quaility issues, and the .243 chamberings alleged rep for being finicky?

I've got four 243 H&Rs, two Ultra Varmints and 2 Superlights, no complaints. 

Tim

[DaveP]

Thanks guys, appreciate the input.

But can anyone address concerns about recent quaility issues, and the .243 chamberings alleged rep for being finicky?

I've got four 243 H&Rs, two Ultra Varmints and 2 Superlights, no complaints. 

Tim

Thanks. But reading up on some of yours, seems they aren't what I would call straight out of the box.
As an earlier poster stated, he had some issues with a .243.

And I had referenced my bull barrelled .223 in my initial post.
First shot  straight out of the box, had to remove case with a rod.
Stuck.
Sent back, and had trigger lightened as well.
(and fitted for a few more barrels)

Then really had to play around to work up a decent load, mess with forearm,etc, but now have it shooting pretty good. Minute of groundhog, and then some.

Granted, many guns need some tuning, and a few have issues that require a trip back to the manufacturer, staright from the get go. Just seems that I've been hearing a lot mor about Handis lately. Or maybe I'm listening more closely.

I'm just trying to find out if these are better or worse than the 1990s when I bought my last one.

Honest opinions, not cheerleading, although I KNOW there will be some, seeing as how this IS a Handi-board!

Thanks again guys!

[quickdtoo]

First of all, H&R hasn't made any ejector centerfire rifle barrel for about 3yrs, they're all extractors which makes the sticking brass problem a non-issue, even that can be dealt with using the tips in the FAQs, the majority of the members here prefer ejectors over extractors. Both of my Superlight barrels were second hand which I fitted myself, both of my Ultra Varmints are factory rifles that I bought new, one as an accessory barrel which was factory fitted, the other a thumbhole laminate bought as a complete rifle. The first first Ultra is an ejector barrel, its only had one stuck brass in it which was my fault for not wiping the chamber out at the range after cleaning, it shoots 100gr Federal Power-Shoks well under 1", and 95gr Fusion almost as good, two very popular factory 243 loads for H&Rs. The t-hole Ultra is an extractor and shoots the 80gr Rems under 1½", those are both out of the box with nothing more done than making sure the forend isn't too tight which is very simple to do, and a good cleaning.

Tim

[DaveP]

FINALLY picked up the .243 youth today.
Had to pay up front and order from Dicks.
It is TIGHT to open, I mean like trying to break a 2"X4" over your knee tight!
I'm 6'1", 220 and had to puish, my poor daughter just looked at it after trying and said "I think it's STUCK!"

Oh well, will p/up some various .243 loads and see what we have.

[PHATINJUN]

Get all the gunk cleaned out of it .Run some patches in and out of it agressivley 50 times or so with some good bore polish. Then just keep doing the same thing with clean patches til they come out clean.Then start shooting your test loads and don't worry about cleaning it to much til ya get one of them shooting 1" or so. That has worked for me for more bbl's than not.I got a ss bull .243 that I am getting ready to start trying to shoot the 62g Varmint Greanades out of.Kurt

[Dinny]

Why not just get her a 30-30 barrel and shoot light-for-caliber bullets in it?  I have heard from other that the 125gr bullets shoot real well and they have what it takes to put down an antelope at a fair distance.  I haven't heard of any 30-30 Handi complaints. 

Thanks, Dinny