Howdy guys,
I'll make my first post in this forum section a repeat of my running Huntsman review. Still lots more to do but I'm no less impressed with the little rifle that I was when wrote this:
"The little rifle (and it very much is a little rifle) may be a bit short on length of pull, but that will be a plus for many hunters dressed for cold weather outings. The stock is a simple black synthetic that actually has nice flowing lines and seems to look as if it belongs. The recoil pad looks to be of good quality and is appropriately shaped to fit the stock - mine did require a little loosening of the screws and a slight upward push while tightening to get it to where it belonged. The stock is hollow and light as a feather so this certainly won't be a magnum load shooter, but I never intended to shoot nonsense loads in the first place.
The action opens almost as tight as a new Encore and has a very solid feel to it. There is none of the wobble as is exhibited by the Optima I have. The metalwork is good, with nice finish on the SS, nearly identical to the T/C SS barrel finish. The action is finished in a slightly different matte nickel but is nicely done. There is considerable text on the shooter's left side of the action. The right side of the barrel carries the usual owner's manual blurb. The hammer and trigger are slightly different yet, more of a smooth stainless but not very reflective. The hammer has an area of grooves to prevent slippage on its upper rear. Hammer cocking is much less noisy than many such actions. The trigger is smooth but not slippery. The trigger breaks cleanly and felt to be about 3 lbs the one time I tried it. No take up, no grit, and I liked it. Don't think I'll have to adjust it but I do have directions for making adjustments if needed (not from H&R).
The barrel lug is substantial and is cleanly finished. The welds to the barrel are good but not perfect. There is no huge amount of left over weld material as was on the Optima.
The primer carrier system may in fact be a very good idea as one can tell at a glance if the rifle is primed. The carriers would be hard to lose and some shooters report getting over 100 shots from a single carrier. Looks to me like the long threaded breech plug could be easily replaced with a more standard plug, eliminating the carriers if desired and you were possessed of such talents. The breech plug removal tool is quite different than most. H&R relies upon the purchaser to own a screwdriver or similar round-shafted device to operate it. An included ratchet-type tool would have been far better.
The ramrod is no surprise, being the flimsy telescopic brass that is widely criticized. It could be used for light duty as long as one was very careful. I may look for an aftermarket rod even for that purpose if the gun proves to be a shooter. A good tip from one poster on the H&R Talk forums is to simply carry an ~8 inch dowel of appropriate size, drop that into the bore to gain the needed length to fully seat a load, of course being sure to remove after loading. The dowel would prevent the shooter from needing to extend the included ramrod and save precious time in doing so. A good range rod eliminates any ramrod problems while shooting target but is not practical in the field.
The fiber optics includes an adjustable rear with a double green dot and the ramp front with a red dot, the correct color scheme for such sights. I took the sights off and see they are not as well made as you might think on first look - very lightweight synthetic and I'm sure it would take little effort to strip the adjustment screws. The Weaver 82 mount base that I bought seems about half as long as the barrel.
Took the hacksaw, the Dremel, some emery cloth, the Birchwood Casey Aluma-Black, and finally some paint to the Weaver base. I guestimated the new cut for the cross-slot a tiny bit too close to the forward end of the base and have a slight overhang on the front ring. It may or may not work properly now.
First shots with the Huntsman - not a whole lot of shooting and not with such great results. I kept thinking my scope (a cheap Tasco World Class) was the culprit. After I got home, I noticed the rear ring had worked its way loose on the base - my fault I'm sure. The trigger is fantastic on the little rifle. Seems to be a bit less than 3 lbs (by my imprecise guess) and clean as a whistle. I'm not sure I like the primer carriers very much as they don't seem to prevent blowback as well as they should. My scope had a bit of residue on it but it just wiped off. No burn marks. And that too may have been in part my fault as I at first didn't realize those carriers snap in place, I was stupidly just sitting them there and closing the action. They do not automatically snap themselves in place with action closure.
Used Bostik Never-Seez on the breech plug, being sure to have a good dose on all the threads. After the shoot, it was locked up hard. The tool provided is totally inadequate so I had to go to the vice. Came out pretty gritty all the way. After cleaning, I put the plug back in with a wrap of pink Teflon tape and a bit of Gorilla Grease. Will see how that does next time out. The process of cleaning is not as easy as was the case with the Optima . But then dealing with a stuck breech plug may have just made it seem so. Took me quite awhile to get all the little nooks and crannies as clean as I like. I didn't remove the action from the stock to look at the action internals but it seems to me that any blowback would be hard pressed to get past that firing pin as it has very close fit. And there is certainly a less resistive location for the blowback to vent out the barrel cut for the primer holder. Cleanup was still easy compared to many rifles. I need to make a better tool for breech plug removal. It's hard to understand why H&R doesn't install a more "Encorish" breech plug and removal tool. It can't be because they plan to get rich off selling the plastic carriers, those things last.
I fired about 10 rounds of the ~330 grain cast REALs and they at first seemed as if they were going to perform. But when I moved to 100 yards, two shots were less than an inch apart and a third was about 3.5" away. Perhaps this was when the scope mount was loosening enough to have effect. I switched to some 300 grain XTPs in black MMP sabots and found my point of impact shifted to the right 3-4". Fired a couple of those to adjust the sights, and then started firing a "group". Managed to put 6 consecutive rounds into a 4" spread. Certainly nothing to brag about, but also maybe not so bad considering only one ring was still firmly attached to the base by that point.
The rifle feels nice and solid when shooting. Recoil was not as bad as I expected but significant enough to make me want for a bit more eye relief. I was shooting all shots using 75 grains of FFg Triple7 and that is pretty potent in this lightweight with 300+ grain projectiles. The stock fits me much as did the Omega stock, too short for my large build and long arms but I felt not so handicapped by that fit problem with this rifle. The trigger guard is plenty roomy and I never once felt any contact with my fingers after recoil as I did with the Omega trigger guard.
The Lee REALs load very easily after a quick rap with the short starter. Lubed with Crisco, they went down smoothly and I felt no inconsistencies in the bore. Same is true for the seating of the XTP sabots, although considerably more pressure was required to seat the bullet. This is the FIRST rifle I've shot where I did NOT encounter the Triple7 crud ring. The quick damp/dry swab between each shot seemed to be a repeat performance of the last, with less resistance felt after shooting the XTP/MMP sabots than after shooting the REALs. In neither case was the fouling serious nor was there any area of the bore which seemed more fouled than the remainder.
Finished the session thinking about "the next time" which is more than I can say for my experience with some other rifles. I believe this little rifle will definitely do better as I become more familiar with its operation. I think my next outing will produce much better results as I am going to wait for the new mount base from H&R along with the hammer extension. The new base may provide more options for mounting than the current modified Weaver base. A different scope will help in the accuracy department as well as provide better eye-relief.
Update: the new base from H&R as well as the hammer extension are now mounted and installed. Scoped now with a Bushnell Trophy 1.75x4 and the clearance between the hammer and ocular end of the scope is very minimal but adequate using Weaver hi rings. The base and hammer extension are available directly from H&R at a cost of $22 delivered.
Second outing of shooting - Not the best, but better. Still couldn't get the Lee REALs to do much but I tried some PR Bullet Ultimate 1 spitzer hollowpoints - 400 grainers. Here's the result:
Put a blue Post-It behind the holes to make them show a bit better. The charges were just thrown, not measured, and the bullets were not weight sorted. I did swab between each shot and continue to be amazed by how little crud is left in that barrel.
Noticed the Teflon tape was being shot out the back of the breech plug. Was trying the 10-4 o'clock position on the alignment of the breech plug tool notches to see if that lessened blowback. It didn't and IÂ’ve since been advised that plug should always be inserted until it is just snug. Once again I had to go to the vice to get the breech plug out. That little tool H&R provides is near worthless at best. Reinstalled the breech plug after cleaning using only Gorilla Grease. I have GOT to get a better plug tool made up.
I'm still impressed with how tight the little rifle seems and how consistently nice the trigger breaks. Recoil wasn't bad and I even had fewer eyebrow brushes this time out (only once).
I worked on the forearm a bit after coming home trying to obtain a near-float on the barrel. The barrel seems quite sensitive to the way the forearm is held, perhaps more so than the Encore. I have a rubber o-ring providing some separation and just a little more sanding should get me there.
Think I now have a hunting load now for out to about 125 yards or so. Will tinker some more but things are looking up. Again, I'm impressed. The rifle and two extra packs of carriers for 215, tax included. Not bad!"
And the last config and load is how the rifle remains. A new G2 is sitting in my case alongside the Huntsman and it looks small by comparison to even the Huntsman, dwarfed by the two Encores, and disappears compared to my White 98.
I've just got to end this with another picture
so here is the G2 and the Huntsman. When I thaw out and can move away from this tree, I'll shoot 'em.
