.223 superlight compact review --2 month performance review added mar 27

[Yak Angler]

Hi All,
 
My new superlight .223 arrived today and I thought I might post a review of the gun for anyone who might be interested in one of these little gems.
 
the specs measured directly from this gun after cleaning it today are as follows.
 
1. Overall length 33"
2. Weight as measured with my trigger pull scale is 5.4lbs
3. barrel diametre at the muzzle .640"
4. comes with standard adjustable open sights- it is drilled and tapped for the standard H&R scope base (not included)
5. sights are standard black/blued--not tru-glow style , etc.
6. trigger pull 3.8lbs absolutely no creep
7. twist 1in9"
 
Overall fit and finish is very nice, the lockup mimics my .17hmr and with any luck this one will shoot just a nice as up until now the .17hmr has been my most accurate handi inside 200 yards. Also over the last few years when i procrastinated over buying one of these rifles I read lots of people wondering if the thinner barrel would affect accuracy. This barrel measured .640" at the muzzle for comparison sake i also measured my .270 savage axis and my .270 weatherby vangard both were inside my safe wearing gun socks so i just measured them with the gun socks still on. the savage measured .610" and the weatherby was around .630" so even though this is the thinest barrel H&R makes for a centerfire rifle it is still thicker than both of these bolt action .270 rifles and my superlight is only a .223. The diametre of these barrels should have no effect on accuracy if the known accuracy of the savage and weatherby rifles are used as an indicator.
 
Range report to follow, hope to get out saturday morning weather permitting. I will not be scoping this one, I will either leave the standard open sights on or install a peep or ghost ring rear sight, at the most i will put a red dot on it.
 
Hopefully this review will help to answer some questions about these rifles that might be hard to find searching the past posts or H&R's website which leaves alot to be desired when it comes to specifications.
 
 
 
 
 

[gcrank1]

I like the sound of that weight.....whats the length of pull and barrel length?

[Big Blue]

Very nice! I look forward to seeing how she shoots for you.
Don

[quickdtoo]

I like the sound of that weight.....whats the length of pull and barrel length?

H&R lists LOP as 11¾" and barrel is 20" of course.  The youth stock that comes on the Compact/Youth model weighs just 11.2oz compared to a little over a pound for the adult stock.

Tim

http://www.hr1871.com/Firearms/Rifles/handiRifle.asp

[fish280]

that's a humdinger, right there. wish it were made in .30-30 ...

[gcrank1]

That would make it still just under about 6# with an adult plastic stock, not too bad; I cant take the thumb in my nose of the yout mdl., though a slip on pad would be quick & dirty.
Should be a good ramblin' gun, hope it shoots well for you (let us know).

[Yak Angler]

I like the sound of that weight.....whats the length of pull and barrel length?

One of the pictures shows the length of pull but glare from the flash makes it a bit hard to see, tape measure is just about 12" to the trigger. if i can hit a pie plate at 100 yards using the standard sights then it will be just the ticket for my intended use for coyotes and varmints.

[Spanky]

I bought the same gun for my wife... it's a good shooter.
 
 
 
Spanky

[Dinny]

that's a humdinger, right there. wish it were made in .30-30 ...

Many of us do! I wish they were still doing the 22H. That adds many other rebore\rechambered options.

Thanks,Dinny

[Rustyinfla]

   I like mine so much I named it. We call it Dinky.

   It shoots great too !

[Yak Angler]

Hi all
 
Just got home from the range and I think I will be smilling for the rest of the day due to this little superlight .223. I have attached my 100 yard target, it was shot using the factory open sights using a 6 o'clock hold as the front sight blade was wider than my target even at 50 yards. To get a 3" inch group with the last two shots inside 1 " after making a slight tweak to the sights I am totally blown away by the performace, expecially considering the 10mph crosswind and the style of open sights as they are not designed for target work. Even took one shot at 200 yards and was pleased to only be about 8" off where i wanted to hit, not bad considering i could barely even see my target at that distance.
 
In total i took about 25 shots, cleaning every five shots to help the new barrel get started. I will probably increase the interval to cleaning every box of ammo until i get 100 rounds down the pipe. Good news was it didn't matter if the barrel was hot or cold POI was the same, cleaned or dirty made no difference either at least i couldn't detect it using the iron sights, maybe if it was scoped the difference may have been noticable. Only problem was at first i mounted up the williams H&R peep sight i had lying around after about the first 10 shots i gave up and put the factory rear sight back on as the peep was shooting about 10" high at 25 yards with the adjustment max'd out as low as it would go, but atleast  I can keep the factory sight set-up going forward and maybe even through a dot sight on it down road, don't really want to scope this one for its intended purpose.
 
Hope to have a yote on the ground with it either tomorrow or next weekend depending on how i feel.
 

[gcrank1]

Just think what kind of -0- you would have with that peep on and shooting that high!
See what you can get for a taller front sight and I think you will like the peep (it is often said 30% tighter groups). FWIW, I shot a peep and Firesight type front and was amazed at how well that glowworm worked and the group was way tighter than I imagined it could be.

[goalie]

Thanks for the review.  I was debating what I should get for my son when he starts getting old enough, and though there are numerous inexpensive bolt-action rifles these days, I was thinking that the size, weight, and general construction of the single-shot would be more what I would like him to have.

The 1/9 twist makes the slightly heavier tsx bullets doable, and I really like the idea of having such a simple rifle for his first hunting firearm.

[Yak Angler]

Thanks for the review.  I was debating what I should get for my son when he starts getting old enough, and though there are numerous inexpensive bolt-action rifles these days, I was thinking that the size, weight, and general construction of the single-shot would be more what I would like him to have.

The 1/9 twist makes the slightly heavier tsx bullets doable, and I really like the idea of having such a simple rifle for his first hunting firearm.

In my opinion this would be the best possible youth starter rifle on the market, it has a shorter LOP than any others i have seen and is the correct length and weight for a young shooter and even a not so young shooter as in my case 
 
With all the available factory ammo options today it would make a great all around tool from crows to coyotes to deer with proper training and shot selection.
 
 
 
I was really hoping that the peep would work out also. I do have a taller front sight ramp and firesight that i could try mounting but i think what i might try since I have a spare scope rail lying around somewhere is to install it to see if i can still use the factory iron's with the rail mounted and no scope. If that works out ok then i will try my red dot on it. It is a 5moa which is a little thicker than I would like but still less thick than the factory front blade. This way if i am hunting an area where using the factory sights is an advantage like in very thick forest/cover i can detach the red dot and use just the sights, in areas more open where longer range shots are more likely i could re-install the red dot sight.
 
 

[gcrank1]

I doubt you will be able to see the sights with a scope rail on; an easy way to check is to lay a long straightedge across the sights and see how much/little you have back where the rail mounts. My rails have all been too thick. You could probably make the concept work with replacement sights that are 'gut-hook' tall.

[YRUpunting?]

Thanks for posting the review, I've had my eye on the superlight 223 barrel.  I would try one of these on the rear sight.


http://www.midwayusa.com/product/496762/williams-wgrs-guide-receiver-peep-sight-ghost-ring-aperture-aluminum-black

[Yak Angler]

Thanks for posting the review, I've had my eye on the superlight 223 barrel.  I would try one of these on the rear sight.


http://www.midwayusa.com/product/496762/williams-wgrs-guide-receiver-peep-sight-ghost-ring-aperture-aluminum-black

These Williams H&R peep sights are the ones i have tried, bought a few of them a couple years ago for another project due to the drop in height from the chamber swell to the front sight mount they will not work on this model of H&R rifle, from what i remember others have tried them on other models aswell like the BC in 45-70 and they are to tall of rear sight to work with most if not all factory handi front sights.
 

I doubt you will be able to see the sights with a scope rail on; an easy way to check is to lay a long straightedge across the sights and see how much/little you have back where the rail mounts. My rails have all been too thick. You could probably make the concept work with replacement sights that are 'gut-hook' tall.

Thats what i am affraid of aswell that the scope rail will be to thick, great idea with the straight edge though, will give that a try tomorrow and post back what i find out.
 
 

[gcrank1]

H&R does have some tall front sights, it has been mentioned before which one is the tallest (same plain blade IIRC) and would be a screw on. I think somebody used one and epoxied a short length of neon string trimmer line on top to work with the Williams rear peep.
Maybe somebody will remember the thread/post/link and post it here.

[geezerbiker]

that's a humdinger, right there. wish it were made in .30-30 ...

Many of us do! I wish they were still doing the 22H. That adds many other rebore\rechambered options.

Thanks,Dinny

There's still a few new ones out there but if I got one, I wouldn't go more than a .221 rem fireball with it.

Tony

[Yak Angler]

H&R does have some tall front sights, it has been mentioned before which one is the tallest (same plain blade IIRC) and would be a screw on. I think somebody used one and epoxied a short length of neon string trimmer line on top to work with the Williams rear peep.
Maybe somebody will remember the thread/post/link and post it here.

 
I don't know whats more fun, shooting this thing or messing around with this sight set-up, I guess its a tie they both are . Checked out a few more things this morning.
 
1. Found my scope rail, the height is the exact same as the front sight post when it is set into the " U" notch of the rear sight. I guess one could get used to it but the rail really blocks out alot of what you would hope to see when using open sights. IMO having the scope rail mounted and using the factory sight set-up is not a good option and I will not pursure that route any farther at this time.
 
2. My spare front sight ramp with firesight is about 1/8" taller when taped to the barrel behind the existing front sight( and looks really nice too ), I hope this will allow me to use my Williams peep sight set-up but I won't know until next weekend at the earliest because im not going to be able to get to the range again before then. All i will do is use hockey tape to temporarily mount it so i can see if the zero is what i want. If so i will unbolt the factory front sight ramp and install this one in it's place, that to me will be the ultimate set-up for me if it works and since i already have all the parts including a firesight ghost ring rear sight to go along with the peep insert for the Williams peep sight ramp I will be " happy,happy,happy"

[goalie]

This thread just resulted in me ordering one from my LGS when I was picking up a Ruger Charger 10/22 pistol that I had ordered. 
 
 

[Yak Angler]

I don't think you can go wrong with one, I have really been enjoying mine since i got. Its a very handy handi especially if you like to backpack into hunting spots

[Yak Angler]

Well its been a few months since i last posted on my now regulary used .223 superlight compact.
 
My hope was to continue to use sights instead of a scope on this rifle which i use for just one purpose coyote hunting. At first it worked out ok but regardless of which sight options i used from the factory set to fibre optic style all of them obstructed too much of the animal in low light conditions that the coyotes in my area use to move around. There are not any 12 noon coyotes to be shot where i hunt. its a first 1/2 hour and last 1/2 if your lucky scenerio where i hunt.
 
Therefore I added a 2-7x power scope which seems to be the best fit for my needs which range from shots under 50 yards in the woods(2x ) to some field edge shots that might require an accurate shot to 200 yards (7x ) on my current sets depending on wind direction on the day of the hunt.
 
The two most accurate factory loads shot from this rifle produced slightly better the MOA performance at both 100 yards which is the distance I zero'd the scope and even out to 200 yards as per the attached target photo which comes in at 1.9". The winner by a slight margin is WWB 45 grain HP at 3600 fps and the next best was PRVI partizan 56 grain soft points. Both shoot to the exact same POI at 100 yards and the WWB suffers about 1" less drop at 200. All groups were shot under less than ideal wind conditions and i would bet that if shot under better conditions and with a higher magnification scope group sizes would probably be under 1/2" maybe even less at 100 yards.
 
Overall I am extremely pleased with the performance of this little rifle now that i have about 100-150 rounds through it as it just keeps performing better and better everytime i take it out.

[stewmagoo]

I agree that these youth compact and super lites are awesome!  Granted I don't have the .223 but I have 2 in .243. One youth compact and one true adult Superlight. The youth compact was set up just as the OP's .223. But immediately started getting transformed. I added a slip on Pachmayr pad. I added some cut to fit felt pads to fill in the gap and add a little more length. Then slipped on an Allen shell holder.  I removed the sights and added a Pentax scope. It's going to work great for either son. Working 6 days a week and crummy weather has not allowed range time. I will attach some pics.

[petemi]

Yak Angler, you mention "less than ideal wind conditions".  Depending on what part of Tropical Canada you're from, I'm thinking it may have been on the cool side too.  It dawned on me that I don't believe I've ever shot a Superlight in hot weather, or experienced the drift attributed to heat.  I've got to try it if it ever warms up.  "Heat" ain't the same all over.  Probably to you and I it's 70 - 75 F.  To George in Texas, 95 is just comfortable......perhaps 110 is warm.

Pete

[Yak Angler]

I have the same Allen shell holder on mine as well stewmagoo, it works great and is about the only chance of a second shot with a handi rifle as you can reload pretty quick with practice. How are the .243's working out for you i was considering one of them for my next one?
 
Pete, the area i live in Canada is the warmest part of the country in the summer, we had almost 2 straight months of 90 degree and muggy weather last summer, barrel heat at the range can become an issue but I do alot more fishing during the summer than target shooting. Once sweat starts rolling down your face it takes the fun out of shooting for me but i will get out the odd time predator hunting in summer.
 
That said my last few trips to the range this winter have been -10 degrees and 20 MPH winds swirling around the berms which can make it difficult to really zero in a rifle. Wish there was such a thing as a 150-200 yard indoor range that allowed rifles, but all we have is 25 yard indoor pistol only ranges. That would make dialing it in alot easier but i make do with whats available. My range is prone to the wind blowing more left to right than anything else and i haven't had a calm and warm day yet this winter so i suspect this rifle is zero'd a little left. My 100 yard group shot before this one was 1 inch left and these are about  2-3 inchs right at 200 i feel caused by the wind but i won't know until i can get out on a nicer day.

[nanuk-O-dah-Nort]

Pete, the area i live in Canada is the warmest part of the country in the summer,

You're from Maple Creek, Sask?

[Yak Angler]

Pete, the area i live in Canada is the warmest part of the country in the summer,

You're from Maple Creek, Sask?

No I'm in Southwestern Ontario, my guess is summer in Maple creek, Sask would be considered two weeks of bad skiing 

[nanuk-O-dah-Nort]

Pete, the area i live in Canada is the warmest part of the country in the summer,

You're from Maple Creek, Sask?

No I'm in Southwestern Ontario, my guess is summer in Maple creek, Sask would be considered two weeks of bad skiing 

this year, maybe...   But I think the hottest temp in Canada was measured around there.