First Handi Rifle

[ss shooter]

I picked up a used SS Handi in .223 with a survivor stock and a BSA scope mounted on it pretty cheap I thought it would make a good truck gun, first trip to the range I ran out of windage on the scope before I got it zeroed at 25yrds I still needed a couple of inches left, and the fired cases stopped ejecting I had to knock them out with a rod.
 Also with the scope mounted just high enough for the hammer to not hit it getting a decent cheek weld was impossible, plus the trigger breaks at about 5 lbs 6 oz on my Lyman trigger pull scale, now I know why it was so cheap.
The first thing I did was try another scope a Burris 4.5-14x42 FFII that I had lying around, same problem so I re-mounted it in a set of Burris Sig Zee rings and mechanically zeroed the scope then started trying inserts untill I had it almost zeroed at 25yrds using just the inserts then dialed it in with the turret.
I also took the ejector assembly apart and found out that someone had it apart before and put it back together wrong they had the little plunger above the spring in wrong and it wasn't pushing up against the ejector, I reassembled it the right way but it still wasn't ejecting 100% of the time so I added a small ball bearing behind the spring but have not had a chance to try it out yet.
 I couldn't find a decent aftermarket adjustable cheek rest so I decided to try and make one. I got some 1/8" thick black Kydex and heated it up in a old toaster oven I found ( I would not recommend using the kitchen oven it does not go over well ) and formed it over the stock, I'm not quite finished with the cheek rest first I need to get to the range and see if any of the other improvements work.
 Next I need to work on the trigger

[bucco921]

Welcome aboard SS! First thing I would do is spend a little time in the FAQS sticky. All the "cures" for the issues you have seen are in there with detailed instructions. First thing I would do is polish the chamber real good if you want to keep it as an ejector. If not there is a real easy conversion to make it an extractor.

[quickdtoo]

Welcome aboard SS, what Bucco said with one clarification, the easy conversion to make it an extractor won't solve the sticky brass problem, to do that requires a factory style extractor which involves machining the underlug to accept the extractor cam. All of the fixes you've mentioned and a lot more are well covered in the FAQs sticky, chamber polishing as well as ejector tuning and trigger jobs too. 

Tim

Welcome aboard SS! First thing I would do is spend a little time in the FAQS sticky. All the "cures" for the issues you have seen are in there with detailed instructions. First thing I would do is polish the chamber real good if you want to keep it as an ejector. If not there is a real easy conversion to make it a spring powered extractor.

[gcrank1]

Are you using Mil-Surp or commercial ammo?

[bucco921]

Thanks for the cleanup Tim!

[ss shooter]

Welcome aboard SS, what Bucco said with one clarification, the easy conversion to make it an extractor won't solve the sticky brass problem, to do that requires a factory style extractor which involves machining the underlug to accept the extractor cam. All of the fixes you've mentioned and a lot more are well covered in the FAQs sticky, chamber polishing as well as ejector tuning and trigger jobs too. 

Tim

Welcome aboard SS! First thing I would do is spend a little time in the FAQS sticky. All the "cures" for the issues you have seen are in there with detailed instructions. First thing I would do is polish the chamber real good if you want to keep it as an ejector. If not there is a real easy conversion to make it a spring powered extractor.

Thanks and yes I've been reading through the FAQS thats where I got the ejector tune from also will try a trigger job from there to, I would like to keep this a ejector I think it makes it just a bit quicker to reload if need be, BTW using handloads virgin WW brass and 55gr Vmax over 22.5gr H335 not a max load either

[quickdtoo]

223 ejector Handis are well known for sticking brass, google 223 NEF H&R stuck brass and you'll see it's all too common, and prolly the biggest reason why they don't make extractor CF rifles any more. My 223 Ultra never has, but my best friend who bought his at the same time from the same dealer used to stick brass all the time, both shooting 45gr Win JHP white box factory ammo, I did the ejector tune on his and mine just in case, neither has stuck since. 

Tim

NEF H&R 223 stuck brass

[geezerbiker]

Mine never has had a stuck case.  My .223 was also my first Handi and other than a poor boy trigger job, I haven't really done anything to it.

I'm planning to refinish the stock and put on an Ironsighter rail to replace the factory rail but I don't think I'll do much more to it.  It might get a real trigger job someday but that's low on the priority list right now.  For awhile I considered the chamber recut to something else but I've gotten over that...

Tony