Bladerunner,
Well, you are a free American and darn sure have a right to voice your opinion about the Handis-both Pro and Con.I applaud you in being balanced in your advice to that guy.He must like the way that little rifle handled because even hearing about it's potentital problems ,he still bought it.. :wink:
FWIW, even though there is a LOT of good info here by well intentioned folks, all Handis are different and not every Handi needs an 'O' ring or a trigger job or a refitted lug to shoot well.Most of them are fitted pretty well at the factory.As long as the barrel itself locks up tight to the frame face and the forend is tightly screw down,most of them only need a bit of load experimentation to shoot all out of proportion to their cost..
Also the guns(NEF Handis) wholesale for about $180 now- just what the BARREL ASSEMBLY alone for a T/C contender or Encore costs new.Anyone who has watched the online video on how the H&R/NEF plant is run can see at that price, there is NOT a lot of time to mull over fitting/inspecting each gun..I think it's a darned miracle the Handis work as well as they do, all things considered.
Even factories that sell much higher priced guns have problems.After many years of building superb quality rifles,Sako built a few guns last year that actually BLEW UP in the hands of shooters. Ruger, Winchester, Remington and Savage ALL have built some guns over the years that have had functioning,safety and/or accuracy issues.Yes, very few of them, but STILL at 2 times +++ the cost of a Handi you would not think that would happen.
The lesson here is that any product made by the hand of man can be flawed...
I think it is very good on YOU that you tried to tell both sides of the story.I hope for that guy's sake he gets one of the 90% or so of the new handis that seem to work just fine..
Here's hoping that H&R/NEF get's that percentage up a bit during 2006!!! :wink:
Happy New year to you, Bladerunner!!