NEF HANDI RIFLE Question

[busch-dog]

Anyone have one of these. I see one in the Bass Pro Ad in a 22-250 for $229. Might be all I need to get into Varmit Hunting...Appreciate any input and yes it is only a single shot.....

[BlackCoyote]

I have the 223, and the 270 (you can buy additional barrels). It has worked just fine for me. The trigger was a touch heavy but a trigger job can be done on them.

[Birdhuntr1]

Have one in .243 that is great.

[Huntsman27]

bolt gun can be had for 275 or so from Gander Mtn and others. The NEFS are ok, but you can get the bolt for a few bucks more. 223/22-250/243/25-06 and others. I have four of them and they all shoot excellent. Highly recommend them. Whoops, meant to say Stevens M-200 which is a Savage basically no frills.

[Welchman]

I've owned a couple of these. They are adequate, as far asaccuracy goes. I bought one in .243 for my son's first deer rifle. It shoots OK (under a 2" group at 100 yards), but most folks would want something more accurate for varmint hunting. As has been pointed out, the trigger is poor, and I would add, the single screw that beds the barrel to the forearm is also a problem; too much or too little tension on this screw can cause real problems with accuracy.

I'd suggest throwing another $100 into the purchase price and buying a rifle that you'll be really happy with.

Rod

[BlackCoyote]

a simple o ring under the screw that holds the forearm on eliminates that problem, a $.05 fix.

[mgarrett88]

I have NEF in .243 as my Varmit gun and i also put on the %0 cal muzzelloader and i love them. no accuracy problems what so ever and for 90 bucks you can get a nother barrel in a whole different cal. Way cheeper then buying many different rifels

[Cobra]

NEFs are great for the money. Went gun shopping with a friend that's looking and some of those low priced, major brand, "BARGAIN" bolts felt like cheap POS to me. Even a salesman that I've known for years said it's a crap shoot to get a half way decent shooter though he sells tons of them, it's not his recommendation, people just love the price. Savage is fine if you need a bolt, Stevens still has the old trigger and don't seem anywhere near as well made as they could/should be.

[pilatusbahn]

If all you are looking for is a single shot, you cannot go wrong with the NEF.
I was looking to do the same thing and ended up buying one used from a guy right off of this website (.204).
Its a great little gun, shoots really well, and was a blast to get sighted
in at the range. Went through 3 boxes of ammo in 2 trips and fell in love
with it right away.
Reason I went with the NEF, is that I had bought one previously in 30-06
at a gun show, sent it in and put a muzzleloader on it.
Great price, great gun and there is little if any difference between this
and a T/C Encore (UNLESS YOU ARE TALKING PRICE).
My suggestion is-go for it!

[Cobra]

Handled a Rossi single shot the other night. What a pathetic gun, barrel wobbled a lot when the action was open. Avoid it.

[Shop Rat]

NEFs are great for the money. Went gun shopping with a friend that's looking and some of those low priced, major brand, "BARGAIN" bolts felt like cheap POS to me. .

I hunted with a guy who bought a cheap bolt with open sights. At daylight on opening morning he discovered that his plastic front sight had fallen off. He sat in his blind all day knowing that he can't shoot. :rant:

I have a .223,.243 (wifes), .308, 20 gauge, and 12 gauge. It has been mentioned here often, but the .243 is perfect for deer and you can change ammo for coyotes. Alot of the NEF's don't seem to be as picky about ammo.

[busch-dog]

Bought the Handi-Rifle in a .223 this week at Cabelas. Added a red-dot scope and now need to find time to sight it in. Should be fun..thanks for the input!

[davet]

Got a Handirifle in 243 shooting winchester 55gr. ballistic tips having a hard time geting it to shoot straight, any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

[griffondog]

My 243 shoots 75gr and up best. I would try a 75gr head and see how it shoots.

Griff

[Matt Brummette]

I tried to get the winchester 55 gr ballistic shells to shoot out of my Rossi but couldn't, the Remington 90gr did a lot better. But that gun was junk and couldn't get anything to shoot straight. Heavier bullet might do it.

[solohunter]

i bought a NEF .223 two years ago, put the "O" ring under the screw in the fore arm, went back and sanded the high spots outa the fore arm to float it 100%, why did i do this? well it doesnt hold good groups with 55 grn ammo, 3-4 inchs at 100, so i tried 65 grain, and got mini-key holes at 50 yards and an 6 inch group!!! it only likes 45 grn ammo and dirty bore shots???? have a 8 inch group at 225 yrds with 3600 fps varmit loads,
i put three scopes on it before i tried the 65 grn rounds, i am stuck with the 45 grn varmit rounds in this rifle :(

[varminthunter]

the only ammo that shoots strait out of my nef .223 is 55gr american eagle ammo by federal. and its been the cheapest ammo ive found too. very accurate. winchester and remington shot all over the place with horrible groups.

[tracker14]

I just broke in my .204 today I like the gun very much. The trigger is a stiff pull but as mentioned before by others a trigger job will do wonders. A guy I know had his trigger done and the turned a 6-7 lb pull to about 2lbs for like 50 bucks. I shoot 32 grain v-max hornady's with a low value scope its a bsa 4-16x40 Go bigger in a scope if you plain on shooting in the 200yds + range. I'd recomend this .cal for any varmit but 40gr full metal jackets if you want nice fur. The 32 grain run about 4225 fps. These guns are nice besure to clean it before shooting and break it in by shoot one clean the barrel, shoot two clean again , shoot three clean, shot three clean after about a dozen shells or so you'll see what the gun will do. But its my first speedy .cal and I can shoot right with my buds rem. 700 .223 with less drop and alot more speed. Hope this helps Jeff:evilsmile




P.s. The gun was $239.00 at Bare's sports shop St. charles, Mi

[varminthunter]

ya sounded like u put quite a few shots thru it. we thought somone was back poaching deer again at first.i would like to see how it shoots compared to my nef in .223 some day tracker14.

[solohunter]

I played with the ammo in my nef .223 from 62 grn to 45 grn, 45 grn is the only good shooting round so far,

[Krackerracing]

I got a NFE .17 cal with a bull barrel from dicks in Howell a few years back. it was the previous year model so it was on sale. I walked out the door with it for under $120 and out of my 20 guns or so it is my favorite to shoot/plink with. I can take squirrel at 100 yards no problem. I put a $50 Tasco scope on it. I am going to do a little trigger work to it and get a nice 3x12 scope when money permits. only bad thing about it is it will start getting surface rust in no time. But i plan on using gun-kote it.

I also have the 12 ga. but haven't used it much. i just know with 3" mags it kicks like a ****ing mule, only harder.


Here is the .17

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y279/krackerracing/guns/100_4609.jpg

[jsmith2232]

Ive got the NEF .243, its accurate and long distance with the 55 grainers and Ive gotten 3 deer with the 70 grain nosler ballistic tips and it's put them all strait to the ground.

[Fur-minator]

I have the NEF heavy barrel .223 and I shoot well with the Winchester varmint loads. I did have a large exit hole on a yote though due to the aggressive hollow point.
There is a gun shop just south of Saginaw that did a great trigger job on mine for $25.00.