I've heard good things about both of these. I came across the H&R Ultra Varmit in .22-250 with the heavy fluted barrel, skeleton stock, bipod attachment... very nice looking gun. Then while looking in a gun store I decided to check out the Thompson Encore. It seems nice too.

The H&R is $279, and the Thompson is just over $500. The additional barrels are also twice as much. Is this justifiable? Are the Thompsons more accurate, and if so how much? I'd like to be able to shoot accurately at 200-400 yards. I already have a scope waiting, I just can't decide if the extra cost is worth it.

Thanks in advance, and nice forums!

I've never owned an Encore, but I did have a Contender, in both .223 and .45-70. I really didn't like it, and didn't find it really that accurate. So, I traded it many years ago.

I need a new coyote gun. I shot the barrel out of my Winchester M70 in .243, but I have not had the cash to replace the gun.

So, I made a call to a dealer today, and I'm getting a NEF "Ultra Varmint" with the 26" barrel, laminated checkered stocks in .223. I'm going to have to wait until after Christmas, but it's definately coming. I was quoted a price from a local dealer of $249 plus tax.

I've never owned an Encore, but I did have a Contender, in both .223 and .45-70. I really didn't like it, and didn't find it really that accurate. So, I traded it many years ago.

I need a new coyote gun. I shot the barrel out of my Winchester M70 in .243, but I have not had the cash to replace the gun.

So, I made a call to a dealer today, and I'm getting a NEF "Ultra Varmint" with the 26" barrel, laminated checkered stocks in .223. I'm going to have to wait until after Christmas, but it's definately coming. I was quoted a price from a local dealer of $249 plus tax.

That will have a 24" barrel, they don't make a .223 with a 26" barrel.....yet!! Walmart sells it for $243.

http://www.hr1871.com/firearms/index.php?cat=4&subcat=22

I've got an older H&R (pre- NEF) handi-gun w/ interchangable 20ga, 44mag & 357mag barrels. All shoot very well and I've heard a lot of good about the new 45-70 & 38-55 NEF rifles too.

I'm with Hawgleg44, I had a contender in 30-30 and I could not get it to produce accuracy any better than a revolver despite trying all sorts of things. T/C is very proud of thier guns price wise and from what I've seen, I can't justify the price difference. Not flaming the quality of T/C products, I just don't see where the higher cost is seen in the end result

I had an H&R in 45-70 and it had one of the worst triggers I have ever seen in a rifle - 8lbs and lots of creep. It also was inaccurate so I sold it. If you like nice triggers you may want to figure on spending some money if you get the H&R, although I hear some are better than others. I don't know what the triggers are like on the Encore.

Some one correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you have to send the rifle back to NEF for the initial fitting of each new barrel?
I know you don't have to do this with either the Contender or Encore.
Since I own all three I'll chime in. I have an NEF in .223, An Encore in .22-250/.30-06/.300 mag and a Contender in a bunch of calibers.
All are reasonably accurate, very useful rifles.

I found that the NEF was very finicky about ammo up until I glassed the fore-end, after that it shot occasional sub one inch groups.

While the Encore .22-250 barrel did this out of the box, the .300 was finicky,but a piece of credit card under thefore-end made this livable.

Some of my Contender barrels have also been finicky but none have been so terrible that they were not made reasonably accurate with a simple fix.

Is the TC product worth the extra $200 dollars?
Yes, if:
If you plan to get into pistol shooting in the future.

You are going to get other barrels spread out over time, in the future.

If you like to get a bunch of after market extras there are more gizmos and gadgets for TC products.

All that said, if it really came down to it I like the Contender and probably could have lived my life without the other two. If I just wanted a rifle dedicated to varmints I do believe the NEF rifle would be a good way to go. Spend the extra cash on ammo and maybe a bipod. You may even be able to afford a better scope this way.

Regards,
Gene

I had an H&R in 45-70 and it had one of the worst triggers I have ever seen in a rifle - 8lbs and lots of creep. It also was inaccurate so I sold it. If you like nice triggers you may want to figure on spending some money if you get the H&R, although I hear some are better than others. I don't know what the triggers are like on the Encore.

Triggers are easily fixed with a little honing or have NEF do it for free when the frame is sent in for additional barrels. Triggers of 1½-2lbs, crisp with no creep are attainable doing your own trigger job with instructions by Raynor or Perklo that are available at the NEF/H&R Centerfire forum at Graybeard Outdoors.

Interesting! I can't add much to what has already been posted. The choice seems to be what one want's to do with the firearm. There is nothing on the market that can have barrels as cheap as the NEF. Dixie Slugs uses the NEF 20 ga guns as test platforms.
I also have other barrels that have been bought to play with. As for problems with groups.......not anymore than other single shots. Like most single shots, they do not like a hard rest under the forearm. Another problen is an over tight fit between the forearm and the front of the frame. A .001"/.002" clearance will solve most problems as the barrel heats up.....The real factor is that the NEF's are cheap enough to get many new singleshot shooter into the game!........James

The real factor is that the NEF's are cheap enough to get many new singleshot shooter into the game!........James

Tell me about it!!! They're also addictive for an old shooter that likes to have lots of firearms for not a lot of money!! 25 rifle barrels and 14 frames, so far, and I ain't done yet!! This is an old pic, I've added several since and had 2 new barrels rechambered to .338-06 A-Square and .405 Winchester.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v386/quickdtoo/AllOfThem.jpg

Is that one of the buffalo or target models at the top? I like those...

Is that one of the buffalo or target models at the top? I like those...

Yes, it is, but it's been rechambered to .45-120-3¼" Sharps. I also have a scoped .45-70 barrel for it..here's a pic...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v386/quickdtoo/45-120BC2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v386/quickdtoo/45-70BC.jpg

I have a .38-55 Target also, but it's been rechambered/rebored to .405 Winchester...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v386/quickdtoo/405Win.jpg

I would assume NEF suggests factory fitting in an attempt to avoid liability issues. Fitting a single barrel to a frame is no major thing, just a little finess.

I don't have as many Handis as Wrongtarget, but I can have three or four complete guns for less than an Encore with an extra barrel.

Here's a few that I have.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/Paul5388/Handirifles.jpg

They will all shoot about 1" at 100 yards, including the .45-70 on top and the .357 Mag that's the next one down.

Geeze, in this world of SSM's...I thought I was the only dinosaur left who still loves a good break open single....I'm not alone anymore!!!!

I have no experience with the NEF/H&Rs, but my Encore will easily shot MOA with every barrel I have tried on it. The first thing I would do with any Encore is to improve the trigger and install the ovesized hinge pin.

Thanks for the information on the NEFs. I may have to check those out next.

Dan

Triggers are easily fixed with a little honing or have NEF do it for free when the frame is sent in for additional barrels. Triggers of 1½-2lbs, crisp with no creep are attainable doing your own trigger job with instructions by Raynor or Perklo that are available at the NEF/H&R Centerfire forum at Graybeard Outdoors.
I have to disagree that these triggers are "easily" fixed. Maybe if you send them back to NEF or go to a gunsmith it is, but I do all of my own gunsmithing and I believe this type of trigger is fairly difficult to work on for the average gun enthusiast with a very time consuming trial and error, assemble/check pull wt/disassemble process someone would need to use the first time they attempt it. Perklo's method includes a list of 28 items you need to do the job and no matter who's method you go by they all include making a slave pin to get the gun reassembled. It's a fairly involved trigger job that I think most guys wouldn't want to tackle. I'm not knocking H&R's, they are a great value and most guys like theirs, I am just picky about triggers and this one needs work to make it like I would want.

I wasn't real happy with my first Handi Rifle's trigger, so I asked NEF to lighten it up to 3 pounds when I sent it in for a .357 mag barrel. Now, I don't buy them unless I like the trigger.

Most Handi Rifles will shoot MOA or less with as little work as changing hinge pins on an Encore.

I have to disagree that these triggers are "easily" fixed. Maybe if you send them back to NEF or go to a gunsmith it is, but I do all of my own gunsmithing and I believe this type of trigger is fairly difficult to work on for the average gun enthusiast with a very time consuming trial and error, assemble/check pull wt/disassemble process someone would need to use the first time they attempt it. Perklo's method includes a list of 28 items you need to do the job and no matter who's method you go by they all include making a slave pin to get the gun reassembled. It's a fairly involved trigger job that I think most guys wouldn't want to tackle. I'm not knocking H&R's, they are a great value and most guys like theirs, I am just picky about triggers and this one needs work to make it like I would want.

I've done almost a dozen triggers, the slave pin can be a piece of wood dowel, it doesn't take much. Many, many first timers at Graybeard have done them, they're not hard if you have a few basic tools, 3/16" & 5/32" pin punches, 600 wet/dry paper or a fine stone and a hammer. A search at Graybeard will reveal lots of happy first time trigger jobs. Raynor's trigger hone instructions at Graybeard simplify Perklo's steps, but Perklo's instruction help a lot with R&R. Perklo also goes into removing the transfer bar which isn't necessary. It takes me about 20 minutes to do one, so anyone should be able to do it in an hour or so. The honing takes very little time, in fact, it's best not to do too much, or you risk getting it too light.

Tim

Raynor trigger hone (http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=52341)

Tim,

I thought I recognized some of those Handis! ;)

Tim,

I thought I recognized some of those Handis! ;)

Merry Christmas to you and yours, Paul!!! http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v386/quickdtoo/Emoticons/icon_wink.gif

Thanks and the same for you and yours!

BTW, if you haven't aready done it, you might give the Beartooth 250 gr RNFPGC a try in your Max barrel. I believe I got the one sized .359" and they are shooting very good at about 1200 fps.

Thanks for the recommendation, but my max barrel is committed to become a .35 Remington as soon as I can get Wayne to do it, probably next spring sometime.http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v386/quickdtoo/Emoticons/grinning-smiley-006.gif

That's OK, they'll work in a .35 Rem too!

I still need to see how they will shoot in my .35 Whelen. No, it isn't a Handi, but sometimes that's OK too. ;)

Haven't decided on a bullet yet, will probably be a 200gr Hornady Interlock sprire point or Rem core-lokt PSP.

Tim,

Both of those may be a little fragile for anything as big as a whitetail. Number 1 son used mine on a small Texas whitetail with 200 gr Hornady PSP and said it destroyed most of the meat in both front quarters. OOPS, I forgot we were talking about a .35 Rem, not a .35 Whelen.

Both of those bullets should work well in the .35 Rem.

I'm leaning a little more toward cast bullets lately and enjoy shooting them. I even have some 41 gr 225415s loaded for my Handi Hornet. ;)

Paul,

I'm loading 250gr Speer Hot-Cor spitzers for my Whelen Ultra, haven't shot em yet, so I don't know if the 1:16 twist rate is gonna make em work good, though.