Hi ya'll, just joined up here on the forum-looking foward to learning new things and perhaps sharing what I've learned-Deer Hunting is # 1 with me and squirrel hunting is enjoyed as well but ONLY after deer season is closed. To close out this thread, here's one of my personal experiences: The H&R/NEF Handi-Rifles are all anyone should need & that's why I enjoy them so much.....1 shot, 1 kill, and there my friends lies the thrill... :D

Welcome to the board, Handi-Man.

Welcome to the board, Handi-Man.

Thanks kdub, appreciate that...handi-man

Word! H- man;
no need to spray and pray.
Just like firearm archery.
I use one of those handi-rifles, in .223. Ill take a deer with it and Ill have to track it , oh, 20yds or so, cause there's no blood left after that.
Boy, I miss my Ruger #1 in 7mm mag. One day Ill get a Dakota single in 30-06 to make up for it.
olyeller

Word! H- man;
no need to spray and pray.
Just like firearm archery.
I use one of those handi-rifles, in .223. Ill take a deer with it and Ill have to track it , oh, 20yds or so, cause there's no blood left after that.
Boy, I miss my Ruger #1 in 7mm mag. One day Ill get a Dakota single in 30-06 to make up for it.
olyeller

Hey olyeller, The almighty Dakota is a sweet piece indeed. I've basically layed to rest the idea of owning one-for the one reason you're aware of ($)-I hate you parted with the #1 in 7 mag, I'd bet it shot nice groups too no doubt- Ah, a single-shot with smackdown power, I'd hunt anything (that don't bite back) with one of those.
A friend of mine I work with retires deer with an H & R .223 as well. It's almost scary the precision work that he does with that thing. Uses 55 gr. ballistic tips and most of the time turns the insides into jello with no exit wound.
What do you use to dispatch deer in your .223 ? I told my friend perhaps he should try the 55 gr. trophy bonded bear claw or the 60 gr. nosler partition, even suggested the winchester 64 gr. power point-all for much better penetration and he just said "when I lose one with these (55 gr. ballistic tip) then he'd give something else a try. Well, he hasn't lost a deer with them yet, I think he enjoys the challenge of correct shot placement, after all he is dang good at it....Sure would like to know what you are draining the blood out of those whitetails with, give me a holler when you get a chance...Gotta go back to e-Bay now to check on some walnut (gonna re-stock a handi-rifle in .243) - I'd like it to look as good as it shoots, 1/4" @ 100 yd. all day long....Thanks for the post olyeller -Take it easy....handi-man

Ah,
I use 53gr. Barnes-x bullets with a full load of Varget behind it. Those little devils will blow through a whitetails shouderblades at 200yd. A factory remington core-lokt, or any psp, if broadside to a deer, placed right at the bottom of the ribcage, basically blows out a fist size hole where the heart was; those were the days, up in the up of Michigan, hunting during doe season with a 14lb. varminter rig, that was a 22-250, though.
Ive fancied rechambering this one to that caliber.
.................................................. .....
Youve just brought on a zen moment.
olyeller

H-man,
I wouldnt use anything bigger than 55gr in factory .22 centerfire barrels, they wont stabilize (too long), theyre really for match custom barrels.
(someone correct me if Im wrong)
good luck with the new stock.
olyeller

H-man,
I wouldnt use anything bigger than 55gr in factory .22 centerfire barrels, they wont stabilize (too long), theyre really for match custom barrels.
(someone correct me if Im wrong)
good luck with the new stock.
olyeller

Hey olyeller, Just got home 'while ago from the j.o.b. -Thanks for the info, I (I should've guessed it, but didn't) by the two deer I've taken with my 25-06 handi-rifle, was using the federal factory load-barnes xlc in 100 gr. On both deer those 100 grainers painted the ground red real good-both deer ran off at the shot but they were running dead, about 40 yds for the buck and the next day, the doe I put down went about 25-30 yds. Hard to beat for penetration-for sure.
I've been messing in my head for awhile about a .223 handi-rifle for deer. wish I new what the rate of twist in the .223 bull barrel "varmint" barrel is. 1 in 12 I imagine but it would be nice to confirm that, I didn't see anything about rate of twist on their web-site. I don't see why they could'nt offer one with a 1 in 9 twist if indeed all they have is the 1 in 12. Well, gotta get ready to hit the sack-back at the j.o.b. tommorrow.... :( . Later olyeller......H-man

H-man,
I wouldnt use anything bigger than 55gr in factory .22 centerfire barrels, they wont stabilize (too long), theyre really for match custom barrels.
(someone correct me if Im wrong)
good luck with the new stock.
olyeller

There's a lot of .223 barrels and it seems that each manufacturer has a different idea of the right twist, so it's hard to draw broad conclusions.

But... Winchester does offer a 64gr. PowerPoint load in .223, and I don't believe it's limited to fast-twist barrels. Also Sierra has a 63gr. semi-pointed bullet which is supposed to stablize in 'standard' .22 cal barrels, according to them. Both of those bullets aren't as long as say a solid-copper Barnes "X" or even the 60gr. Nosler Partition though.

My .22-250 is pretty old so it has one of the fairly slow twists, maybe 1-14", and does fine with the 53gr. Barnes "X."

I am real sure that when you get to the long pointy boattail 69, 75 and 80gr. match bullets that you for sure need the quick twists like 1-7" and so on.

My 1-12" .223 shoots the 64gr Winchester load great. I never used it on anything but groundhogs, though, so I can't say how it would perform on deer.

You mind if someone butts in here? I'm just wondering if anyone has had experience with the Handi-Rifle in .243. I think that is such a versatile caliber that it could work for me in a lot of situations. What do y'all think?

Its a great choice. small rifle, light kick.
I want to rebarrel one in .338 mag.
not!
olyeller

I am real sure that when you get to the long pointy boattail 69, 75 and 80gr. match bullets that you for sure need the quick twists like 1-7" and so on.

The general 68-75gr bullets will shoot very well out of a 1-9" twist. That is the happy medium when you can still drive the lighter bullets without having problems and are able to shoot the heavier long range and hunting type bullets. When you get above 75grs you should have a 1-8" or a 1-7", you're pretty much dealing with a long range match rifle at this point. When I drive 55gr bullets to full velocity out of a 1-7" twist, the accuracy is mediocre, but they can be fired with fairly good results at reduced velocity. If my math is correct, a 55gr at 3200fps out of a 1-7" twist barrel is spinning about 330,000 RPM's when it comes out of the barrel, I would guess this is "overstabilization", it's a wonder they make it to the target at all. Some people who have tried to use thin jacketed varmint bullets at these velocities, like me :), have wondered what happened to the bullets when the target is checked!