Thoughts on the H&R .223 ultra-varmint rifle

[wdallis]

I am thinking very seriously about purchasing an H&R .223 ultra-varmint rifle with 24" bull barrel and thumb hole stock. Hoping to get some ideas on accuracy, reliability, and distance this gun is known for. Thanks for all the help.

 

[Hop]

I have around 400 rds thru mine with no issues at all. Most at 75-100 yards. It will keep 5 shots in 1 - 1.5 inches or less with most ammo. I have not tried any match grade ammo so it might actually shoot even better. It does fine with the cheap federal 55 grain ammo. I imagine it would shoot fine at longer distances but I have not had a chance to see. I like mine and its fun to shoot. I would not want to haul it around in the field a lot as with that barrel it is a little heavy. Its the gun we use at the 4th of July and New years when the kids come visit and we target shoot and blow some tannerite style targets away on our property. I taught my son-in-law how to shoot with it. You could cover his first 3 shots with a qtr at 75 yards his first time firing a rifle. Cheaper to shoot it than the AR. Takes a lot longer to run thru a box of ammo. LOL

 

[BullfrogKen]

Everything I've found with the break open H&R and NEF rifles is they are going to have accuracy limitations because of their action. My T/C Contender barrels do better, because the fitting and quality control at T/C is better. But of all the NEF and H&R rifles I own, I consider 1.5 MOA with handloaded ammunition about as good as it's ever going to get with one of them. I've seen them do a whole lot worse than that. Depending on how well - or how poorly - it was fit, you can get a somewhat accurate inexpensive rifle . . . or an exercise in frustration.


Personally I like them a whole lot as a light, slender rifle that carries comfortably walking around in the field all day. Same with the single-shot shotguns. But adding the weight of a bull barrel kind of defeats why I own them. I'd rather save my money and buy a used Savage bolt gun in .223 before getting something that NEF/H&R markets for long range accuracy.

I wouldn't try mine on game more than 200 yards out. It's just not reliable enough, and I didn't want to wound an animal to face a long death.