Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Handi Rifle for my daughter?

My daughter wants to join us hunting this fall so I have been looking for a rifle for her. She is almost 12, about 5' tall, slender built, but good strength for her size (track star/gymnist type). A friend just offered me a .280 Handi Rifle with cheap scope (tasco or something) for $150. It has a 26" barrel, weighs about 7 pounds, and has not been shot very much. I am thinking if I got it I could load light loads for her and put a youth butt stock on it. I also thought about sending it back to factory to get a .308 barrel on it since I already load for the .308. If she likes hunting I plan on upgrading to something better next year, just don't want to put too much money into what could be a one season hunt. Right now we shoot 30-06, .270, and I have dies for .308, and 8x57. New factory barrel was about $100.

I would appreciate any help on figuring out how best to get my daughter into a decent hunting rig that she can handle.

Sounds great if she can handle the recoil, one of my good friends
7 yr old weighs 70lbs killed two small nc does this year with the handi-rifle .223 with 55 grain sierra gamekings, now his dad seems to think he is over gunned with his 7-08 after watching the does fall in there tracks with well placed shots!

I would look at the youth stocked Rem 7 or 700 in 7/08. Load the 120 gr bullets with a starting load. If she likes it you won't have to upgrade later, maybe a full size stock. If she doesn't like it, you will have another good rifle/caliber.Rick.

Handi rifles are a lot of fun , and extremely versatile.If you buy the rifle version , not only can the factory fit all the other rifle caliber barrels,but all the shotgun barrels as well.The reverse is not true.If you buy it as a shotgun,they can fit all the shotgun barrels,but not the rifles.They also have inline muzzle loader barrels.
The butt stocks are very inexpensive and easilly changed as well,from youth to standard.
They tend to be fairly accurate for hunting rifles,sometimes extremely accurate.
For the price,they're hard to beat for a situation where someone may only use them for a year or two, or only a couple of days a year,or to keep as a back up or a loaner.

that .280 price is excellent.
gonna mostly hunt from shooting houses? it's perfect for the situation with a shortened butt. good weight out front. easy to hold on target off a sill or a tree-stand shooting rail.
recoil should be next to nothing, but i would go flip-flop on the buttpad just in case. NEF butt pads are not very paddish (technical term).

If your daughter is eager to join you hunting, I'd say at least set her up with decent equipment if you want to encourage her.

If I couldn't swing a proper rifle for her, I'd find a second stock for one of the 270 or 30-06 already in the inventory, and cut it down to fit her, before going the handi-rifle route.

Seeing how BooDude is from Idaho, I wouldn't expect he's hunting from a stand.

Operating a handi, in the cold, with gloves, isn't my idea of setting a kid up for success.

I'd much sooner find a Marlin 30-30 on the used rack.

Dang! that's a 'steal' of a price! Wish I could find a deal like that in that cartridge.

BY ALL MEANS DON'T LET IT GET AWAY. BUY IT!!!!

You can get extra barrels for it, including rifle barrels in .204 Ruger, .223 Remy, .22-250, .243Win, 7mm-08, .30-30Win, .30/06 and even bigger - in whatever might interest you, now or in the future. Plus you could also get her a 'Topper Deluxe Classic' shotgun barrel in 20 or 12 gauge (has a vent rib), and any number of other shotgun or rifle barrels.

Having the SB2-receiver is the key to being able to have both CF rifle barrels and shotgun barrels on the same receiver. Getting the .280Remy certainly takes care of that!

Go to the New England Firearms site at www.hr1871.com and tab on the Customer Service key, then on the Barrel Accessory key. That .280Remy Handi-Rifle is built on the SB2-receiver (as opposed to the SB1-receiver for shotgun barrels ONLY!).

If I was outfitting a 12yo daughter (or son), I might choose the .280Remington, or the .243W, .260Remy, or .30-30 or .308Win for my child - but in a Handi-Rifle with an SB2 receiver.

You can tell I'm a big proponet of the Handi-Rifle and NEF's Barrel Accessory Program. I own my first Handi-Rifle (in .308W) and am getting ready to send off for some additional barrels (in .223R, .357Mag, .30/06, .45/70 and a 12 gauge TDC (Topper Deluxe Classic) barrel). Keep in mind there's a $15 hand-fitting fee per barrel (a Handi-owner "IS REQUIRED" to send his or her receiver to the NEF factory for extra barrels - the one BIGG disadvantage with the Barrel Accessory Program).

But Handi-Rifles are a heckuva lot cheaper than Thompson/Center Encores or Contenders.

If you want to learn more about the Handi-Rifle and Handi-loonies ..... There's several forums dedicated to New England Firearms and the Handi-guns at www.Graybeardoutdoors.com .

Give those two sites a looksee. Good luck!

There's nothing wrong with Handi-Rifles 'cept folks who don't like 'em!

They are solid, quality pieces!

Handi's are extremely easy to operate for a kid or beginning hunter (even with gloves - and are extremely safe easy to see loaded/unloaded), and they are as short and compact as a SXS double shotgun (great for hunting from a tree or ground-stand) but give up nothing in performance.

Plus they are quite accurate - that .280 with factory loads ought to shoot well inside of 2inches, and even approach an inch or tighter group (esp with handloads) is quite common.

I love my .308, and look forward to getting the .223 and .45/70 and other bbls.

At $150 - you're saving more than $100 off the NIB price, plus the scope is bonus.

Operating a handi, with half numb fingers, dropping ammo into the snow. I'll pass. Give me a bolt, lever, or pump, way before a single shot. Something that can be operated with fairly gross motor skills.

Boo asked for any help, that is mine. Things to consider, no more or less....

I had a 12ga "handi-rifle".......gave it away.

Man, I just don't see how you think operating a bolt, lever, or pump is easier (and easier to teach) than operating a handi. They're about as simple as it gets. Have you ever operated one?

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If you can load, fire, unload a handi, when your fingers are too numb to open your trou and pizz, you're better than me.

Did they ever get the handi's extraction/ejection worked out? Last I looked into them, the spring driven ejector often lacked the power to dislodge an empty from those chambers. The solution was a cam powered extractor, that doesn't eject at all.

I couldn't label it a "solid, quality piece".....at least not with a straight face.

Yes I've operated one. It's a big reason for my low regard for them, in a serious role.

Dies are $30-40. Light loads are very practical in the 280. Hard to beat $150 ready to shoot.

I still don't get it. Loading a Handi involves pressing a button that is right there under the thumb, drop in a single round, and close by pushing up on the forend (or by a quick upward motion of the strong arm). Firing means cocking the hammer via the supplied hammer spur extension (again, right there by your thumb), aiming, and firing. I can do it all with heavy gloves on, and have many times. Maybe your issue with the Handi is not with the Handi at all, but with single-shot rifles in general. That would explain it, especially from a serviceman accustomed to firearms designed to deliver a high rate of fire.

Loading any repeater is much more complicated, and I can't do it with gloved hands (I mean starting the loading procedure with an empty magazine, not a pre-loaded detachable box magazine). Firing is about the same though - one motion for safety or hammer, then aim and fire. Of course, follow-up shots are simpler with a repeater, but that limitation is inherent with single-shot rifles and must be accepted by the shooter at the outset. But we're talking about hunting game animals here, not spraying and praying in some jungle at an invisible enemy.

Operating the H&R single-shot action is second nature to me as I have been doing it for many years. Any animal I'm hunting with a gun of this make has reason for great concern.

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But the repeater is already loaded. One need only cycle the action.

Getting the ammo from pocket/shellholder, to the breech, is what I'm talking about.

Take a cold, gloved, shooter. Have him deliver three rapid shots, starting from an empty chamber, at 50 yard (or any range for that matter) target.

Compare time of the Handi, versus a bolt, slide, or lever repeater. That's the crux of my position.

Actually I like single shots for their inherent simplicity and reliability. In particular the Sharps and Highwall rifles. I simply hold reservations about them being a sensible first rifle for a young hunter. Particularly the Handi, considering it's extraction/ejection woes, and horrendous trigger.

Ah-so. Now Big Redhead understands.

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Hunting with a repeater, a shooter can rapidly cycle/shoulder/fire as needed without ever taking eyes off the target, or unshouldering the rifle.

With a Handi, the operator is forced to shift eyes from target, to rifle, to ammo, and back to target, while simultaneously unshouldering, manipulating, and reshouldering the rifle.

A practiced shooter can make it happen with reasonably good efficiency, but that's a lot to put on a 12 year old, IMHO. Especially in a time of high excitement, and an animal that is likely to be moving, and maybe rather fast.

+1

Don't send your daughter off to hunt with equipment you wouldn't want to hunt with yourself. You can find a stock to cut down for much less than the $150 you're willing to drop on that single shot. Or you can hunt the pawn shops and get a used M700 $300 to cut down, then add a used fixed Leupy for another $100. It it's ugly, then spend a week refinishing the stock for her. She'll appreciate the fact it's not fugly, and that you cared enough to put some sweat into her gear.

Buying crap for your kids and pretending it's just as good as what you're using is the same as "talking down" to your kids. They'll smell it a mile away and won't respect you, the gear, or the situation. If you're trying to create a great hunting partner, and help your daughter form a lifetime hobby, buy her gear that helps her have success.