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TimV 12-24-2012 15:58:41 142.105.255.121 Report to Moderator

mnjoe: one thing to be careful of--while for the most part the NEF handi-rifles are excellent guns for the money, one of their few poor choices is their .243 with a light "youth" barrel, as this combination has known accuracy issues due to the combination of a light barrel and a relatively hot cartridge causing the barrel to heat rapidly and thus cause shot-to-shot repeatability problems. Still, if you"re typically only shooting one or two shots at a time with sufficient cool-down time in between, it"s not usually an issue, but longer strings (even just shooting 3-shot groups to test load development or sight in) can cause problems. I have one, and it"s been relegated to a meadow gun for deer or woodchuck hunting, where 1 or 2 longish shots at once is all it"s apt to see. It"s been great in this role, but handload development was a frustrating process, to say the least, and this rifle does not shoot my favorite .243 reloading bullet (Sierra 85-grain boat-tail hollowpoints) well at all, though it shoots 100-grainers just fine. If you go the NEF route, look for a heavier barrel and this problem should go away, or just buy any of the other excellent guns out there, as the .243 is available on many platforms and is an excellent dual-use (varmints and deer-sized game) cartridge. [Reply]   [No Email]