Best budget rifle? H&R Ultra Varmit, Mossberg SSI, Stevens etc..

M

MB2

New member
Ok, I've done the searching, but still haven't found a good post that compares the rifles. The main two I've been considering is the H&R Ultra Varmit in .223 and Mossberg SSI-One in 22-50. It'll be for coyotes and fox. I just want the most accurate rifle I can get for $300 or so. The aforementioned two are at my local Gander so i've looked at them and held them. The Stevens and New England Firearms models I've only read about on this board.
What will be the most accurate at ranges out to say 300 yards? And I guess trigger pull is a main concern too. Which one has the best trigger?
Thanks for any help and if anybody has a link that they can give me that discusses this subject, please share. I just want feedback from people who've shot and/or own these rifles. And single shot is no problem for me, I'm in the midwest so doubles are not an everyday occurence like out west.
 
let me be the first to say "I dont know". But I have been wondering about the NEF single shots for a bit. The are definately on my watch list
 
i was looking for a new varmint rifle and i like u i was loking at the H&R and the NEF.... Then i saw a Stevens 200 in 223 at my buddies shop and decided to go witha bolt.. I had a NEF in 223 and i liked a repeater. THose stevens are accurate.. lousy triggers but you can spend 50$$ to get a new trigger. i would go with the stevens..
 
I just bought a H&R Handi Rifle in 204 Ruger and my buddy bough the H&R Ultra Varmint in .223. I'm consistently powdering clay pigeons at 200yds, hooked to a fence of course! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif My buddy's gun is very accurate at 100 yds but he's having trouble hitting a paper plate at 200 yds. I think it has something to do with the trigger pull, but there was a recent post in this forum on fixing the trigger pull yourself (very easy to do). He also hasn't shot a rifle much and long range hardly at all being he's a died in the wool duckhunter, but I'm working on changing that! We haven't made a kill yet with either gun, but we're waiting....impatiently! LOL

Brian
 
I had a NEF and liked it a lot, but it takes a process to put in a follow up shot. Taking the scope off the intended target and trying to find it again is a pain. Go with a bolt action. You'll be happier in the long run.
 
You can get a pretty good used rifle for 300 if you shop around a bit.

Places I've found good guns are sporting goods stores (bulletin boards), gun clubs and archery clubs, and lastly even got a few good deals on guns at gun stores.

Shop around, and you should be able to get a nice used Remington or savage for around that price. Got some good guns right here on PM classifieds...........probably a few good ones down there right now /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
I have all but the Mossberg..here is my conclusion.

The H&R or NEF are supposedly hit or miss as far as accuracy. I have Ultra Rifles in 22mag, 223 and 308. All are shooters...under MOA off the bench. I did not pay more than $170 for any of them new. The major down fall to these rifles is the lack of easy adjustablility of the trigger. It is not as easy as adjusting a screw or two. I would recommend to have them done professionally by an established gun smith.

The Stevens or older Savage without the accu-trigger are easy to adjust the triggers and most are shooters right out of the box. Unfortunately they are also an extra hundred at about $270 and they do not come with heavy barrels like the H&R Ultra rifles. I have had a few that did not shoot well because of the poor stock that comes with them. Some also have feeding problems from the internal mag, but as you stated follow up shots are not common so this shouldn't matter. Upgrade the stock and you are sitting pretty. For the price of the stock you may as well buy a Savage rifle with the accu-trigger to begin with and these are available with heavy barrels....but unfortunately you would be almost doubling your price range.

If you were firm on the price..under $300 and not spend more later, I would go H&R/NEF; if you want to be able to upgrade later and make it a better rifle go Stevens/Savage.
 
The handi in 204 ruger is the best budget fur gun going.

Not because it is more accurate than the other guns but because the other guns do not come in 204 Ruger. It's darn near the perfect coyote calling round though I figure (no actual experience) it would still tear up a fox pretty bad.

I would risk saying that stock full potental accuracy is about the same from all of the guns mentioned though getting full potential out of the bolt guns is likly easier.

At this point I have 2 handi's (204 and 22 hornet) and one Stevens (270) all were good values.
 
A friend of mine got a handi rifle in 223. I'd though about it but after shooting his, no way. The trigger is awful but H&R will send you directions to fix it. He did to his and it was a lot better but not good by any means. Accuracy wise, there's no pretty word to describe it. I've heard some of the shoot wee, just haven't seen it myself. I would be inclined to go with the Stevens. In fact I'm looking for a 223 now and am really thinking about it. But they are hard to find around here. Everything I hear, they are great shooter's?
 
aulrich,

What ammo are you shooting out of you 204? I'm shooting 40 grain Hornady V-Max's. I'm just getting into this sport and don't want to be ruining fur's. I have a buddy that reloads and maybe able to help me out if I have to go that route, but for now I'm shooting factory ammo.

Thanks,

Brian
 
i bought a mossberg ssi - one in the .223 cal.
about two mounths ago i shot it for about a week.. i worked up four test loads for it....it liked all of them. they were about 1/2" or under... very good shooter .....
all the test loads i shot showed high preasure signs (volcanoing the primers) but they were not at all on the hot side....
then i started having trouble getting it to break open.
i guess the primers were pertrudeing so far out it was interfearing with it opening ...
so i took it back to the dealer.
he said that we would give mossberg the chance to make it right ....they had the gun for well over a mounth and promised everytime we called that they would have it out that day..(they said 2 weeks at the most. at first ) finally got the gun i was very happy to get it back...
now guess what ?? same old thing again
i called the dealer today and told him the problem...
both he and i are very disapointed in mossberg
for the way they treated us... he said just bring the gun back for a full refund and he would deal with them...
so i am gonna take it back tommorrow and get me another howa.
my advise is anything but the mossberg....i would probally get the h&r.. i had one and it was a good gun,9 but the trigger was pretty heavy, so i had a gunsmith put in another one...it cost around $50.00 i think ...
 
Thanks for the replies so far. After doing some more research and talking with a buddy, I'm pretty set on getting one in .204. All I hear is good things about this caliber and since I'm only going to be shooting factory ammo, and would love to take fox, I'd best not go with a .223. So then that leaves me with H&R. So is the "trigger fix" a free upgrade kit or something that you can do to the factory trigger?
 
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I don't think anybody makes an aftermarket trigger for the HR-NEF but you can send them back to the factory and they will do a trigger job for you that will get it down to 3-4 lbs. If you have the tools and time and are the least bit mechanical you can google perklo on the net or do a search for perklo on this site and get instructions on how to do a trigger job on the HR/NEF.

Truckeedan
 
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