Want to start coyote hunting and had a ?

buckeyehntr5 · 01-11-2008, 02:08 PM

I'm new to this predator hunting and want to pick up a good but cheap rifle to start out with. Couple of my buddies have New England Firearms sigle shot .223's and .204. Would this be a good gun to start off with? What's the $ usually on these two guns?
Thanks for the help!

tf · 01-11-2008, 03:24 PM

yes. i have used mine for years, (in .223), i love it, put a decent scope and you can have a blast. price with good scope and rifle would be less than $300. probably mid $200's depending on scope.

johnny2 · 01-11-2008, 03:39 PM

They are a decent rifle for the money..Only problem I have heard of is that some times they fail to fire..But maybe that was just a bad year..One guy had a 223 cal and his miss fired terrible..It was sent back and appears to be ok now..I have no idea what the problem was with it...

BlackLab · 01-11-2008, 04:22 PM

For the $ you can't go wrong (imo) and with a goodscope your in biz

DOGCALLER · 01-11-2008, 05:17 PM

I have four of these single shot models in 204,223,243,and 17hmr.I have never had a misfire,i reload my own bullets for the centerfires and have excellent accuracy out of these guns.In my opinion if you are buying the gun strictly for yotes i would definetly go with the 204 it is a excellent caliber for yotes!!!!

jboynjazz · 01-13-2008, 12:34 PM

years ago i had a H&R SB 2 Ultra in .223. it was the shootinst rifle i ever owned. made the mistake of trading it in on a different gun. i got sub-moa with it day in and day out. I used the 55gr v-max in it and on a calm day could consistantly put three in a stamp. only problems i ever had with the gun was that on occasion it would break firing pins. come to find out that there was a burr on the insides of the gun and after my gunsmith got rid of that life was good. the other thing i didnt like on the rifle was the trigger. when i had mine i was going to have my gunsmith do a trigger job and put me at about 3lbs. he said that with the trigger they used he couldnt gaurentee(sp) three lbs. or three ounces. mine had an 8 3/4 lbs. trigger. i just had to pull a little longer and harder to get the shot off. but all in all, great gun.

NMFowler · 01-13-2008, 04:58 PM

I own a NEF Handi-Rifle in 204, and couldn't be happier. I agree whole heartedly with jboynjazz about the trigger though. It is a bit heavy, but you learn to live with it. one of my favorite features of this rifle was the $215 price tag it was wearing when I bought it. I paired it with a 6X24X50 scope, and then added a comb raising kit to realign my eye with the crosshairs, now I'm shooting MOA at a minimum, often sub MOA for around $400 total invested in the gun.

Bullet Hole Bailey · 01-13-2008, 05:39 PM

cool....i am thinking about this gun also but probably a little bit down the road for a truck gun or just an all around good fun gun.

coyote#68 · 01-13-2008, 07:15 PM

good choice,I've owned a couple of these in 223 & 243 cal they are very accurate,if you want a quick second shot,you might check your local gun shop for a savage or stevens model 200 bolt action for around the same price as the single shots,either is a good basic rifle,nothing fancy but accurate and dependable.

jboynjazz · 01-13-2008, 07:27 PM

with a little practice and a shell holder mounted on the stock you can get fairly quick follow up shots. i used a shell holder that i got at wally world and it was only $5 or so. with practice you can get where you can shoot doubles. the secret is hurry up and take your time.