eightwgt

Is there any differance in quality or the gun period between an H&R ultra, and the New England Arms gun ? Im going to get on and a local dealer has the NE in .223 but I was thinking about ordering the HR Ultra instead....

Please advise

frizzellr

H&R and NEF are one in the same company, now owned by Marlin. About the only difference in the two is the H&R Ultra has a laminated stock and the NEF Handi Rifle has a wood stock. All barrels are interchangable between the two. I have a 45-70 Handi Rifle barrel on a Ultra frame.

halcon

frizzellr ,I know they are the same company but different divisions and I vaguely remember that the barrels have to be fitted by a gunsmith or the factory ,unlike the thompson contender .You can't just take the barrel off of one gun and put it on another gun ,they have to be fitted. I might be wrong but I don't think so . They will fit diffent barrels on them that I do know.

frizzellr

halcon, yes, they must be fitted by the factory due to legal concerns. I should have clarified that. The only physical difference in H&R and NEF is the stocks. They only have 4 different frames that are the same for both companies. A centerfire rifle frame which can be fitted with any centerfire rifle barrel offered, muzzle loader barrel of shotgun barrel except 10 gauge, a shotgun frame for 12 and under, a 10 gauge frame and a rimefire frame. You can have H&R barrels fitted to NEF frames and NEF barrels fitted to H&R frames. Also, as long as you make sure the headspace is good, which it has been on all of the frame/barrel combinations i have played with, you can mix and match. As I said before, the factory fitting is a liability thing just like an 8lbs trigger. The main reason you have to send the frame back to the factory is so they can make sure it will handle the pressure of the cartridge you are wanting to shoot. For instance, you wouldn't want to put a 308 Win barrel on the weaker shotgun receiver.




Edited by - frizzellr on 11/24/2002 11:55:33