I bought the handirifle light with syn stock in .223. It wasn' t extracting ammo correctly so I had to send it back. Well, while it was back, I got the 26 inch ultra barrel in 25-06. Man, you can change barrels on this thing in 30 seconds. Anyway, the barrel is heavy and big. Makes it settle right down when held offhand. I ordered a leupold Vx 1 in 3X9 X40 to put on it and 3 boxes of hornady SST in 117 grain. Whitetail fun, here I come. I have a 30-06 and 308 but this is something different. Should barely kick at all with that big heavy barrel and the total length with the 26 inch barrel is just the same as my .308 browning Abolt with 22 inch barrel.

Clearanceman, I also have the Handi in 223. I was very satisfied with it right out of the box. I' ve been using Black Hills ammo w/ 50 grain V-max bullets. Mounted a Leupold straight 12x50. Can shoot .585 groups at 100 yds. The only problem is the trigger is alittle on the heavy side (5.5 lbs.). I plan on sending it in for another barrel this winter. Possibly a barrel in 280. At that time I' ll get a trigger job done on it. Hopefully down to 2.5 lbs. Let me know how the 25-06 works out for you. That might be another barrel of choice for me.

Wow, that should be nice. I didn' t think they still did the trigger job... My trigger is slightly heavy although I don' t mind it. The weird thing is that there seems to be almost no creep in it. Do they still make a trigger shoe? That might make it feel lighter.. I am happy enough with mine, but I might put a trigger shoe on there if I can find one.

I' m not sure about the trigger shoe, but the trigger job only costs a couple of dollars. There' s no creep in my trigger just a heavy pull. I' m happy with the set-up, especially at the price.

I guess I should have had them do the trigger job when I sent the gun in, but all their info I read said trigger should be five pounds. I didn' t see anywhere where they said they would lighten it. Can you give me some info? Maybe after hunting season, I can send it back and have it lightened? But it doesn' t bother me now really...

If you go to the H&R website (www.hr1871.com) and go to the message boards. They call it HR Talk. Do a search for trigger or trigger job, you will find a wealth of information. If you are handy with tools there is even detailed instructions on how to do it yourself. I followed these and did the trigger on my sons shotgun and it isn' t that difficult. I' d do the 223 if I wasn' t planning on sending it in for another barrel. This forum is really good for HR owners. There is quite a few very knowledgeable people on this site. They are always willing to help, it really is alot like this forum.

Thanks much, I will check that out. I wish I had known and done it while they had my rifle for two months anyway...