Is there something I need to know about 243 Barrels

[brennemanj83]

Was looking through the NEF/H&R Classifieds and seen several 243 barrels that still havent sold.Is there something that ya'll dont like about the 243 barrels or is it just me?Was thinking about getting one for my yote gun.

[cwlongshot]

Not that I know of... I love mine. 

Some dont like the ULTRALITES, but Tim's got at least one that shoots damn near MOA!!

 CW

[Spanky]

It does seem like the .243's are the red headed step child or something.
It's not only on here either, it's the same on the Rossi forum.
I used to have a .243 ultralight and it shot good enough for me.



Spanky

[coop2564]

They tend not to hit where u aim em! I've never been so frusted with any gun as with mine it shoots a nice shotgun pattern through. Mine is a superlight.

[quickdtoo]

There are quite a few here that have 243 Superlights that shoot good, and a bunch that have great shooting 243 bull and standard barrels, myself included, I have 2 SLs and 2 Ultras, had one of the Ultras rechambered to 6mmAckley recently, haven't shot the 6mm yet, but as a 243 it shot great or I wouldn't have had it rechambered. The SLs can be frustrating, specially if you shoot em warm, but even they should shoot 2" or less 3-shot groups at 100yds with factory ammo, if it won't, send it to H&R for repair, that's their standard of accuracy. 

Tim

[T/Chmr]

I had a "Handi" in .243 that I absolutely could not get to group for squat.  I loved the feel of the rifle, the trigger was great but just couldn't get it to group any better than "minute of pieplate".  I did alittle research and found that most were good but some just slung them wild from time to time.  I traded it back to the dealer that I bought it from and got a T/C Prohunter in .243 and I love it.  I'm not gonna talk down the Handi .243 but it just didn't work out for me.

[R.W.Dale]

 The fans may not like to say it but the .243 handi is by far the most "tomato stake" prone bbl made. I too have been traumatized by 2" groups one day and groups best measured in feet the next.

No more 243's or anything else rimless for me thank you

[gendoc]

ever notice that your first shot is somewhat close??
then your 2nd and 3rd are going to hell!!!!
i'll give you a hint..............barrel heat!!!!!!!!!
it takes awhile for the bulls to vier from the heard, but it still happens.
just make your first shot count.
absolutly not a range shooter, unless you got lots of cool down time.

[cwlongshot]

The fans may not like to say it but the .243 handi is by far the most "tomato stake" prone bbl made. I too have been traumatized by 2" groups one day and groups best measured in feet the next.

No more 243's or anything else rimless for me thank you

 I don't agree, although I have no way to prove it.
  I feel that the 243, simply as a caliber, is a very popular one. Regardless of the brand of rifle its chambered in. This is a Handi forum and we buy/sell and trade handis, its only natural that there would be more available for sale. So, again I'll say, aside from the problems I've read about with the superlites, there is no widespread problems with the H&R / NEF 243 barrels.
Have you also knoticed the very numerous posts about appropriate bullet weight and hunting stories including that authors fondness for the 243 Win? Just goes to show that people really do LIKE THIS GUN!!

CW

[brennemanj83]

Well I'm sending my handi in after the 1rst of the year to have a few barrels fitted and th 243 is on the list along with 30/30,280,and 45/70.

[eod20]

i can not speak from personal exp. with a handi 243 as i do not have one....yet      i have to side with CW    i think the 243 is one of the most popular in the US    i have 2 in bolt guns   and i love them      they are the go too guns for the nephews and wife    and 1 is the friends loner gun for unscheduled ground pig control patrols

[mechanic]

I have an ultralite 243 that has taken 4 deer this year.  At the range, from a rest, the first two shots will touch.  The third will open the group to about an inch.  From there the spread gets wider.  Let the barrel cool and shoot something else, and the first two will touch again.

I can't speak for anyone but myself, but for what I do with it, thats just dandy.  Its a deer gun, and I ain't lost one I've shot with it yet.

Ben

[billy_56081]

My 243 ultra was a tack driver then one day the accuracy went real real bad. Come to find out I must have had something in the end of the barrel and split the end, now I have a 21" ultra barrel that is a tack driver once again, and it is even more handi in its shorter version.

[mantley]

I have a 243 Ultra that would shoot 3" to 6" groups at 100 yards all day.  Tried lots of ammo and they all shot about the same - cheap to high dollar.  I bought a Tubbs Final Finish kit and shot it through the barrel.  I followed the steps that came with the kit - skeptical about the whole concept but thought I had nothing to lose but the $34 it cost and maybe a messed up barrel - maybe I could get it to shoot 8" groups.  Well after my brother and I finished the shooting and cleaning I fired some cheap factory ammo and quess what - the gun shot a 3/4" group at 100 yards.  I shoot the Federal Sierra Gameking BTHP 85g - the gun is zeroed in dead on at 300 yards.  I have shot several 2" groups at 300 yards with the gun.  The best money I have spend on a gun for the results.

[quickdtoo]

Thanks for sharing that mantley, only one other person has reportedly tried the Tubbs with a .223 Handi, his results were disastrous, going from bad to a tomato stake.  It's been the general contention that as shallow as the rifling is in these rifles, anything more than very mild abrasives can doom accuracy.

Tim

[Jimbo47]

I've owned a .243, and the best I could get with factory ammo was about 1" to 1 1/2" on a good day, but like others have said it begins to open up unless the barrel is completely cool, and this was a standard contour.

It was O.K. for what I wanted to use it for, but I own other Handi's that are consistently more accurate, even after firing several shots through a warm barrel.

Now that Tim mentioned it, I did notice that the grooves in the rifling were shallower and less defined, on my particular barrel anyway, than any of my other barrels I own.

I think if I had hand loaded for it, I could have done better but I didn't, so I traded it away to someone that did, and never looked back.