Imaexpat2
10-23-2006, 03:04 AM
Has anyone here bought a H&R/NEF Handy Rifle or Versa-Pack or considered doing so?
My first gun was a Topper 88 12 guage. It was fairly cheaply made and wasnt about to win a beauty contest anytime in my life time, but boy was I the terror of the woods growing up. It accounted for a tonm of squirrels, rabbits and ducks and even a couple of Texas White Tails before I moved up to more improved means of collection. 30 years later I still got that gun and it still works great!
Personally I have more guns than any saine individual should probably be allowed to have. I have one or two for just about every concevable situation short of having Class III weapons and devices, so its not like I need another one. Well we all have probably seen that movie a few times...and yeah I added yet another one to the gun room!
Bought an SB2-980 a couple weeks ago and its a sweet little outfit. It seems to be signifacantly more improved construction wise than my old Topper 88. Didnt have a full length rifled barrel shot gun, saw this bad boy and was impressed with its build, its heft and solid feel. With the heavy bull barrel it ought to make quite the slug delivery device. So I bought it! Cant wait to test it out on a couple of feral hawgs...
I didnt know they made such a gun. I had no idea how much these guns have improved over the years, and until recently I didnt know they were offering other barrel options. Now I am starting to think about getting one of those handy rifles and a few barrels.
I am thinking one in 22 long rifle would be a nice to have set up like that as unlike my Ruger 10/22 it can shoot just about any 22 rimfire ammo out there. I have been tempted to get a 17 HRM but dont think I would shoot one with the cost of ammo being what it is not to mention a nice heavy barreled gun would cost. As cheap as the H&R barels are though...Im game for that option. If they made a barrel in .223 with a 1 in 9 twist rate I think I could justify a barrel in that too. I have a ton of .223 ammo and if my AR was to go hard down in a SHTF situation the ammo would be worthless to me since I dont have a bolt action in that caliber. I dont have a bolt action in 7.62 x 39 either, although a have a few auto loaders in that caliber. But it would be nice to have if the one they make has a .311-.312 bore diameter.
Then I got to thinking about how well this gun could potentially be a real survival gun, especially for those on a budget and or new to guns. Yeah I know that you can get reasonably priced surplus K98's, Mosign's and Yugo SKS's. But why get something used with variable condition bores when you could have something brand new? It wouldnt be much of a mutant zombie zapper, but it could make one hell of a game getter though and a versitile one at that! Its light, its handy, it can be broke down, and with the addition of other barrels there aint too much it couldnt handle as long as you dont end up in a "Gen Custers last stand" situation, cause granted it does lack in fire power when comparing it to a SKS, AK, AR, FAL OR M1A1. But then again it can be relaoded about as fast as a bolt gun, and as a looter would you really have enough "gas in the tank" to challange an old man on the front porch cradling a rifle? You might but then again, you just might regret that type of foolishness. There aint too many things that make me more nervous than a 70+ year old senior with a attitude and a gun, even if it is a single shot!!!
In pondering the above...I got to thinking wouldnt it be great if they made this available in 8mm Mauser or 7.62 x 54 in addition to .223 and 7.62 x 39. With all of the surplus ammo out there such a gun that allowed you to change to different ammo that you had or scrounged would be a real asset. Sure you can get a TC Encore but that bad boy will set you back some bucks! New barrels for it are a little pricey too! To my line of thinking the H&R is starting to sound a little bit better.
Whats everbody elses thoughts on this....
My first gun was a Topper 88 12 guage. It was fairly cheaply made and wasnt about to win a beauty contest anytime in my life time, but boy was I the terror of the woods growing up. It accounted for a tonm of squirrels, rabbits and ducks and even a couple of Texas White Tails before I moved up to more improved means of collection. 30 years later I still got that gun and it still works great!
Personally I have more guns than any saine individual should probably be allowed to have. I have one or two for just about every concevable situation short of having Class III weapons and devices, so its not like I need another one. Well we all have probably seen that movie a few times...and yeah I added yet another one to the gun room!
Bought an SB2-980 a couple weeks ago and its a sweet little outfit. It seems to be signifacantly more improved construction wise than my old Topper 88. Didnt have a full length rifled barrel shot gun, saw this bad boy and was impressed with its build, its heft and solid feel. With the heavy bull barrel it ought to make quite the slug delivery device. So I bought it! Cant wait to test it out on a couple of feral hawgs...
I didnt know they made such a gun. I had no idea how much these guns have improved over the years, and until recently I didnt know they were offering other barrel options. Now I am starting to think about getting one of those handy rifles and a few barrels.
I am thinking one in 22 long rifle would be a nice to have set up like that as unlike my Ruger 10/22 it can shoot just about any 22 rimfire ammo out there. I have been tempted to get a 17 HRM but dont think I would shoot one with the cost of ammo being what it is not to mention a nice heavy barreled gun would cost. As cheap as the H&R barels are though...Im game for that option. If they made a barrel in .223 with a 1 in 9 twist rate I think I could justify a barrel in that too. I have a ton of .223 ammo and if my AR was to go hard down in a SHTF situation the ammo would be worthless to me since I dont have a bolt action in that caliber. I dont have a bolt action in 7.62 x 39 either, although a have a few auto loaders in that caliber. But it would be nice to have if the one they make has a .311-.312 bore diameter.
Then I got to thinking about how well this gun could potentially be a real survival gun, especially for those on a budget and or new to guns. Yeah I know that you can get reasonably priced surplus K98's, Mosign's and Yugo SKS's. But why get something used with variable condition bores when you could have something brand new? It wouldnt be much of a mutant zombie zapper, but it could make one hell of a game getter though and a versitile one at that! Its light, its handy, it can be broke down, and with the addition of other barrels there aint too much it couldnt handle as long as you dont end up in a "Gen Custers last stand" situation, cause granted it does lack in fire power when comparing it to a SKS, AK, AR, FAL OR M1A1. But then again it can be relaoded about as fast as a bolt gun, and as a looter would you really have enough "gas in the tank" to challange an old man on the front porch cradling a rifle? You might but then again, you just might regret that type of foolishness. There aint too many things that make me more nervous than a 70+ year old senior with a attitude and a gun, even if it is a single shot!!!
In pondering the above...I got to thinking wouldnt it be great if they made this available in 8mm Mauser or 7.62 x 54 in addition to .223 and 7.62 x 39. With all of the surplus ammo out there such a gun that allowed you to change to different ammo that you had or scrounged would be a real asset. Sure you can get a TC Encore but that bad boy will set you back some bucks! New barrels for it are a little pricey too! To my line of thinking the H&R is starting to sound a little bit better.
Whats everbody elses thoughts on this....