The Handi-Rifle was true to its name, we thought. We found it easy to carry, pleasant in all its operations, and…well, just plain handy. The ejector worked every time the chamber was opened, which we didn’t really like. The rifle could be opened carefully and loaded silently, without tripping the ejector. Because we are reloaders, we would have preferred a simple, positive extractor over the ejector mechanism. More on this later. The barrel breech was huge in diameter, indicating abundant strength. This rifle is in fact chambered in many calibers including the .35 Whelen, .500 S&W and .45-70, so the design clearly has strength in abundance. As a Hornet, it ought to last forever.
The overall look of the rifle was pleasant, we though. The hardwood (birch?) stock had a well-done, walnut-like finish, a shape suited to iron sights, and a recoil pad that puts those found on Ruger’s heavy-recoiling rifles to shame. It was soft, thick, and comfortable. While not necessary on a Hornet, a pad can keep the gun from slipping and falling. The buttstock was well inletted to match fluted notches in the rear of the action, which ought to help keep things tight over time. There were sling-swivel studs on the butt and forend, but no checkering.
The barrel was matte blued and the receiver was semi-gloss. The trigger guard and forend “iron” or shoe were made of matte-black-finished, high-strength plastic. Lockup was mighty tight, with no looseness or rattling, and it stayed tight throughout our test, though the action was always easy to open and close. The sights were outstanding. The front sight, held to the barrel with an Allen screw, was a ramped, flat-top blade easily seen and undercut to remain that way. The rear sight held a square-cut notch. The rear sight resembled a Micro handgun sight, and was fully adjustable for windage and elevation. The sights came adjusted right on the money. The breech had three drilled and tapped holes for a factory-made, rail-type scope mount that was not included with the rifle. All the fitting throughout the rifle was very well done, we thought.
The forend was removable via a slotted 1/4-20 screw. Don’t lose that screw! Inside the forend we found finish on the wood. With the forend off, the barrel may be easily removed from the action. The mechanism is extremely simple, which is generally a good thing. The receiver appeared to be an investment casting of steel. The small-diameter firing pin was unbushed but spring loaded to keep it out of the way for easy opening of the action. While some of us miss the old top-lever H&R and Iver Johnson actions that closely resemble the Handi Rifle, we can’t fault the simplicity and effectiveness of the push-button opening system.
On the range we had a few failures to eject with some mild, low-pressure handloads. We determined the problem was that our reloaded cases had not been completely full-length sized, which caused a slight stickiness in the Handi-Rifle’s chamber. Polishing the chamber did not help. When we tested again with fully resized cases the problem went away. This problem did not occur with the T/C.
The Handi-Rifle has no positive primary extraction. It has a spring-loaded lifter that, if all goes well, starts the case moving out of the chamber and prepares it for ejection. We don’t like this spring-loaded extraction system, some of us having had long experience with break-open firearms, the good ones of which will positively lift a stuck case every time the gun is opened, without fail unless the rim is ripped off in a really bad situation. We conclude we’d take a 100-percent-functioning positive-lifting extractor over this spring-loaded design any day. This didn’t make us reject the Handi-Rifle, but made us wary.
We liked the simple, handgun-like sights of the Handi-Rifle much more than those on the T/C. They were easy to see and simple to align, and our groups showed no vertical stringing. The hammer is either fully cocked or fully down. You can’t see the rear sight with the hammer down. As noted, the gun cannot fire from a blow on the hammer unless the trigger is held back. It is impossible to hold the trigger back until the hammer has been cocked. There is no need for any extra safety, we thought, and it is possible to carry the rifle empty and to load it silently when required. We found the stock to be very comfortable over the machine rest, notably more so than the T/C, which had a higher comb set up for a scope. The NEF’s trigger pull was excellent, and the action speed seemed lively. There were no failures to fire.
