# PRO'S AND CON'S ON NEW ENGLAND FIREARMS



## merhunts (Mar 13, 2007)

I Know alot of you guys don't think New England Firearms are good guns. I am inquiring for info from people who have NEF so please don't post any replies about a gun you think is better. I know there are better gun out there. but they cost more. I am looking at the NEF as a cheap way to get a coyote gun. Anyway this is my Question. What is the pro's and con's of the NEF rifles. Again please only replies about NEF. :sniper:


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## Horsager (Aug 31, 2006)

I sighted in two of them for a buddy. One in 308, one in 223. Both of them were far more accurate than I was expecting. Both shot 3 shot groups of just over an inch with factory ammo, again, far better than I expected. The only real downsides I see are these: The trigger is just plain awful, creepy and 7#+ pull weight. I'm also not a big fan of external hammers.

Based on what I saw, they'll do what you need them to for coyotes and other varmints.


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## Bore.224 (Mar 23, 2005)

You also are better off with a high scope mount as the shell casings have to be pulled out by hand. But if you don't mind a high mount "No Problem".

When you get right down to the nitty gritty its all the rifle anyone really needs, I dont think you can go wrong with a NEF.

The biggest downside of the NEF is this.... It just does not look as good hanging on the wall.


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## Lil Sand Bay (Feb 2, 2005)

Over the years I've owned any number of NEF's. I'm currently using a .243 lightweight, and it's more then adequate for my use on brush wolves and deer here in N. Wisc. I've got the scope low mounted as the shell cases are self ejecting, and the light weight model at least came with a reasonable trigger wt. and let off, unlike others I've had in the past. I agree it's not what you would call beautiful, but it sure is functional, which I suppose is its own sort of beauty.


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## Danimal (Sep 9, 2005)

I have a NEF .223 with heavy barrel. I picked it up a few years ago at a Dick's Sporting Goods as a package with hard case and Tasco 6.5-18? scope,...for $200. Although I'm not a big fan of the scope, it will shoot 1 inch groups (at 100 yrds from a rest) with the 8+ lbs trigger.

I'm going to have a gunsmith do a trigger job and hopefully get it down to about 3-4 lbs.

I'd buy another NEF in the future.


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## iwantabuggy (Feb 15, 2005)

I have 2, both in 17M2 and I like them alot. My friend also has one in 223. Both of the M2's will put 3 bullets in one ragged hole at 50 yards. We worked up some real nice hand loads for my friends 223 and I shot a .649 group with it at 100 yards, which is excellent IMO for that gun/scope combo (has a cheaper scope on it, a Tasco, I think). All of the guns are factory equiped with no mods or tweeking. I have measured the triggers with my scale on all 3 guns and they are all at/less than or near 4 lbs from the factory with little to no creap. I am not sure why all these guys are quoteing 7 or 8 lbs. I haven't seen one anywhere near that bad. If that is where your price range is, GO FOR IT! I would not hesitate for a second to take one out after non-dangerous game. I don't think I would use one for dangerous game, but only because it is a SS.


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## SDHandgunner (Jun 22, 2004)

I have had two Stainless-Synthetic NEF Handi Rifles (a .223 Remington and a .243 Winchester) and a NEF .22 LR Sportster.

The one thing that needs addressing is the Scope Mount. It is secured to the barrel with 3 screws that are fairly close together. Add to that the the front portion of the scope mount hangs out in mid air over the taper of the Barrel. Yes these scope mounts will come loose and need a little attention. What I did was have my local gunsmith make a shim of aluminum that fit between the scope base and the taper of the barrel. Then to get everything PERFECT he used AccuGlass Glass Bedding so it mated perfectly with the Barrel. Once that was done and the Screws loktited the problem was solved, and the modified scope base provided a secure / rigid mounting for even the largest scopes.

Another area that needs attention is the bedding of the forend. Mine had Synthetic Forends and all I did was sand out the synthetic material so the forend only touched the barrel at the screw lug. I also placed a rubber o ring between the forend and the barrel at the attaching screw lug to ensure it was free floated everywhere else. I have read a lot that said these rifles were very sensative to where the forend was rested, and or with bipod use effecting accuracy. After the modifications I did to my forends I did not experience this problem.

Some guys have said they have had the best luck glass bedding the forend from the attachment lug reward to the front of the action and leaving the rest of the forend free floated. I never did try this, but if I ever get another NEF I may well give it a try. Seems to me it should help eliminate the forend rest postion differences, but I could be wrong.

Yes the Triggers SUCK for the most part, especially if you are used to a really good trigger. However they can be smoothed up quite easily without taking anything apart. I simply put a dab of polishing compound in the engagement surfaces and dry fired the gun 50 times or so (with a piece of leather covering the firing pin so the hammer hit the piece of leather). Once this was done I simply flushed everything out really good to ensure the polishing compound was removed. The other thing with the trigger is due to the design of the Transfer Bar Safety the trigger must be pulled to the rear every time. If you just FLICK the trigger enough to fire the gun for some reason it has an adverse effect on accuracy.

The last thing in regards to triggers is this. I am not sure if NEF does this anymore or not but they used to smooth up the trigger pull for free if it was requested when the frame was sent in to have another accessory barrel fitted to that frame.

One other item, I have read that NEF is changing their design from the spring loaded EJECTOR to a mechanical extractor (in which the spent cartridge would have to be removed manually from the extractor). On the ejector models the mechanism should be flushed out and de-greased before firing the gun as there can be gunk in there and grease that needs to be flushed out so the ejector doesn't stick.

The chamber of my .243 was out of round, and as such I experienced sticky extraction at times. My local gunsmith polished the chamber as best he could and the problem seemed to go away. The chamber on the .223 was good and never caused a problem.

All in all the NEF Handi Rifles are just that HANDI. With a full 22" Barrel they are some 4" shorter in overall length than a Bolt Action with a similar length barrel. Yet they are not a fly weight rifle either. To me they balance quite well. Yes there are better buys out there today, but not for as little as a standard Handi Rifle can be purchased for. Some of these rifles do require some tinkering to get the best out of them, and some of these rifles require a trip back to NEF. However my experience with NEF is that their customer service is quite good should a repair be needed.

Good luck if you decide to purchase a NEF Handi Rifle. Personally I think a Stevens Model 200 is a better buy for the $$$, but that is just me.

Larry


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