Review of NEF .Superlite Rifle in .223 Rem |
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After getting my Savage 12FV rifle configured the way I wanted it, and having it tip the scales at just under sixteen pounds, it was a little heavy for long hikes into and out of some of the areas that I like to hunt varmints. While it’s a great rig for steady work at longer distances, packing it and all of my gear those long distances was not something that I looked forward to doing on a hot summer day. The truth was, I needed to find a lighter rifle for packing and use the heavy rig for the rested long shots.
Although weight was my primary concern, I needed a rifle that was durable and could do the job I needed it to do. First I looked at what caliber I wanted the rifle in. I figured the average distances of my hits and came up with about 150 yards. I also wanted something that was in a .22-sized caliber and was both cheap and easy to reload. The caliber that pretty much overwhelmed everything else was the .223 Remington. I started to research my options and look at what was available on the market. There are quite a few rifles out there that would suit my needs, but my finances were limited and that pretty much narrowed the field down. It came down to either another Savage in a lighter configuration or one of the New England Firearms Handi rifles. I looked carefully at both of them and worked out the pros and cons of each.
If I bought the Savage I would cut the rifle weight down to about seven pounds without a scope, around eight when scoped and loaded. Eight pounds isn’t all that bad, but I wanted it lighter. On my longer hunts I carry quite a bit of gear, and after a few miles of hiking the hills, every little bit counts. So I wanted to see just how light I could go, so I set a goal of seven pounds for the whole rig. There was only one that fit the weight goal and was within the limits of my finances, the NEF Handi series of rifles.
The NEF Handi series of rifles are single shot, break open action rifles. They are all based on very similar frames, and they come in about a dozen calibers from .22 Hornet to a healthy 12-gauge slug. There are two major types of NEF Handi rifles, the standard Handi rifle and the Superlite model. The standard NEF Handi rifles wear either wood or synthetic stocks and feature standard or heavy weight barrels. The standard models weigh in at about six and a half pounds and up, making it hard to add a scope and stay within the seven-pound limit. The Superlite rifles all wear synthetic stocks and have thinner, lightweight barrels. The Superlite models weigh in around five and a half pounds, leaving much more weight for me to work with and still stay within my goal. In the end I decided to go with a Superlite in .223 Remington
I found a one in a local shop for $209 and after the customary NICS and such I was on my way. Out of the box, the rifle looked great for the price. The trigger was pretty stiff and a little rough. It broke around seven pounds, give or take a couple pounds. The general fit and finish of the rifle was pretty good. The rifle came with a hammer extension and a simple nylon sling. I cleaned the barrel and action, mounted my scope using Burris Zee rings and bore sighted it. With this rifle I wanted to try another break-in procedure that I read about on www.varmintal.com. The break-in procedure is accomplished with about 40 passes of a JB paste soaked patch. From there you call it good and just shoot and clean in a normal fashion. After the scrubbing I loaded up 50 rounds and headed to the range.
At the range the initial rounds pretty much went into a shotgun pattern. Not the best way to start off a relationship with a new rifle. I finished up the day with the smallest group being somewhere in the two-inch range. After some load development I came up with a load using bulk 55 grain Winchester PSP bullets and surplus WC844 powder. The load is well into the inexpensive range and shoots within an inch at one hundred yards, perfect for what I need it for. I broke in the trigger by simply working it a couple hundred times. It’s now nice and smooth and breaks at around 4 pounds. There is the occasional stuck case, but keeping the chamber clean and full length sizing the cases really cuts down on them. I also added a small rubber washer between the barrel and the hand guard to help free float the barrel.
Overall I would have to say that this rifle is one of the best deals I have come across in quite a while. It shoots great, handles even better and the entire rig only weighs six and a half pounds. It now sports the same camouflage pattern as my other varmint hunting rifles and is a pleasure to carry in the field as you hardly notice it’s there.
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