Opinion on single shot?

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Pintail

Pintail

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2000
Messages
142
City & State/Province
MILAN, TN
I am looking for a good single shot rifle for my son. He is 7 so need
Something with light recoil as can be. Looking at 100 yds or less shots
 
In my experience single shots seem to be a crap-shoot as far as accuracy. I've owned several and some would drive tacks and others wouldn't hold a group with anything I tried. I do not have a reason for that though.

They seem to have heavy,creepy triggers as well, but that can be fixed I guess.

The H&Rs would be a good start for what you're looking for, .243 or 7mm08.

I tend to stay away from the Rossi.
 
.223 would be very low recoil and still kill a deer with good ammo.

.243 and .30-30 are about even in recoil and have more punch than the .223.
 
Longhunter said:
I own and hunt with several single shot rifles. The New England / H&R Handi-Rifles I own are all very accurate and dependable. They are simple to operate and that is a big advantage for a child.

One thing I do not understand is why more people do not start kids off with rifles that shoot pistol cartridges. The Handi-Rifle is available in 44mag/44spl and either of those cartridges are DEADLY on deer at 100 yards or less. The pistol cartridges will not recoil or produce near the muzzle blast that even a mild rifle cartridge produces.

My little girl is eight years old and she can shoot my Winchester 94 Trapper in 45 Colt very well. I have taken several deer with the 45 Colt, one with a 44 mag, and and one with a 44spl. While these deer were taken with pistols instead of rifles all but one dropped in its tracks! The longer barrel of the rifle would allow for even more velocity and energy.

Give a rifle chambered for a pistol cartridge a try. You and your child will not be disappointed.
Click to expand...

Loghunter makes a very good point, the pistol cartridges completely slipped my mind.
 
I would get a H&R before I spent the extra money on a Encore. Both are capable of minute of deer accuracy. I have owned Encores and cant see spending the extra money on basically the same type of rifle.

I know some people like the Encores and I have tried to like them also. The concept of being able to change the barrel and have different calibers is a good one. But I grew up shooting Remington 700's and of the Encores I have owned, they couldn't come close to the accuracy of a 700.
 
I moved my son to an Encore chambered in the .308 and the recoil was dramatically less than the .260 in the Remington Model 7.


Good luck.
 
Longhunter said:
The pistol cartridges will not recoil or produce near the muzzle blast that even a mild rifle cartridge produces.
Click to expand...

Nope. A rifle in .44 mag will have more recoil than the same weight gun in .30-30.
 
I have 2 H&R single shots. A 25-06 that is the most accurate 25-06 I have ever owned by far and a 7mm-08 youth. The youth 7-08 I actually cut another inch off the stock and reattached the but pad. My daughter started with it at age 7 and my son will be using it this year at age 7 as well. I do reload the ammo for it as a reduced load. My daughter took 3 bucks with it last year.
 
If you are realy fixed on a single I would get something like the Encore. You realy are looking at something for a life time. I use to have serval New Englands, H&Rs but got rid of most of em they can give problems.
 
Longhunter said:
I own and hunt with several single shot rifles. The New England / H&R Handi-Rifles I own are all very accurate and dependable. They are simple to operate and that is a big advantage for a child.

One thing I do not understand is why more people do not start kids off with rifles that shoot pistol cartridges. The Handi-Rifle is available in 44mag/44spl and either of those cartridges are DEADLY on deer at 100 yards or less. The pistol cartridges will not recoil or produce near the muzzle blast that even a mild rifle cartridge produces.

My little girl is eight years old and she can shoot my Winchester 94 Trapper in 45 Colt very well. I have taken several deer with the 45 Colt, one with a 44 mag, and and one with a 44spl. While these deer were taken with pistols instead of rifles all but one dropped in its tracks! The longer barrel of the rifle would allow for even more velocity and energy.

Give a rifle chambered for a pistol cartridge a try. You and your child will not be disappointed.
Click to expand...

Longhunter...I have a trapper in 45 Colt that I've been wanting to try on deer. What load do you use? I've mainly been fooling around with cast bullets.
 
Koyodiak said:
Hogbear said:
Longhunter said:
The pistol cartridges will not recoil or produce near the muzzle blast that even a mild rifle cartridge produces.
Click to expand...

Nope. A rifle in .44 mag will have more recoil than the same weight gun in .30-30.
Click to expand...

Are you sure about that?
Click to expand...

They'e pretty close, but most .30-30 loads are a little less recoil than 240 gr .44 mag loads. Here's a table of some recoils. It's not the best comparison of many calibers because they use so many different rifle weights. The .44 mag 240 gr and .30-30 150 grain both use 7.5 lb rifle though, and the .223 uses a lighter 7.0 lb rifle.

.44 Rem. Mag. (240 at 1760) 7.5 11.2
.44 Rem. Mag. (275 at 1580) 7.5 11.4
.30-30 Win. (150 at 2400) 7.5 10.6
.30-30 Win. (160 at 2400) 7.5 12.7
.30-30 Win. (170 at 2200) 7.5 11.0
.243 Win. (100 at 2960) 7.5 8.8
.357 Mag. (158 at 1650) 7.0 4.7
.223 Rem. (62 at 3025) 7.0 3.9

http://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=56996

You can use various ballistics calculators and they say pretty much the same thing.
 
Hogbear said:
Longhunter said:
The pistol cartridges will not recoil or produce near the muzzle blast that even a mild rifle cartridge produces.
Click to expand...

Nope. A rifle in .44 mag will have more recoil than the same weight gun in .30-30.
Click to expand...


I don't think so, I have shot a Ruger 44 carbine and a Marlin 1894 in 44 Mag, they recoiled less than any 30-30 I have shot.
 
Kimberman said:
Hogbear said:
Longhunter said:
The pistol cartridges will not recoil or produce near the muzzle blast that even a mild rifle cartridge produces.
Click to expand...

Nope. A rifle in .44 mag will have more recoil than the same weight gun in .30-30.
Click to expand...


I don't think so, I have shot a Ruger 44 carbine and a Marlin 1894 in 44 Mag, they recoiled less than any 30-30 I have shot.
Click to expand...

x-2..I have a Marlin 30-30 and a Marlin 44 mag. To me the 44 is alot less recoil. Both of my girls love to shoot the 44 mag at 2 liter water jugs. They have no problem busting them at 100 yards. I taught both of them to shoot with a Ruger 10-22 then moved them up to the 44 by letting them shoot 44 specials first then to the magnums. They still use the 44 mag if they want to deer hunt, I have even took a few deer with it myself, it is a sweet little rifle.

As far as the single shot rifles, I have a H&R Ultra Hunter in 25-06 that is a tack driver but it is way to heavy for a kid to hunt with.
 
Since we are talking pistol cartridge guns... I have a 357 mag Marlin and is has very little recoil and 38spl's are fluffy kittens cats for practice. The 357 is not that hot on paper but the two deer i shot did not make it 20yds. Food for thought.
Good luck
 
If your son is typical in stature for a 7-year-old, none of the other factors is going to matter unless you plan on shortening the buttstock so the rifle will fit him properly.
 
The first H&R (30-06) I bought was a hole cutter for sevral years then the accuracy left it for some reason, it shot all over the place.

The second was a .243 & it was in ruff shape when bought, most of the time it would snap sevral times before it fired, then when it did go off the gun would break its self down,I noticed when it was closed you could fel it wiggle & see day light between the reciever & barrel.
after some web search'n I found it mite be the hinge pin bent from the preasure thats put on it when fired, I wrapped a piece of shim stock around the hinge pin & it fixed the problem but I just didnt like the idea of it & sold it, know'n what I know now the hinge pin mite have been wrong with my 06 but didnt have a computer to look up info with.

Go to GRAYBEARDOUTDOORS.com & they have a killer therad on teh handi rifles, lots of info & tricks for the H&Rs.
 
if I wanted a single shot I would put one shell in my bolt rifles.

I just never liked the idea of a break open single shot,,I like the falling/rolling blocks but that is another animal..
 
What about the contender, chambered in 6.8 spc, perfect for deer and very compact with a bantam stock and light recoil.
 
HR handi in 7-08.

might have to do a little accurizing, there is a good thread at greybeards on how to do it.

A little sanding and a neoprene washer fixed it right up.

Now shooting 1.5" groups at 100 but the gun will do better.

Im real interested in how the CVA scout performs.

If TN ever goes to single shot "primitive breech loaders" 45-70 for mz I might pick one up.
 
Hogbear said:
Koyodiak said:
Hogbear said:
Longhunter said:
The pistol cartridges will not recoil or produce near the muzzle blast that even a mild rifle cartridge produces.
Click to expand...

Nope. A rifle in .44 mag will have more recoil than the same weight gun in .30-30.
Click to expand...

Are you sure about that?
Click to expand...

They'e pretty close, but most .30-30 loads are a little less recoil than 240 gr .44 mag loads. Here's a table of some recoils. It's not the best comparison of many calibers because they use so many different rifle weights. The .44 mag 240 gr and .30-30 150 grain both use 7.5 lb rifle though, and the .223 uses a lighter 7.0 lb rifle.

.44 Rem. Mag. (240 at 1760) 7.5 11.2
.44 Rem. Mag. (275 at 1580) 7.5 11.4
.30-30 Win. (150 at 2400) 7.5 10.6
.30-30 Win. (160 at 2400) 7.5 12.7
.30-30 Win. (170 at 2200) 7.5 11.0
.243 Win. (100 at 2960) 7.5 8.8
.357 Mag. (158 at 1650) 7.0 4.7
.223 Rem. (62 at 3025) 7.0 3.9

http://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=56996

You can use various ballistics calculators and they say pretty much the same thing.
Click to expand...

I'll buy that, Thanks.
 
Koyodiak said:
Hogbear said:
Koyodiak said:
Hogbear said:
Longhunter said:
The pistol cartridges will not recoil or produce near the muzzle blast that even a mild rifle cartridge produces.
Click to expand...

Nope. A rifle in .44 mag will have more recoil than the same weight gun in .30-30.
Click to expand...

Are you sure about that?
Click to expand...

They'e pretty close, but most .30-30 loads are a little less recoil than 240 gr .44 mag loads. Here's a table of some recoils. It's not the best comparison of many calibers because they use so many different rifle weights. The .44 mag 240 gr and .30-30 150 grain both use 7.5 lb rifle though, and the .223 uses a lighter 7.0 lb rifle.

.44 Rem. Mag. (240 at 1760) 7.5 11.2
.44 Rem. Mag. (275 at 1580) 7.5 11.4
.30-30 Win. (150 at 2400) 7.5 10.6
.30-30 Win. (160 at 2400) 7.5 12.7
.30-30 Win. (170 at 2200) 7.5 11.0
.243 Win. (100 at 2960) 7.5 8.8
.357 Mag. (158 at 1650) 7.0 4.7
.223 Rem. (62 at 3025) 7.0 3.9

http://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=56996

You can use various ballistics calculators and they say pretty much the same thing.
Click to expand...

I'll buy that, Thanks.
Click to expand...

my 300 RUM load comes in at 52 :crazy:
 

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