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My 12 gauge nef had broken plastic trigger guard, when I got it.I've owned three Handi Rifles with .223 barrels. One, which I presently own. It has a barrel constructed like a cannon, very thick on the breech end that slowly tapers toward the muzzle. The other two had the lightweight barrels, that is, they taper significantly just ahead of the chamber area. These two rifles with the lighter, thinner barrels wouldn't shoot well. At least not as well as the heavy, "normal" barrel that I kept.
There are tricks that can be done to enhance accuracy, like kind of floating the fore end with the addition of a small O-ring. Others will tell you the best shots taken with a Handi Rifle are the first few cold shots, after that they say accuracy declines. I haven't found that to be the case with my heavy bbl. .223.
Yes, those plastic small parts are an annoyance from an aesthetic standpoint. BUT: If we are comparing H&R to NEF, I can tell you that my 1966 Topper has the same plastic trigger guard and fore end spacer. I've read that H&R went to the plastic trigger guards when they changed from a lever to button barrel release. I've never seen an NEF that didn't have the plastic trigger. And, I've never seen a broken plastic trigger guard, either. But somebody, somewhere has probably done it. I've heard some noise on the Greybeard web site about metal replacements being made.
Many of the NEF guns had schnabel fore ends, which I never liked, just a personal preference. I like the traditional kind.
If I'd known that any of this was going to be of interest to anyone all these years later, I would've kept pictures of the various H&R and NEF single shots that I've owned. Mine were all mostly ordinary, no Ultras, no fancy laminated stocks (some of which I've admired), no Buffalo guns, etc. The NEF .223 that I currently have has a blued steel frame, it is NJ date (1995), my 28 ga. Partner is NG (1992) and it has the bogus case hardened look on a cast iron frame. It might be but I don't know for sure that in later production, NEF got away from the faux case hardened look on shotgun frames. Remember, Marlin bought NEF in 2000, then Remington bought Marlin in 2008. Corporate acquisitions often result in ways being sought to reduce cost of production.
When I got my first H&R in 1966, the factory was offering accessory barrels for sale. In addition to other gauges, you could get .22 LR, .22 Hornet, and .30-30. When NEF reestablished the product after H&R went bankrupt, they adopted the accessory barrel product concept and expanded the offering of chamberings. NEF required that the frame be send back to the factory for fitting; I never enquired of H&R about it, so I don't know if it was a requirement of theirs also.
Some time ago, I posted a few threads here about the late history of H&R and the history of NEF. There is a lot of inaccurate information online about these two companies. I dug around in company incorporation documents that are in the public domain, copies of old advertisements, etc., and was able to clear up some of the misconceptions. It would take me too long to find those posts now to link them to this.
End note, I just remembered something. I've said previously that I didn't have any fancy NEF's. I had one, it was a Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation raffle gun. It was a beautiful Handi Rifle with walnut stock (not the usual "pallet board"), de luxe blue job, RMEF medallion embedded in the butt stock. It was chambered in .308 Win. It had a scope on it. I'm embarrassed to say I don't recall what I did with it.
I kick myself for not getting one of those when they were at blowout prices. Looks like a fun rifle.I have an H&R/AAC 300 blackout which frankly is just a nice gun.
There ya go.My 12 gauge nef had broken plastic trigger guard, when I got it.