Gun Porn: New England Firearms SB2 Handi Rifle .22 Hornet

Those who are into this sort of thing will really enjoy this one. This rifle is in at least Good, possibly Very Good cosmetic condition. The overall view is Very Good from just a few feet away.

As always, click any image to see it without blogger messing up the image quality





Look a bit closer and you see it is definitely, but lightly, used. The muzzle end has some slight wear in the bluing, and the stocks have rub marks on the high parts of the deeply contoured (almost sculpted) wood.





The breech face looks great, the breech end of the barrel less so. Ho do you ding the chamber end of the barrel without damaging the other parts of a rifle? It's a good thing the barrel has a stepped crown. The false crown has scratches and faded finish . . . the true crown, as is the case with the rifling, is in great shape.



The scope was, apparently, installed by a poorly-trained gorilla. If I saw this rifle in a private sale, I would likely pass on it for this reason if I otherwise wanted it: If you can't use a frikken turnscrew to mount a scope without chewing up the rings, you can't do anything good with the rest of the gun, either. This is an extremely bad sign when you are evaluating a used firearm! The rear lens of the scope is in great shape, but the front lens is scratched. NEVER use anything but the proper cleaning cloths on a coated lens. This is another red flag.

AETEC - marketing hype or merely an excuse for a pretty logo?



How "Handi" that all the roll marks and stampings on this rifle are in the same spot . . . one shot and you've got it all! Photographic efficiency WIN!



Neither single-shot rifles nor the .22 Hornet caliber really float my boat, but -aside from the scope issues I mentioned- this is a pretty nice used example of the type.