New England Firearms, also known as NEF, are some of the best starter-firearms on the market, offering many single shot rifles and shotguns ideal for familiarizing new shooters with the basic workings of these simple rifles. Aside from being simple, the NEF guns are tough, making them the trusted hunting rifle for a great deal of shooters and hunters. These guns have less moving parts than other guns; less moving parts means less chance of malfunctions. NEF is also known as H&R; H&R comes from Gilbert Harrington and William Richardson, whose innovation helped to greatly improve loading times in revolvers, as well as reliability.

Today H&R / NEF is owned by Marlin Arms and still produces and imports a wide range of firearms, keeping their name synonymous with dependability and precision.  Unlike many other firearms producers over the years, H&R is still committed to the goal it set in the 1870s: To make affordable firearms that could withstand some of the most brutal environments.  A key change to be noted over the past few decades is when NEF discontinued their handguns; they now only produce a handful of blank-firing revolvers. These blank-firing revolvers are ideal as dog training firearms or starting pistols.

NEF is being hailed as the largest producer of single shot firearms in the world and having it’s century-old product lines still in production today clearly shows just how significant H&R / NEF is in the modern firearms industry. Despite the sheer volume of firearms made, H&R imports a wide variety of pump and automatic shotguns, many of which are well under the five hundred dollar mark. A major selling factor is the ability to quickly swap barrels, thus changing calibers and configurations in a matter of seconds. This allows the owner to have many more options for their firearm, all rolled in to one handy package.

During the past several wars, H&R has stepped up to the call of duty. They accepted government contracts for the M1A rifles in WWII. H&R also produced a series of M16 rifles during the Vietnam-era to meet the government’s needs. Now these rifles are considered a must-have for M1A collectors and often find their way to various online auction sites. H&R no longer has any military contracts and can focus solely on the civilian market, which has been extremely loyal over the past one-hundred-plus years and that is just how NEF likes it.

In my opinion, the H&R firearms are ideal for all types of firearms enthusiasts, making sharing the tradition that much easier and safer when working with newcomers. Over the past few decades, H&R has met the needs of a wide range of shooters by offering the largest variety of calibers and combo configurations of any other single-shot firearms producer. So if you’re looking for a reliable firearm that is sure to hold up to whatever comes your way, the NEF / H&R firearms are clearly the best. H&R is here to stay, for another century, if not longer.