Henry’s original copy of Henry rifle

I'm with you Shafter, the Henry looks more like a WinMarlinRossichester with a brass frame than a Henry or a '66. I bought the Uberti '66 carbine and have fed .38 special handloads through it all day long. One of my favorite funguns. Henry will have one hard, hard, time to make one better than Uberti. And then to ask more than twice the cost of a Uberti.........good luck with that Henry.

'loose

shafter said:

Henry is one brand I will never buy from despite their quality. There is something about their ads that really tick me off. They have NO connection with the original Henry and yet they practically claim they are the same company.

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Winchester firearms are made all over the world now. The only connection with the original company is the name is spelled the same. Not sure if that would stop me from buying but the price sure would.

There is no Winchester company today, it's a brand name only that's licensed by Browning from Olin Corp to allow the parent company FN to use the brand on firearms sourced in various countries and to import foreign-made guns via Browning for marketing here.

Today, unless politics absolutely compels you to avoid something, you buy what you find is a quality-made item that meets your needs or desires & that you're willing to pay for, regardless of point of origin or "name".

Winchester ads will occasional refer to a long line of history in some models, and FN has no connection with that history beyond initially buying the old USRAC plant several years ago & running it with Winchester-branded models until the facility deteriorated to the point where it was no longer financially feasible to keep it operating.

Even when USRAC was actually a stand-alone company, before being to sold to GIAT who then sold to FN, it was using the Winchester name under license from Olin Corp.

Browning is another company that had no real connection to John Browning.
Formed after his death.
Browning today outsources all production. ALL production.

No real point in getting hung up on ads or who's really connected to who.
If the product's good, you want it or need it, and you're willing to fork out the cash, you buy it.
Those should be the primary considerations.
Denis

Well, I'll just stick to my original hardware...

StrawHat said:

Winchester firearms are made all over the world now. The only connection with the original company is the name is spelled the same...

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Well of course that's right. ANYONE can lease the "Winchester" name from the bank that manages it. Look at the peg-boarded Chinese knives in the outdoor section at WalMart.

And Springfield was a "family owned" business!?

What has the shooting sports community come to -- so many people here with so much to say that is simply so wrong.

Well, considering that GM cars & truck parts are made in foreign countries, what a guy gonna do?

Same for half the old American brand electronic & appliance products.

Sometimes I think this whole "Globalization" thing sucks.

Nice to look at, but how nice to hold with no wood forearm when the barrel heats up?

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Howdy

I can answer that question. I only shoot my Uberti Henry with Black Powder, it has never seen any Smokeless loads after leaving the proof house in Italy. Black Powder burns hotter than Smokeless. As far as how hot it gets, it depends on the weather. The barrel does tend to heat up. After ten rounds rapid fire, on a cool fall day it is still comfortable to hold bare handed.




But in the middle of July, when the gun is already 90+ degrees, I wear a glove on my left hand to keep from getting burned.



Regarding Winchester et al and whether or not they are still the original company they started out as, at least with Winchester and Colt and Remington and Smith and Wesson, there is legitimate continuous historical traceability in their paperwork over the years. They may not be the same companies they started out as, but there has been an orderly, easily documented corporate history for all of them. The Henry Repeating Arms Company, on the other hand, has no historical connection whatsoever to the original Volcanic or New Haven Arms Company that produced the original Henry rifle, despite the fact that their misleading advertising alludes to that assumption. The Henry name was in public domain, and they simply adopted it knowing that the public would make an incorrect assumption.

So coming up with Springfield Armory (and a logo with arsenal tab design and a military fatigue-hat-wearing shooter) as well as leasing the name Winchester or Colt ("Henry" made the Colt Black Powder Series too), and let's not forget Lake City, is somehow morally superior to Henry (a name that was abandoned a century ago) today? I don't see them trying to confuse anyone proactively at all by the way. I see people confusing themselves, but...

That's still some interesting, subjective, anti-Henry backed-into logic right there.

I don't see them trying to confuse anyone proactively at all by the way. I see people confusing themselves, but...

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If you don't think their advertising is misleading, read their 'history' page. There is such a thing as lying by omission. They even have the gall to call the old photo of the New Haven Arms Company, the 'original Henry factory', leaving the uninformed reader to make the association. Yes, I am very prejudiced against them, because of their misleading advertising. I am very happy with my Uberti replica Henry, the Henry Repeating Arms Company will never see one red cent of my money.

Winchester hasn't been a Winchester company for decades.
The Winchester guns haven't been made in an original Winchester plant for quite a while.
They are not now made by a Winchester company.
They are now made in several places by people with no connection to Winchester whatever beyond the name & the basic designs.

One COULD say the current Winchester leverguns made in Japan are every bit as much clones as the Brazilian & Italian leverguns are, aside from the name.

Marlin changed hands more than once before Freedom Group bought it.
Currently new owners, new plant, new state, new workers, no connection whatever to the original company.

Colt has spun off from Colt Industries & has a convoluted ownership now, not in the original factory.

The Imperatos who brought you the current Henrys also brought you Colt-marked percussion revolvers.

The "new" Merwin Hulbert company that failed so dismally had no relation to the original Merwin Hulbert company, but people were lining up for those.

Springfield Armory, as mentioned, has no connection to the original.

Henry's ads may claim a relationship to the original guns, which does annoy some, but I'd judge more on quality than name if I was interested in their products.


Nice rifle, by the way, DJ.
Looks good on you.
Denis

Clones are clones. The Henrys are clones. And the people who aren't bright enough to realize that the current "Henry" isn't related in any way to the original Henry (which was actually more of a Winchester) aren't bright enough to care anyhow.

My issue with them, although they are American made and I'm happy for that, is that they're just too damn pricey. I could track down two used Marlin 1894's, maybe even three, for the MSRP of one Henry Henry (yep, I said it twice and I meant it).

I think it's a great step for Henry to make Henrys. The folks who are ragging about it seem to be the ones who were ragging when there were no plans for Henry to make Henrys.

The folks who are ragging about it seem to be the ones who were ragging when there were no plans for Henry to make Henrys.

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You're absolutely correct. I hated the Big Boy long before plans were announced to make a Henry replica. I think it is butt ugly and I would never buy one of them either.

The Henry Repeating Arms Company, on the other hand, has no historical connection whatsoever to the original Volcanic or New Haven Arms Company that produced the original Henry rifle, despite the fact that their misleading advertising alludes to that assumption. The Henry name was in public domain, and they simply adopted it knowing that the public would make an incorrect assumption.

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That's how I look at it.

Gripe, gripe, gripe.

I have met owners of Henry 22LR’s, handled the rifles, the owners were happy and the rifles well built.

If this is an American made version of the original 44 rimfire Henry, made to a high quality level, in a better caliber (44-40), then hat’s off to the Henry Company.

I wish them luck.

Y'know- I'd conjecture that 90% of the people who buy Henry rifles have never heard of either B. Tyler or the original Henry rifle.
We here are only a small percentage of the gun-buying world at large.
Most of Henry's customer base is a don't know/don't care deal.
They're just looking for a gun.
Denis

You're probably right, Denis, as usual.

And....check's in the mail, as usual.
Thanks for the support.
Denis

Work at a place that sells Hernys. Golden Boys, Big Boys all wery nice and snooth rifles and very popular. Henrys are best seller, can't keep them in stock.
They are far nicer and smoother than Marlins and Rossi's

True, Winchester isn’t really Winchester anymore. Marlin isn’t Marlin. Springfield Armory is just a name that the owner just dug up out of the past, ect, ect. Many of today's gun buyers and enthusiasts do not realize that several of the great American arms companies had already changed hands once or even twice by the middle of the 20th century. Many other gun buyers don’t really care.

However, what Henry Repeating Arms is doing is very different from today’s Winchester or Springfield. Their advertising and marketing isn’t just misleading as others have pointed out, HRA has repeatedly claimed a connection where none exists which is an outright lie. Apparently, they assume that most gun buyers are too ignorant to know any better or too apathetic to care. And, judging by their company’s growth maybe they were right. Anyway, at least the lineages of the other companies can be easily traced back to the originals. Springfield Armory for one doesn’t actually claim any actual connection with the original and even provides a little information on the real history of the Armory.

As far as Henry’s products are concerned I have never been a fan. Their 22’s lever guns are serviceable but aren’t built to the same standards as the Marlins, Brownings and Winchesters, which, if cared for, will last several lifetimes. The Big Boys are nicely finished but overweight, boxy and have that silly (read cheap) tube mag loading. The bolts on their newer line of lever actions look suspiciously Marlin-like. Nevertheless, I applaud Henry Repeating Arms for finally bringing out an American made reproduction of the Henry rifle. Now, if they would just stop lying to all of us in their advertising I might buy one…. But, until then I’m fine with Uberti…. at half the price…

Work at a place that sells Hernys. Golden Boys, Big Boys all wery nice and snooth rifles and very popular. Henrys are best seller, can't keep them in stock.
They are far nicer and smoother than Marlins and Rossi's

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I don't find that at all and the Big Boy is 2lbs heavier than it needs to be.

I'm not interested in a new Henry (except maybe the .22 Mag pump-action rifle); I already own an orignal and a Navy Arms replica. But people who own them, and I know quite a few, LOVE them. Swear they are the smoothest rifles made. OK

I think Lou Imperato supplied the Henry's to the 7th Illinois and paid for them out of his own pocket as a contribution in the War of the Rebellion.

They're perceived as smooth because they're loose. Very little contact surface where the bolt rides in the frame. Take apart a Winchester 94/22 and a Henry and compare them side by side. The difference is huge. The Winchester is smooth because it's finely fitted and finished on the inside. Its massive milled steel bolt is polished smooth and is well fitted within the receiver. The Henry feels smooth because they're sloppy.

Henry for bragging rights, are stating their Henry rifle, like the original, will have the difficult to manufacture one piece barrel and magazine. It is my understanding the Uberti version is a welded two piece affair.

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That is incorrect. The barrel and magazine on the Uberti replica of the Henry rifle is machined from one solid piece of bar stock. I have a reference somewhere, that I cannot put my hands on right now. It describes how Aldo Uberti and Val Forgett Jr, the founder of Navy Arms, worked together to perfect the Uberti Henry replica. The machining operation leaves two straight 'fins' protruding below the barrel. The fins are then rounded over on a mandrel to form the slotted magazine, pretty much the same way it was done on the originals.

For what it's worth, the Henry is a heavy rifle, owing to the fact that the barrel and magazine are machined from one solid piece of steel. Going to a tubular magazine with the 1866 model reduced weight and simplified manufacturing. My 44-40 24" barreled Henry weighs a full pound more than my Uberti 1873 replica that also sports a 24" 44-40 barrel.