Henry Long Ranger in 556

Got one in 243. Been very happy with it so far. Action and trigger are good but I'm pretty easily satisfied as long as I'm not pulling thru gravel so take my opinion for what you will. Accuracy is limited by the mid level scope I have on it but has gotten the job done on all the deer I've used it on. The finish on my is very nice and it always is a head turner whenever I bring it out at deer camp or the range. Does lead to great conversations about how there are lever guns with detachable magazines and other uncommon design pairings.

I had to look it up Henry's website. I was surprised at the stubby barrel. It might be somrthing to consider if the AR haters get their way.

I've only gotten the chance to handle one in the store, but the action and trigger are certainly good enough for casual range and hunting use.

It's the difficulty of disassembly that has me wary of them.

I have a Long Ranger in the OP's caliber, and I like it very much. My only caveat is the limited magazine capacity, and extended magazines are a no-go due to the overcenter lever throw getting in the way. I'm sure he already knows that, and if that's not a factor then I can heartily recommend the Long Ranger in .223 / 5.56. I've added a scope since this insurance photo was taken:

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The action is smooth if properly lubed, and you might need to do some fine polishing where it rides over the top of the hammer. Accuracy with a scope is great. The iron sights leave something to be desired, but I don't use them anyway. I know there's been some negativity posted here in other threads about this rifle's accuracy, so I'd just say that this is a rifle that benefits from proper barrel break-in. If you don't want to disassemble it for cleaning you will have to clean the bore from the muzzle, so have the proper equipment to do it that way. Though I suppose a bore snake is OK for minor routine bore maintenance.

I would be all in if it came chambered for .270 Win. I just don't want to start reloading another caliber.

NorthBorder said:

I would be all in if it came chambered for .270 Win. I just don't want to start reloading another caliber.[/QUOTE}
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270 is the greatest caliber of all time for every single application. No i will not elaborate . But im in the same boat there

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Pistolpositive said:

Kind of curious as to how much kick you have with the 243 as compared to say an AR15. I would guess the 243 has more kick.

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Yeah it is more kick than a 223 but also based off a 308 case. Still in the very mild range and certainly well suited for the slower rate of fire a manually operated rifle lends itself to compared to a semi.

I think you'll be happy with it, and especially for that asking price. I paid a premium for mine in Dec 2020, when it was still a "hot" new item and hard to find - $1225, then plus sling and scope, and couldn't get extra mags for about three or four months. So you're doing just fine now. But ... I'm a Henry fan boy, so take it from that POV.

@Pistolpositive which model are you looking at? Henry has the standard, a couple of engraved, and the new express model.

Pistolpositive said:

Won't know until this afternoon when I make the drive to Menard to possibly purchase it. ....

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Wow, I didn't know Menard's sold guns. I didn't think they were even particularly gun friendly. None of the local stores here even carry so much as ammo and supplies.

I’ve always associated leverguns with proper levergun cartridges, so the BLR, Marlin Express rifles, and these Henry Long Rangers just don’t appeal to me. If I could pick one up around price parity with a similarly performing bolt gun, I MIGHT, in a fit of whimsy, buy a bottleneck cartridge levergun, but even as someone with scopes and red dots on almost all of my leverguns, I just can’t convince myself to like these. On its face, within the market, I can’t decide if it’s a more expensive low performance rifle, or a lower performing expensive rifle… A rifle with equivalent accuracy can be bought much cheaper, and other rifles of its price point can have far greater accuracy expectation… I have a lot of whimsy in defining “ideal firearms” for my varying applications of interest, but the bottleneck cartridge levergun, eh, I just can’t get there… Among that class, assuredly the Henry holds its own; a better value than BLR and more logistically sensible than the Marlin Express rifles. I just like the idea keeping or redeploying $1,000 a lot more than I like the idea of having a Long Ranger.

Varminterror said:

I’ve always associated leverguns with proper levergun cartridges,.....

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So in other words you just can't see a levergun that shoots a pointy bullet from a centerfire cartridge, eh? What other atrocities might out-of-the-box thinking come up with next!?!? (Just teasing ... a little ....)

OMG - somebody wants a 9 mm lever action carbine!?!?!? (gargle gargle)

https://huntingheart.com/are-there-any-9mm-lever-action-rifles/

(Actually, I like 9mm carbines, and I like lever action rifles. I bet if Henry made a lever action 9mm I'd buy it!!)

A 9mm levergun is much, much more easy for me to get behind than a 223 or 243 levergun.

Varminterror said:

A 9mm levergun is much, much more easy for me to get behind than a 223 or 243 levergun.

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Well, OK, truth be told I sometimes second-guess myself and think maybe I should have got the Long Ranger in 6.5 Creedmore. Oh, well, I'm happy with it now, anyway. Might have to get something else in 6.5 CM, though ....

It sounds interesting, but I'll stick with my Mossberg MVP. That or the Ruger American in that caliber have great results in accuracy downrange as well as in lesser financial damage when purchased.

wiscoaster said:

So in other words you just can't see a levergun that shoots a pointy bullet from a centerfire cartridge, eh? What other atrocities might out-of-the-box thinking come up with next!?!? (Just teasing ... a little ....)

OMG - somebody wants a 9 mm lever action carbine!?!?!? (gargle gargle)

https://huntingheart.com/are-there-any-9mm-lever-action-rifles/

(Actually, I like 9mm carbines, and I like lever action rifles. I bet if Henry made a lever action 9mm I'd buy it!!)

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Varminterror said:

A 9mm levergun is much, much more easy for me to get behind than a 223 or 243 levergun.

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The only levergun I get behind fires pointy bullets of the .243 variety-

If Savage brought back the 99 in .223 (or .22lr), Id whip out my wallet so fast, it would catch fire.
That Long Ranger is a beauty, though!

Be sure to post pics!!