Lever guns - hating on Henry

[oldfortyfiveauto]

Quote:

The rifle itself (22LR versions) are not made out of Zamak or an alloy, the receiver is made out of steel but the receiver covers are made out of Zamak and durability has never been an issue.
All wrong. The receiver is made from Zamak, i.e. pot metal. The receiver cover is painted aluminum stamped sheetmetal. And that is only the rimfire version so it's really irrelevant to this discussion.

I've owned an Iver Johnson TP22 since the early 80's. It has a "pot metal" receiver and slide. Gun probably has 10,000 rounds through it and is still pretty much like new. In my past engineering life we used Zamak for heavy duty door pivots and they outperformed the older steel ones. In a good design Zamak is great. In a bad design nothing is worth a @#$%.

 

[Speedo66]

The half-cock safety is fine.

May go off if you drop your gun? Do you know what used to happen in army basic if you dropped your gun?

Do not drop your gun.

Do you know what used to happened in army basic if you called your rifle your "gun"?

To the poster who recommended a rifle in .44-40, no good for hunting in OH. Must be a straight walled cartridge, and on the list of prescribed cartridges. .44-40 is neither.

Two factors turned me towards a Rossi .357 for hunting. The 2 lbs . lighter weight, and the several hundred dollars less cost. I'm sure there's nothing wrong with the Henry, but 2 extra lbs. carried all day becomes a burden. Several hundreds of dollars will buy lots of ammo and accessories.

 

[entropy]

The alternative construction methods in the rimfire leverguns is a big obstacle for many.
In my experience, they work far more often than they don't work.

Some mistakenly think the centerfires use those same construction materials, which they don't.
In my experience, they work far more often than they don't work.

Others dislike the company's claimed association with the original Henry rifles.
In my experience, they work far more often than they don't work.

Some can't get around the tube loading.
In my experience, they work far more often than they don't work.

Denis

Not exactly high praise. A firearm should work 100% of the time, especially a lever, which is not very ammo dependant.

That said, I'd like to try one of the .30-30 they are making in Rice Lake, WI-right up the road from me.

 

[200Apples]

Don McDowell

I don't care much for their centefire models, but those little lever 22's are a terrific rifle for little money.

Agreed. I have the H001M; a sweet-shooting, smooth-cycling little .22 magnum. While it is not as nicely-made as a Miroku Browning or earlier Marlin, it is lightweight, handles nicely and hits what I point it at.

I wouldn't consider a larger-bore Henry for reasons already mentioned in this thread but primarily due to the fact that I already have the .44 and .357 and .30-30 covered in the form of Browning, Marlin and Winchester.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

I handled one of their 22 versions and liked it but couldn't get past it not being a steel frame. To me that was the thing that bothered me. I don't hate the Henry's. If you like their 357 version I say go for it. For your purposes, the tube fed part will be just fine.

 

[pirkfan]

Have a Henry 357 and a Rossi 357 and 45 LC. First Henry had a problem, took it back to the LGS where I purchased it, they sent it in to Henry and they sent a new rifle, and very quickly. I'm not sure what I'd have had to do if the problem had been with a Rossi, but it would be hard to beat that service. The replacement is a thing of beauty, and functions perfectly with every load I've tried. Only complaint is the weight. The Rossi .357 16 inch carbine weighs 4.8 lbs, the Henry weighs 8.7 lbs. Henry is very accurate and the weight negates some bad trigger techniques. The Rossi's are very accurate also.

Rossi gets some bad press, but both of mine (after an initial disassembly and cleaning) have been great right out of the box, function with all ammo I've tried including semi-wadcutter hand loads. If I was going to pack one around all day, it'd be the Rossi 357, and for a lot less money. For plinking, they're all good.

 

[Guns&Religion]

To the Op.

I think I should chime in on this thread, because in February of this year recently purchased a Henry Big Boy in .357.

I really like the look of the gun, and the feel of it when it shoots (in .357 it's quite pleasant, you can shoot it all day long, even "Buffalo Bore" rounds do not kick very much, though they are loud). Though the feel of it when you carry it get's old, because it is heavy at 8 lbs.

I had the lever jamming problem, as well as a bad tube magazine that had issues if you loaded more than six rounds. While this annoyed me, when I sent the rifle back to the factory, they fixed the issues well and fixed the scratches in the brass receiver and re-blued the bolt.

I'm quite happy with the rifle now. The only downsides to it are the weight, the fact that the brass receiver scratches easy, and the fact that it's finicky about 38 special ammo (which I don't shoot often anyway).

If you are taking the rifle into the field, the steel receiver is probably a good choice.

 

[shafter]

I think the Henry's are ugly and don't even closely resemble anything historical. I also take strong issue with their claim to be a direct descendent of the original Henry company. I'd never buy one.

 

[DPris]

Entropy,
My point was that they do work.

You'll see the occasional Internet gripe about a problem with a Henry, but you can find that about most makers.

Henry today offers a far wider range of price levels, models, and configurations, than any other levergun manufacturer.

They're expanding steel models, and they do have a good rep for customer service if needed.

They're also far more traditional in appearance than the much-vaunted Savage leverguns of the past, same for Ruger's abortive attempts at a levergun line.
And- who says they have to be historic recreations?

As working tools & recreational devices, they're selling a bunch.
Denis

 

[Malamute]

I'm more of a traditionalist, my taste runs more towards Winchesters. Denis has enough experience with the Henry's to offer good advice if they appeal to you.

I believe the 22's with the receiver cover are the basic old Ithaca 22 lever action. It seems to fill a niche in the 22 market. Hard to beat the price and general functional utility of them.

The OP mentioned it was hard to top off his Winchester I believe. A little work on the back of the loading gate (spring cover in factory terminolgy) can help that. All the older 94's I've had and used were slick as can be to top off at any point. I've polished the rib and bevel on the back of later ones and got them to load much easier.

 

[Hastings]

I like Henry rimfire rifles. They are what a rimfire levergun should be in my book - light, slick, and as reliable as the ammo I feed them.

I dislike Henry centerfire rifles. I find them to be far too heavy, awkwardly balanced, and ugly, when compared to the Winchester or Rossi M92. The M92 is a perfect rifle for carrying in the woods. The Henry is better suited to shooting from a rest due to the balance and weight. It's too bad they didn't shoot for the same qualities in the centerfire rifles that they did in the rimfires.

My order of choice for a pistol cartridge levergun would be:

1 Rossi or Winchester M92
2 Marlin 1894
3 Winchester M94
4 Ruger M96

The Henry rifles have zero appeal to me, especially the brass versions.

If a levergun is going to be heavier than a 92 or 94, I'd choose a Marlin 1895 45-70, or more likely a Savage 99 in 308, 300 Savage, or 243. At least in these cases the extra weight equates to more range or power than the lighter rifles offer.

I have no experience with Henry service, as both of my rimfire rifles work fine. I don't really like the non-conventional receiver material/design, but it works fine in the small cartridges.

 

[Don McDowell]

The historical aspect is a puzzling one especially if you spend any time looking at some of the different lever actions that were available in the mid/late 1800's. Savage's model 95 actually hit the shelves before the Winchester 94... Tube magazines? ever looked at how the original volcanic and Henry's were loaded?

 

[SlayerOfBunnies]

I really appreciate all the advice and feedback. As it happens, I went a somewhat different direction and bought a Ruger 77/357.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Zamack alloy has estabished standards for quality and strength.

Classic "pot metal" has no quality standards at all. (Think cap guns.)

Just because it is white metal, does not make it pot metal.

 

[Fork]

The actions on the .22s are very smooth. Lack of a loading gate on a centerfire models is a deal breaker for me though. I'd rather get an used Connecticut made Marlin or a Winchester for centerfire calibers.

 

[eastbank]

in the last three weeks i have seem several pre-64, 30-30-32,s special winchesters and several older marlin 336,s in 30-30 and one in .35 rem. at local flea markets. they were used, but all in very good condition from 375.00-550.00 as i didn,t need them and i migrate to alot older levers i i didn,t buy them. but for me thats what i would look for in a centerfire lever action rifle, before buying a henry. eastbank.

 

[GooseGestapo]

My hang up with Henry's are the plastic front-sight/barrel-bands.
I had a .22mag I won in a pistol match. Accuracy stunk. 3"+ at 50yds, assorted ammo.(my Rem-597 will shoot 1-1.5" at 100yds.

I handled a Henry .30/30 in a shop this past week. Had A/O rear aperture sight (nice)!
Plastic front sight/barrel band (crap!!!)
Like putting cheap trailer tires on a Charger RT! Makes no sense!

Too many good Marlin M336's still around for such junk, IMO.
There was a Marlin 1895 in .45/70 (JM, w/microgroove bbl) next to it for $1.00 less!
No comparison!
And down the road 3 miles at AcademySports, the had a brand new M1895 for $50 LESS!
And it didn't look or feel any different than a new Marlin 20 yrs ago. Except for the "PHAATT" stocks.

 

[DPris]

The Henry .30-30 I had here had a steel barrel band/front sight.
Did you check it with a magnet, or just assume it was plastic because of the way it looked?
Those units look different from more conventional sights, but they are not plastic.
Have not asked, but I suspect the fronts are MIM, which could explain the contours.

I have a .45-70 Henry here with the same AO sights.
Very definitely steel.
Denis

 

[gunnerh]

I picked up an almost new Henry .22 mag pump gun while looking for a Browning or Winchester pump or lever. After 500 rounds I have stopped looking. Great shooting little rifle. I have no trigger time with the centerfires but they seem heavy.

 

[Jason_W]

It seems like no matter the make and model of firearm, you're going to get at least a few rants about what a POS it is.

These are all mass produced products. No matter the price point, at least some lemons are bound to come off the line. It doesn't matter if you dropped $3K or $400, there is some chance you'll get a junker. The make or break, then, is the lengths the company will go through to remedy the problem.

 

[DM~]

I haven't seen plastic sights and bbl bands on Henry for a several years now, since they switched them to all steel.

My OLD Henry 22 has the plastic, and it's been beat on like no other gun that I own, as it stays on my ATV and is my "beater" 22.... The plastic sight and bbl band are still just fine, still working like they were new! I could replace them with steel, but why would I ?, it would just be more work keeping the steel ones rust free?

I've made some surprising long shots with that 22 and it's plastic sight!

DM

 

[DPris]

To the best of my knowledge, Henry only used plastic front sights on the bottom-of-the-line rimfires, and those were switched to steel a while back.

I've had several Henrys here, have never seen plastic on a centerfire.
I think Goose was mistaken.

I also don't know how old the Marlin .45-70 mentioned was, but the 1895s have used Ballard rifling for some years now.
Denis

 

[Milkmaster]

I have had good success with my Henry Golden Boy in 22WMR. I can shoot a one inch group of 3 shots with open sights at 50 yards. It surprised me as much as others with me at the time. I don't know about other distances. That is the only range I have set up to shoot for now. Never had a jam I remember. For my .357 needs I bought a Uberti 1873 clone just because a guy needed money and offered me a deal on it. Before that I planned to buy the Henry. Looking at the Bog Boy Steel in 44mag for a future possibility.

 

[BCRider]

.... Before that I planned to buy the Henry. Looking at the Bog Boy Steel in 44mag for a future possibility.

Hey Milkmaster, please don't give the haters any more fuel, eh?

I know it was just a finger slip but it hit my funny bone and I couldn't let it pass by....

 

[DPris]

Update on the Henry .30-30 & .45-70 steel models: The company is dropping the AO sights & going with the same buck & bead as on the brass models.
Just FYI.
Denis