GunTalk-Online.com

HENRY LEVER ACTION RIFLES
Hello shooting friends! I was recently interested in obtaining a nice lever action rifle, so I thought about a Henry after obtaining one of their free brochures that they offered on the television (by the way, they also have a website for free catalog ordering: http://www.henryrepeating.com/catalog.cfm). First, I wanted to see what my fellow shooters out there thought of them. After researching several forums, I found out what people had to say about them. To my dismay, I read that they use “plastic” parts to hold the front barrel wood on and also use “plastic” sights. This really dimmed my lights (and my sights!). I thought…who would want a rifle that is held together by “plastic” and even sighted using “plastic” that could melt, bend or crack. That is not my idea of quality at all. However, the rifles really looked nice and the prices were very reasonable, so I decided to contact the company to inquire if they sold replacement components that were actually made of metal. Well, the answer came back that they do have replacement parts available. This is what I was told: Consumers can order metal barrel bands (Part # HL2229 for $3.50) and metal front sight (Part # HL2231 for $10.00) plus $7.50 shipping by calling toll free 866-200-2354. Additionally, all of their rifles are now equipped with metal bands and metal sights! Just in case anyone is interested, they also sent me some following info to digest. The exact points that they made to me were:
1. All Henry H001 series rifles now come with metal barrel bands and metal front sights.
2. All Henry Golden Boy rifles now come with brass barrel band and are all pre-drilled and tapped for easy scope mounting.
3. All Henry Big Boy rifles now come pre-drilled and tapped.
4. The Henry H009 steel round barrel 30-30 now features the XS Ghost Ring sight system, has checkered stock with rubber butt pad, swivels and has been reduced in weight down to 7 pounds.
I don’t want to sound like an advertiser for them, I just thought it be proper that I should share any info that I received to prevent those interested in these guns from being misled like I was initially. Guess what? I ordered one of their lever action carbines! And it's MADE IN AMERICA! What a great rifle for the price! The receiver is grooved for dovetail rings so I ordered the best-made pair that I could find. I chose the BSA brand that allows you to view the iron sights below the scope, and I am currently waiting for a NcStar scope. In case you’re interested, I also found 22 cal.short ammo “by the brick” at a really great price from http://www.midwayusa.com. Now I can plink, plink, plink till my heart’s content, or hunt till my freezer is full! SHOOT ON BROTHER!
PS: The next neat rifle that has caught my roving eye is Henry’s pump action gallery style 22. It reminds me of the good old boardwalk days! Gotta git me one!

Welcome to GunTalk-Online.

Several of our members have these Henry rifles and have sung their praises.

R,
Bullseye

Have had one of them plastic part Henry's for a few years now and never have had any problems with the plastic parts. Also have a Remington Nylon 66 with a lot more plastic parts and damn few metal one and it still works fine also. If plastic was not any good, Glock would have gone out of business years ago. Probably half of the LEO's in the US carry a plastic pistol of none manufacture or another. By the way, shorts are not that inexpensicve you can buy CCI Blazer in .22LR for less money. By the way here is a pic of a target I shot rested at 25 yard with that Henry with the plastic parts.

Looks like Henry is improving the product.

Some parts, like the sights, are better in steel. Still an excellent, fun little rifle, tupperware parts or not.

I use mine with plastic parts to shoot 1/2L plastic bottles off the target frame out to ~50 meters. Further requires a bigger target or an upgrade to a peep.
So far I just have the lever carbine, I just ordered a H001ML model to match it.

I've been wanting better sights for a while ... maybe I'll order the upgraded ones, if I don't like them I at least have spares to tinker with.

I'm curious ... if you're putting on an optic, why do you care about the iron sights? I'm sure your scope will be more delicate than the plastic sights.

Absolutely right, but if I decide to use the sights, I'd prefer the option of shooting "iron sights."

bigfatdave wrote:I use mine with plastic parts to shoot 1/2L plastic bottles off the target frame out to ~50 meters. Further requires a bigger target or an upgrade to a peep.
So far I just have the lever carbine, I just ordered a H001ML model to match it.

I've been wanting better sights for a while ... maybe I'll order the upgraded ones, if I don't like them I at least have spares to tinker with.

I'm curious ... if you're putting on an optic, why do you care about the iron sights? I'm sure your scope will be more delicate than the plastic sights.

I put the .22 dovetail mount version of this on my Henry. My eyes don't do "buckhorn" style sights anymore. This low peep with screw out appeture works well. http://www.williamsgunsight.com/gunsights/wgrs.htm and is adjustable for both windage and elevation

I have a WGRS54 with a peep and/or a blade mounted on my H001 but mostly I use a 3 to 9 scope on it. But it does shoot well with the peep or the blade once you have them dialed in. I did alter the front sight to use a Williams firesight for added visibility.

That WGRS dovetail mount might be a winner, are you using it with the factory front sight? If so I need to order one ASAP.

I've been looking for a rear that would let me use the front for a while, because the front looks hard to change out, in a perfect world Tech-Sights would have a product set out for the Henry H001__ series the same way they do for my Ruger 10/22 carbines, MrsBFD's Ruger mini-14, and my SKS ... maybe I should EMail them and ask, customer demand was what got them making mini-14 rear sights, after all.

bigfatdave wrote:That WGRS dovetail mount might be a winner, are you using it with the factory front sight? If so I need to order one ASAP.

I've been looking for a rear that would let me use the front for a while, because the front looks hard to change out, in a perfect world Tech-Sights would have a product set out for the Henry H001__ series the same way they do for my Ruger 10/22 carbines, MrsBFD's Ruger mini-14, and my SKS ... maybe I should EMail them and ask, customer demand was what got them making mini-14 rear sights, after all.

No BFD, you have to replace the front sight with something taller, not a hard job though. You have to remove the front sight band and alter it as it is also the front mag tube support, re-tap the front sight hole in the barrel from a #5 to a # 6-48. Then you alter the barrel band and tap it for a setscrew, slightly alter a Williams shorty ramp and install a Williams firesight of the proper height. Will e mail you some pictures.

bigfatdave wrote:That WGRS dovetail mount might be a winner, are you using it with the factory front sight? If so I need to order one ASAP.

I've been looking for a rear that would let me use the front for a while, because the front looks hard to change out, in a perfect world Tech-Sights would have a product set out for the Henry H001__ series the same way they do for my Ruger 10/22 carbines, MrsBFD's Ruger mini-14, and my SKS ... maybe I should EMail them and ask, customer demand was what got them making mini-14 rear sights, after all.

No BFD, you have to replace the front sight with something taller, not a hard job though. You have to remove the front sight band and alter it as it is also the front mag tube support, re-tap the front sight hole in the barrel from a #5 to a # 6-48. Then you alter the barrel band and tap it for a setscrew, slightly alter a Williams shorty ramp and install a Williams firesight of the proper height. Will e mail you some pictures.

Welcome aboard and thanks for then write up. I found it pretty durn interesting.

Y

Welcome Mercedes! Nice write up with good information. When I first bought my HENRY I loved the rifle, but had a block about the "plastic" parts. I researched the two parts and armed with the numbers/price called HENRY with credit card in hand to order the metal versions which still in my mind made the rifle an excellent value. The service rep took my address and said that the parts would come out that day at no charge. So, soon I had my all metal HENRY and to my dismay I couldn't tell any visual or performance difference I shoot mine with a Millet compact red dot in Burris quick release rimfire rings, but I seldom use the irons. Regards