Home Forums Lever Action Central Big Bore Levers Henry 45/70

Anybody have one, if so how do you like it? I shoot mostly cast bullets in my lever guns and tend to alloy them on the softer side. The Henry tube feed design would facilitate less wear/tear overall with easier loading and unloading vs a guide gun.

Cannot comment on the 45.70 but one of the guys at camp got one in .44 mag that he uses for deer. He loads the 240's up to about 1800 FPS with H110 and it seems to work well.

I shot it a couple of times and it functioned flawlessly. Accuracy was about 3 inches at 100 yards, plenty good for deer. OK rifle, fit and finish was good but it seemed kinda gaudy to me.

I agree it's a tad "gaudy"in design but the mechanics of the tubular mag is a plus for my SOP..Cabelas has one so I'll be off this weekend to have a look see...TNX

Love mine, works flawlessly with cast 405s or SJSP's. Quick handling and the .45-70 will take down anything in North America. Not to mention Henry has the best warranty and customer service should you ever need to use it. The newer models come with a semi-buckhorn rear sight set up while the older models, that you can still get NIB have a ghost ring peep. Check em both if you can. I was not a fan of the peep even after changing apertures but it worked well for me in quick close work. Well made, can't go wrong buying ne.

Just bought a Henry my self it seems to work really well fit and finish are nice and shoots good to.

Yes I have one and I like it a lot. But if you're in the market you should be aware of a design flaw regarding the tubular magazine. The muzzle end of it has a notch that holds a pin in the push rod, just like their lighter caliber rifles. Under the recoil of a .45-70 the tube is too light and the pin will push it's way through that notch and cause it the end of the tube to buckle.

This happened to me the second time to the range using mild hand loads. I found out that's a common problem with the Henry .45-70. I sent it back to their factory and they repaired it and shipped it back in a total of three weeks.

The original had an aperture rear site. They took it off and replaced it with a semi-buckhorn receiver site that's actually pretty good. I'm not sure why they did that, because it really didn't pertain to the fix.

For the fix, they replaced the magazine tube and the notch that the rod pin is held in now is part of a barrel band that holds the barrel and the magazine tube together. It's a good design and I have no worries that it will happen again. So if you find one at your gun dealer, and it has a aperture site instead of a semi-buckhorn, you will have to send it back to Henry for the modification. The newer Henrys, like you'll now see on their website, have the design modification I'm talking about.

Happy Birthday, McInnis!

How is the strength of the action compared to the 1895?

I think their actions are comparable in strength to Marlins. I've been reloading for my Henry for a few months now and have used loads designed for Marlins without any problems. For example, I've used 60 guns of IMR3031 with 300 grn JHP bullets and recorded about 2020 fps, and 58 grns 350 gun cast bullets (about 1800 fps). Neither of these loads are max according to Hodgon's reloading manual, but they're enough for me.

Thanks

I have one and really like it a lot. Fit and finish are great with some super wood. I shot a big doe with mine Saturday and she was dead in less than 45 yards with a. Massive blood trail.

Shot a good sized buck last year with the same gun and first shot through the lungs he ran 25 yards and tail flickered like crazy. When he started his death run, I shot him in the front shoulder and looked like he was hit with the hammer of Thor.

Best of luck with the new gun!