Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General Henry gripe...

Is it just me, or does everything Henry make look like a bad Chinese imitation of a lever gun? I really want to like them, and am glad they're made in USA, but good grief they're ugly and clunky looking as sin. Did they hire hipoint designers? I get the 'origin' and the original, but if you're gonna market as 'modern' sporting arms also, maybe get past the cowboy action imitation looks.

Lever guns are so classic it's hard to like anything we're not used to.

With the exception of the "Golden Boy" series, the rimfires look just like the Ithaca model 72 "saddle guns" from the '60's and '70's, which they essentially are. Not bad looking if you ask me and not too different in profile from the Winchester 9422. As for the centerfires, the steel frame "Big Boy" carbines don't look too bad but the rest are kinda funky. I'll probably pick up one of their .22's at some point but will stick with my beloved Winchesters and JM Marlins for my centerfire needs.

ALL my Lever guns....Marlins, Winchesters, Brownings, and Savages (even) look assembled instead of cobbled together....it's lines, edges, colors, metal and wood....sorry, the whole Henry line (aside from a couple of 22s I'll give a pass), just look horrible and cheap to me. I've been running lever guns for nearly 40 years, to include some made 100years before that, and I just can't stomach the looks of most anything Henry. It's not even necessarily a 'classical' issue, as I think BLRs and 88s look just fine. I will admit that 99s aren't very appealing, to me....they still look strange and aren't the 'bestest' in any way, over others....TO ME....but they're well built, and maybe Henry's are at least made well, even if they don't look it? I figured others must have a vastly different view of them, or else they'd change or go under. Just verifying that.

Different strokes for different folks I guess. BLR's, Win. 88's and Savage 99's look goofy as hell to me and always have. The steel frame Henry big boys I looked at the other day were better fitted/finished than my Winchesters and Marlins. I'm pretty good at judging that, beings how I build guns 5 days a week myself. It's more from a mechanical design/engineering point of view that I think the classic Winchesters and Marlins have it all over the Henrys. I'm basing that opinion simply on the number of Henrys I've seen and read about that have feeding and/or ejection issues.

I've only owned one. A Big Boy Steel in .357 magnum. Well made and accurate. Just as nice if not more so than any other lever rifle I've ever owned, and I've pretty much ran most all of them.

Maybe its the lack of the side loading gate that makes them seem different. Doesn't bother me, they're built well.





105 Yards

Actually, I could agree with some dislike on looks for the BLR or 88....except they both have performance/design attributes that make them 'beautiful', vs the older designs. Whether those attributes are enough to make them purty, is a personal thing. The 99 doesn't get there to me. Maybe it's just the tube loading, no loading port, and barrel end of Henrys that get me. Not sure.

....if they made that thing in a 357 maximum, I'd prolly get over it.

To me the BLR is the modern day Savage 99. That being said, I think the Henry center fires are uglier than sin too.

Dan

I like that. Shoots great too.

Winner winner chicken dinner! I've been saying this for years and I'm a big lever fan.

+1

Anything made now is going to suffer when compared to pre-64 Winchesters or older JM Marlins. That said the H001 Henry 22rf is about as good as it gets for under $300 and proudly made in the USA.

The fish belly curvature of the forend doesn't help much in profile pictures and the tube feed loading is a bit odd, and that big-a front sight sticking up there doesn't help, but to me they look a lot better up close and especially when you evaluate their quality and function.

Just talking about their centerfires, but the wood quality, wood and metal finish and checkering is first rate as is fit of wood to metal, better than most any new Marlin I've looked at and they would compare favorably to any older JM Marlin or any post-64 Winchester 94 if you just compare quality of build. The actions on the three I looked at were very smooth. Many Marlins have that initial resistance when cocking the hammer but I didn't notice that, or it was very minimal at worst, with the Henrys I looked at. Triggers were glass rod excellent on two with a hint of creep in the third, pull weight was probably in the 3.5 - 4 pound range on all of them.

I've turned my nose up at them for a while, they do look a bit off for a traditional lever action and "Henry" just isn't a cool name for a rifle company (with apologies to anyone named Henry), but once I gave them a fair and objective eval I can't find anything to criticize about them.

Really looking forward to seeing their new single shot, if it keeps up with the build quality of the lever actions I looked at it should be a very nice rifle.

I like the Henry lever action .22's, just not the blocky looking centerfires.

they are kind of like an ugly girl that can cook and suck start a Harley

I have looked at Henry 41 rem mag rifles lately .The wood looks like home depot 2x4 rejects .A dealer near me had to send back 3 of of 4 of the 41 mags they sold .I had a Browning model 92 once in 357 REM mag that was a smooth classy gun .It was smoother than butter.I just didn't have any use for it in Alaska.Henry has yet to prove themselves to me they should be half the price they sell for !

Bought my first Henry in December...this one...

Silver Eagle 2nd Edition...20" oct barrel...seems I have about

$620 in it delivered.....slick as snot...well fitted....

nice wood.....accurate too....thats less that I paid for a 50 yr

old Marlin 39....... For the non believers...go & try a

Henry...made in the USA like they care !

Somebody has to make 10lb. cartoon guns!

Got to handle one of their new "Long Ranger" rifles at my LGS the other day. Gotta say I was impressed. Fit and finish was very nice and it had a really nice figured piece of walnut. Balance and handling was very nice also. I personally like it better than the BLR I used to have. If they made it in a caliber I didn't already have covered, I'd buy one. One in .450 Bushmaster would be a great limited caliber deer area rifle (like OH, MI, IN)

That one probably interests me more than other Henrys, but it still looks abnormally thin at the wrist and whale backed like they just gotta hang on to the ugly somewhere.