Henry 22 pump difficulties

Milkmaster

Milkmaster

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Joined
Dec 29, 2006
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2,607
Location
Murfreesboro, TN
Recently ordered and received a new Henry pump H003T rifle. This one sure is stiff. More so than it looks like in all of the videos I have watched while contemplating the purchase. I understand it might not be as slick as the lever version, but this one is actually difficult to cycle. I can't shoot consistently at a target without lowering the gun to pump it. Have any of you bought one of these rifles and found the same condition? Did it get better with shooting? Did you have to slick up the internals to make it better? Please share your experiences.

PLEASE READ THE UPDATE IN A FOLLOWUP POST ON WHAT I FOUND THAT FIXED THE PROBLEM.
 
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Mine sucks too. You need gorilla arms to work the action. I took it apart, did some polishing and lubed up things. Didn’t help. Would sell it, but don’t want to dump a lemon (t*rd) on someone. Consider the purchase money not well spent and crossed Henry off my list.
 
I’ve heard a number of reports of the being stiff. Enough that I’d believe they are just that way. I’ve never tried one.

Ironically I saw one at my LGS yesterday. I almost asked to look at it for this reason.
Jeff
 
In MY opinion, they are junk! Mine was so bad Henry bought it back!

They just have problems, and a big one is they converted a lever action to pump, there's just not enough mechanical advantage and that's exactly what I told Henry on the phone, they agreed.

Mine had other problems too...

BTW, their levers are GREAT!

DM
 
I’ve never heard a good word about their pump. Never handled one but I think they’re all as you describe. Very stiff action.

I’ve handled their levers and man… they’re slick. Cheap looking, but feel great. If I had lots of time to shoot I wouldn’t mind getting a Henry to beat up in the woods.
 
I was considering one, and when I watched a video of someone stripping it down and cleaning it - I was like, what on earth?, that is the most confounded mechanism for a .22 LR pump, other one's I've looked at seem so simple and elegant, their set up seemed overly involved to do what it does.

since they are not very expensive, if I did have one and it was real tight, just to experiment I'd probably put some valve lapping compound in some oil and lubricate the whole thing with it, and cycle it 50 times a day for a week and the then clean it out and oil it normally to see if it smooths out. Henry, might cover it on warranty if it seems outside of spec and you don't like it. I've heard some good things about them, so - why not go back to the source.
 
film495 said:
I was considering one, and when I watched a video of someone stripping it down and cleaning it - I was like, what on earth?, that is the most confounded mechanism for a .22 LR pump, other one's I've looked at seem so simple and elegant, their set up seemed overly involved to do what it does.

since they are not very expensive, if I did have one and it was real tight, just to experiment I'd probably put some valve lapping compound in some oil and lubricate the whole thing with it, and cycle it 50 times a day for a week and the then clean it out and oil it normally to see if it smooths out. Henry, might cover it on warranty if it seems outside of spec and you don't like it. I've heard some good things about them, so - why not go back to the source.
Click to expand...
Valve lapping compound won't fix POOR mechanical advantage! Henry has tried to fix them, but it's just a poor idea to take a LEVER action and try to make it a pump!

DM
 
Milkmaster said:
Recently ordered and received a new Henry pump H003T rifle. This one sure is stiff. More so than it looks like in all of the videos I have watched while contemplating the purchase. I understand it might not be as slick as the lever version, but this one is actually difficult to cycle. I can't shoot consistently at a target without lowering the gun to pump it. Have any of you bought one of these rifles and found the same condition? Did it get better with shooting? Did you have to slick up the internals to make it better? Please share your experiences.
Click to expand...

UPDATE!...
Today I watched the disassembly video from the Henry website. Took the rifle apart and back together again to make sure nothing was bent. The very last thing I did was finish tightening the screws on the pump forearm. All of a sudden the rifle would hardly cycle without a very manly effort. I loosened the one screw on the bottom of the pump forend and it was easy again. I first thought the screw was too long, but that was not the case. The wood on the pump was cut a little big I guess and was rubbing the barrel when you tighten the screw to appropriate torque. My final solution was to add a small piece of cardboard as a spacer between the wood foreend and the metal guide that slides over the mag tube. That spacer created enough clearance while allowing me to tighten the screw enough to keep it from falling out. The pump rifle functions as I expected it to when I ordered now. IMG_5288C.JPG
 
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Milkmaster said:
UPDATE!...
Today I watched the disassembly video from the Henry website. Took the rifle apart and back together again to make sure nothing was bent. The very last thing I did was finish tightening the screws on the pump forearm. All of a sudden the rifle would hardly cycle without a very manly effort. I loosened the one screw on the bottom of the pump forend and it was easy again. I first thought the screw was too long, but that was not the case. The wood on the pump was cut a little big I guess and was rubbing the barrel when you tighten the screw to appropriate torque. My final solution was to add a small piece of cardboard as a spacer between the wood foreend and the metal guide that slides over the mag tube. That spacer created enough clearance while allowing me to tighten the screw enough to keep it from falling out. The pump rifle functions as I expected it to when I ordered now.
Click to expand...
proof a little tinkering goes a long way. shouldn't have to, but - I don't think I've bought much of anything in the last 20 years that didn't need to be fixed before it worked ... loll
 
is the pumping effort that hard to where you dont want the rifle? it is not like you are fending off Chinese human wave attacks lol
 
film495 said:
proof a little tinkering goes a long way. shouldn't have to, but - I don't think I've bought much of anything in the last 20 years that didn't need to be fixed before it worked ... loll
Click to expand...

I have, but it was all made over 50 years ago.

It seems so many companies now put out product and have the customers be the beta testers. How does henry not know of this is past me, or it is just not enough of an issue for them to bother fixing it.

For the record I have an old winchester, enjoy it quite a bit.
 
Good job, OP. Glad to see someone taking the time to fix it rather than just yell.
I have a 7 or 8 year old Henry .22wmr pump, and yea, it does take more effort than my Rossi Gallery .22.
But not what I’d call a difficult pump. But what you found is interesting, and out of all of the posts I’ve seen regarding pump effort, you may have identified it.

Henry really should have tried to copy a 62A action rather than adapt the existing lever action internals with their Rube Goldberg design. But I didn’t have many choices in .22wmr.
While my Rossi gallery is great for what I paid, it was less than half of what my Henry cost many years ago.
The Henry is still a better built firearm.

And no one’s ever gonna build a pump as smooth as a well maintained vintage 62A. Between the old school craftsmanship and many decades of use, only VERY expensive firearms fall in that category today.
 
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