Lever Action .22

trigga

trigga

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WI
Besides the Henry and Rossi, are there any other NEW PRODUCTION .22 LR rifles out there? I have both and would like to expand my collection. It's something different and it seems each time I see them, the prices keep going up. I haven't been to any shops lately but am open to used or antiques too.
 
3Crows said:
A Marlin 39A or a Winchester 9422 will run some money for a nice one or even a not so nice one. But there is no substitute for the Marlin or the Winchester that comes close (IMO).
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I put the Browning up there..... but a new Browning will cost right up there with a used Marlin or winchester. I heard a guy in the store the other day day ask what the difference in the Henry and the Browning was... owner said 400 bucks. Lol. The Browning was 700 for a new grade 1
 
On the newer lever still in production my list in order of preference would be:

Uberti Silverboy (I think they only do runs every so often)
Browning BL22

Had a rimfire Henry that the finish flaked off the receiver exposing the Zamak receiver underneath. Not a fan.

It’s hard when one has a Winchester 9422 in the stable. They are hard to beat but very expensive nowadays. The Marlin 39’s were equal in quality just personal preference.
 
crestoncowboy said:
I put the Browning up there..... but a new Browning will cost right up there with a used Marlin or winchester. I heard a guy in the store the other day day ask what the difference in the Henry and the Browning was... owner said 400 bucks. Lol. The Browning was 700 for a new grade 1
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I would gladly pay the additional for a Browning over the zamak receiver Henry.
 
crestoncowboy said:
I heard a guy in the store the other day day ask what the difference in the Henry and the Browning was... owner said 400 bucks.
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He would be mistaken. The Browning BL22 has a steel receiver. The Henry receiver is pot metal or more accurately, painted or faux brass plated, Zamak V which is a zinc alloy for casting. If the Henry were at least a billet and forged aluminum receiver I could go one but the Zamak casting is a full stop.
 
3Crows said:
He would be mistaken. The Browning BL22 has a steel receiver. The Henry receiver is pot metal or more accurately, painted or faux brass plated, Zamak V which is a zinc alloy for casting. If the Henry were at least a billet and forged aluminum receiver I could go one but the Zamak casting is a full stop.
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He may well have meant cost wise, in which case he was correct Lol. The guy actually ended up buying his kid a 22 magnum Ruger, pretty sure it was a new model bolt gun.

As far as the zamak, I have Henry and the Ithaca before it. The finishes are still ok. The one Ithaca above was shot every warm Sunday as a kid. Biggest part of a brick usually. Untelling how many thousand rounds are through it.

I never liked the short stroke of the Browning or the trigger traveling with the lever. I do like the mag tube and follower. Can be inserted no matter how it's turned while the rest have the locking ear. Even my 69 model bl-22 is the squeeze clip type.

Screenshot_20221220-092755_Gallery.jpg

The winchester may be the same from the other picture but that's a different Henry with a small lever, the Winchester, then a 1969 Browning grade 2 and a newer (04ish) Browning grade 1. I have quite a few 22 lever and pump guns. I collected them for years. Obviously I've bought more of the others than the Henry, but if I were buying one to use I wouldn't pay double for a Browning over the Henry.

I don't like Zamak either. Nor do I care for Henry. But functionally they work great. Never had to take one apart for jamming and they shoot at least as good as the Brownings.
 
crestoncowboy said:
I don't like Zamak either. Nor do I care for Henry. But functionally they work great. Never had to take one apart for jamming and they shoot at least as good as the Brownings.
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That's been my experience with Henry, they just keep on feeding everything, in any order and just seem to go and go!

I've got untold thousands through mine, and it still works perfectly, and I can still knock a crow out of a tree at 100 yards with the iron sights, why would I complain about that success... On top of that, mines an early model with the dreaded "plastic" sights, that everyone was worried would be broken in no time.

DM
 
I have a BL-22, a 9422, and a 39a.
Of the three i tend to actually carry and use the Browning more than the other two just because its lighter, shorter, and more slender than the other two.
If I had to keep only one it would be the 9422. Its the best balance between weight, accuracy, and quality, and craftsmanship is top notch
The Marlin is a nice gun, well made and accurate, but it is big for a .22, approaching centerfire size and weight. It has a fat forearm that makes it hard to carry at its center of balance, and the action is not as smooth as the BL-22 or 9422
 
trigga

How do you like the Rossi? I was thinking about getting one to go with my newly acquired Ruger Wrangler.
 
It is weird and the gun companies are out of sync as usual. Just as all the lever guns disappear from catalogs, .22s in particular, everyone decides they cannot live without a lever gun. They put them in movies, shoot dinosaurs with them, extoll their many virtues and that especially being as American as apple pie and America's gun. The prices go into escape velocity. What gives!

Well, long live the lever gun as long as it is not Zamak ;). Come on now Henry, make the Golden Boy truly golden and make it out of brass! Not plated zinc :(. Yep, brass all the way through and I am in for one or two even.
 
they're not new, but I've grown attached to the marlin levermatics of which there's the model 56 which is magazine fed, and model 57 tube feed.

The first year production 56s had a steel receiver after which they switched to aluminum. I generally prefer the tube fed 57s though.

IMG_5692 (2).JPG
IMG_5598 (2).JPG
 
Personally, I love my Marlin 39s. The big draw was both their accuracy and their ease of disassembly for cleaning and maintenance. I loved the looks of both the Winchester 9422 and Browning BL22 but something about the whole trigger group dropping on the Browning just seemed odd and the Winchester seemed more complex to disassemble and clean than the Marlin. I’ve heard that the Henry rifles are smooth and reliable but I just never got past the pot metal construction.
 
Grunt said:
Personally, I love my Marlin 39s. The big draw was both their accuracy and their ease of disassembly for cleaning and maintenance. I loved the looks of both the Winchester 9422 and Browning BL22 but something about the whole trigger group dropping on the Browning just seemed odd and the Winchester seemed more complex to disassemble and clean than the Marlin. I’ve heard that the Henry rifles are smooth and reliable but I just never got past the pot metal construction.
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Nothing hard or complex about the 94-22. Some people swap out the takedown screw for a saddle ring to make it toolless. The Henry is even simpler.

The Browning is a mess of moving things and pressed in pins. Lol. But all the others are impossible to screw up. The Marlin is the easiest to break by cleaning and not following instructions.
 
Just a couple questions here, not trying to start an argument. Lots of folks want to point out the "pot metal" or "Zamak" or other description for the alloy Henry receivers. Henry has had 22 lever actions for more than 25 years now, and has anyone heard of failures due to the construction of the receiver ? For those that mention it does it have more to do with looks ? Of course you cannot see the receiver on the Golden Boy as they are covered.

I'm sure it was a business financial decision to meet a certain price point and profit margin for them to use what they use. I have not heard of large scale failures. They are not the only ones to have used the Zink alloy in their firearms.

Personally I get the issue some have with the name "Henry", maybe they should have named them "Joe" ? I think they have done a good job offering a reliable rifle at a decent price point. I applaud them for reviving the lever action market as well as marching to their own beat with original offerings in Lever, and single shot rifles.

Jeff
 
@Bartojc

For me it's personal preference, I don't want price point firearms. But no doubt the price is effective in the marketplace because Henry sells a pile of them, and good for them.

The firearms cost over the life is a pittance over what people will pay to feed it, so why buy cheap? When one buys a used Winchester 9422 or Marlin 39a for $700-1000, that cost goes away in my mind when I've shot $500+ in 22lr through it and buy the next $500 of ammo. And no doubt the Winchester and Marlin will appreciate in value at a much greater pace than a Henry. So in the end if one is going to have a rifle that stays in the family and has some craftsmanship soul to it, the extra $400-600 for the rifle is worth it in my eyes. But maybe I'm farsighted?

It's great that Henry can serve that market, but for me I want forged steel, cast steel or at the least an aluminum forging.

I bring it up in these threads because I once bought one thinking they were a different material and was disappointed when my finish around the ejector port started flaking off and one could see the Zamak5 underneath. That rifle went down the road and it would have saved me some money had I known what it was made of.

To be fair the Henry I had fed and shot well, but I didn't get around to shooting it terribly much before the finish started flaking off, so I cannot comment on long term longevity of it's function.

I would consider a centerfire Henry but they too would be below offerings from Ruger/Marlin, or Browning BLR's.
 
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Is the entire receiver, including the bolt, made out of zinc alloy, on a Henry ? Or is it just the cover that is made out of zinc alloy ?
 
The Henry central-fire models are not bad little guns. I have one of their shotguns.

But their rimfires are junk. Die cast monkey metal receivers and finishes that come off with a glance. The Brownings would be good guns but their factory triggers leave a lot to be desired. Chiappa or Rossi? Get real. Honestly there are no new Rimfire lever guns worth owning. Ruger would do well to reintroduce the 39A, but have already states they have no plans to.

Luckily, one can find used Marlins and Winchester 9422s at rock bottom prices and they’ll last forever.
 
nofendertom said:
Is the entire receiver, including the bolt, made out of zinc alloy, on a Henry ? Or is it just the cover that is made out of zinc alloy ?
Click to expand...

I believe the pieces that are Zamak3/5 are the receiver housing, barrel bands and maybe a few other small parts. The hammer and pins are steel.
 
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