Opinions on Henry rifles.

[Decoy80]

If I may since I too am a satisfied Henry 44 Mares Leg owner, and also Marlin lever gun owner in 35 caliber. I find both have good qualities as tools, I'd like to have an 1860 in 45 Colt.

 

[Crawdad1]

Here is another discussion on the toggle linked 73 that Uberti chambered in 44 Mag. A lot of concerns about the action, not the frame but the action's strength in firing as hot a cartridge as the 44 Mag.

https://www.shootersforum.com/big-bore-lever-guns/81889-uberti-44-magnum-1873-rifle.html

Here is one for sale.

http://www.gunbroker.com/item/712109045

 

[Jimster]

I need to add an Uberti 1873 rifle to my collection. Love the case hardening colors!

 

[Crawdad1]

I need to add an Uberti 1873 rifle to my collection. Love the case hardening colors!

They build a beautiful rifle don't they Jimster?

 

[montess85]

It was shooting 4" groups at 50 yds He didn't expect it to be a one-holer, but 4" is certainly not "acceptable" by any reasonable standard.

I agree. That is pretty excessive. I wonder why. I have heard this before about the 17hmr variants.

 

[sean m]

If memory serves me, the Henry rimfires are evolution of a design that Erma marketed in the 60s

 

[montess85]

Video of a guy slicking up an Uberti 1866. He also has videos of the Henry original. He says the machining is rougher on the Uberti. Not bad but the Henry tool less work. Pretty informative. I suggest you watch.

 

[The Evangelist Cowboy]

I have handled the .22 versions of henrys and the big boy in .357 I will never be able to leave the winchester/marlin way of loading.

 

[DPris]

Lou Imperato, the current Henry owner's father, worked with Irma to bring those early Irma levergun ruimfires into the US many years ago.

When he & son Anthony started Henry in the 90s, they used the old Irma design to build on.
Denis

 

[Crawdad1]

This video is more to the point,

 

[CraigC]

IMHO, anyone using anything other than standard pressure loads in any toggle-link (1860/1866/1873/1876) is a serious competitor for the Darwin award. Perhaps an MVP if doing so with a brass frame.

 

[eastbank]

google up the Winchester tests on the model 1876, it handled a lot more presser than a factory load. does that mean you should try to make a magnum out of it or any toggle lock up rifle, A BIG NO! I load for all my old lever actions that are deemed safe to fire, my 1876 in 45-60 fireing a 300gr lead bullet 1300 fps kills deer as my 1873,s also do with 180 gr lead bullets out of a 38-40 at 1200 fps or 200 gr lead bullets out of a 44-40 at 1200 fps also kills deer with in the ranges intended and for me that's under 100 yards with broad side double lung shots. eastbank.

 

[Crawdad1]

Here is also another video on shooting the HRA Original Henry.



He's impressed with its accuracy.

 

[Jimster]

That was a fun little video. Makes me want to shoot mine at 200 yards.

 

[Armored farmer]

We have a couple of Henry's around here.
I'm not too crazy about the non traditional materials, but if you can get past that, they're fun, smooth, and accurate.

Person preference goes to the more traditional Uberti rifle. Just my .02

 

[Crawdad1]

The guy that was gutting these rifles did prefer the HRA Original Henry over the Uberti even though the Uberti had traditional internal parts.

The stronger frame on the HRA Henry is the key here, that is if we can ever find out what alloy they are adding to the brass to make them stronger. I've been looking to find a good head to head comparison on who builds the better barrel though.

Just a comparison on the Uberti versus a Pedersoli barrel or even a Pietta barrel would be informative. As Pietta with their Remington revolvers are showing up more and more in the winner's circle at more and more competitions.

 

[Jimster]

Nice engraving on that rifle. Always nice to know a fellow traveling man.

 

[DPris]

I have the alloy components buried in an old email, but don't have the energy to sift through the archives to find it.

It IS an alloy, NOT straight brass.
Denis

Edited to add:

Across their levergun line-up, Henry uses Zamak 5 for receiver & cover on the rimfire versions. Some models are plated & the GBs obviously get a "golden" coat.
Zamak 5 is the highest grade of Zamak, Henry tweaks their formula slightly, and produces Zamak components in-house via one of the most sophisticated die-casting operations in the country.

Brass centerfires use a different alloy, NOT Zamak.
It is a blend, and formulated & engineered in their applications to exceed industry proof load standards. Those are generally at 30% above standard industry pressures, Henry's alloy & application there has been designed to hold at 40%. (PLEASE DO NOT TRY TO BUILD ATOMIC-LEVEL LOADS FOR THESE GUNS, THIS INFO NEITHER ADVISES NOR CONDONES SUCH PRESSURES!)

ALSO NOTE THAT WE ARE REFERING HERE TO THE FRAMES, NOT THE TOGGLE-LINK ACTION COMPONENTS THEMSELVES IN THE ORIGINALS.

This brass info strictly addresses the alloy strength.
Actual common brass is used in smaller parts like barrel bands on the centerfires.

Centerfire steel-framed leverguns use forged 4140 steel in their frames.

 

[Armored farmer]

Nice engraving on that rifle. Always nice to know a fellow traveling man.

Same here.

 

[Llama Bob]

he only reason to own a lever action rifle is nostalgia. No lever action does anything better than other action types from a performance perspective.

Not true. Lever actions have a much higher rate of fire than Mauser actions, approaching a double on the 2nd shot and of course faster after that.

For dangerous animals that don't like to go down after the first shot, it's very hard to beat a lever action of sufficient caliber.

 

[Crawdad1]

The Turks may disagree also.

The Plevna Delay
Winchesters in the Russo-Turkish War
A small Turkish army is trapped, but with the help of surprising firepower, they hold up the entire Russian Campaign for over five months.


http://www.militaryrifles.com/Turkey/Plevna/ThePlevnaDelay.html

 

[CraigC]

The stronger frame on the HRA Henry is the key here, that is if we can ever find out what alloy they are adding to the brass to make them stronger.

Do we know this for a fact or are we doing some mental acrobatics to justify the higher cost?

As far as barrels go, I know t hat my Uberti 1873 does an inch at 50yds with every load I've tried in it, from a 135gr Sierra to a 180gr Gold Dot and RNFP.

 

[Crawdad1]

"That brass, incidentally, has the same tensile strength as steel according to Anthony Imperato, and if you’re concerned about its longevity or overall strength with hotter .44-40 loads, he also says the rifle’s perfectly safe with any .44-40 load that meets SAAMI specifications, and that you can “rest assured this gun will withstand lifetimes of extensive shooting."

For brass to have the same tensile strength of steel there has to be an alloy in it. The Uberti frame is brass.

 

[Crawdad1]

OK, in a chart listing SAAMI specs of chamber pressures we have the 44 Mag is listed at average pressure of 36,000 psi and for the 45 LC is 14,000 psi. Both of these cartridges are chambered in a toggle linked lever action rifle. Both the HRA and Uberti are chambered in 45LC and 44-40 that under SAAMI specs are a long way from a 44 Mag cartridge.

http://www.leverguns.com/articles/saami_pressures.htm

 

[DPris]

There's no need to be concerned about the FRAMES stretching or wearing out prematurely in the Henry brass Original rifles, in the calibers they're chambered for, if you stick to standard factory loads. I wouldn't hot-rod a .45 Colt & shoot a few thousand through it, but if you stay with normal pressures it should hold up for many many long times.

I would rate it stronger than a Uberti brass frame, over the long run.
We do know Henry uses an alloy & not the simpler brass formula of the Italian guns.
Denis