I love lever actions and have wanted a Henry for a very long time.  I would like one of the US-made Henry "Original Henry" rifles.  But are they really worth a $600+ premium over the Italian guns?

Anyone own either type and want to weigh in with experience?  Thanks.

Rob

I bought Henry Origanal Henry a couple years ago . I'd wanted one for a long time , and it was the Made in America thing tht sold me .

I've never shot a Uberti , and alot of the enthusiasts will harp on the Henry as being over polished and I quess it is , but I like it !

Mine is in .45 Colt . You pick up this massive heavy rifle cock it and when you pull the trigger it goes Bluuk , cock it again Bluuk .

I would maybe think about a Winchester 66 repo , mostly due to the weight saving . The mag/ barrel combo on the Henry is heavy .

These nitch type guns are cool , like they had q great idea , but it just wasn't perfected yet . BUT compared to a muzzleloader it kicks ass .

The Paterson revolver is another good example .

I would buy the Italian, but the Henry made one is smooth as butter and the finish is amazing.

They just don't make them in a cartridge that suits me.

Have Uberti in .45 Colt, brass frame.   Very accurate with smokeless (6.2 Trailboss over 200 Grn LRNFP)....with black powder, (30 gr of FFFg, w/ wad and 250 grn LRNFP bullet) it is slightly less accurate, but terrific fun, empty it quick and the barrel gets very very very hot.     I have 66 and 73 Uberti also, but the 1860 has style....and yes, it is very heave and not really well balanced, again, lots of fun.   v/r W

I fully agree with the made in America mainly when it pertains to cheap,China junk. But Uberti has been making American west repros for years, and really not competing against anyone here. They make some very fine, quality firearms. I have a Uberti Cimarron 1873 in 45colt and just bought a Uberti iron frame 1860 Henry (45colt). I've wanted a brass frame 1860 ever since the movie Silverado came out. But since I had the case hardened 1873 I figured the case hardened 1860 would look good with it. I've never handled the Henry brand but I know you won't go wrong with Uberti either.

I do have a Uberti (Cimarron I think) 1873 clone in .45 Colt that I used in CAS for a couple of years before beginning a 20-year "break".  It is slick and I like it a lot.

I would buy the Henry in .44-40.  I have an "El Tigre" Spanish 92 Winchester clone in the caliber, as well as several revolvers.

I'm leaning toward this one:  Taylor's Henry in Charcoal Blue  (not paying anywhere near MSRP though).


Rob

I received my new Taylor's 1860 Henry.  Ordered 44-40.  Box and retailer labels both say 44-40 and the box serial number matches the rifle.

BUT...when wiping it down to get off the shipping preservative, lo and behold, the barrel is marked "45 Colt"!  WTF?????  (yeah, I didn't notice before transfer, but neither did the IMPORTER, RETAILER or my DEALER)



What is really weird is that after ordering it, I was second-guessing myself about the caliber.  I have handguns in both calibers, but the Henry is a good match for my Navy Arms Schofield which is in .45 Colt.

So anyway...probably wont send it back as long as it really is in .45 Colt and not a mis-marked barrel.  But I'm going to call Taylor's and the retailer this week to see what they say.


Rob

Bump...something weird happened and my new post replaced/edited my post about the Spencer.

rob

Buddy has an Uberti 1873 and it's a really well made rifle with a slick action. He's shot it only a few times so no word on reliability or accuracy.

Spencer?

You received a good looking Henry, from what I can see?

I had made a post on 6/25 mentioning my Spencer carbine.  Somehow my new post yesterday overwrote that, even though I'm pretty sure I didn't edit that post.




rob

I could stand to hear more about that Spencer

The coolest thing about the Henry version is that Anthony Imperato bought a genuine gun and had his people recreate it exactly, measurement by measurement but with modern materials, tools and techniques.  The Italian guns, as nice as they are, aren't exact copies.  

Henry makes some beautiful rifles.

That's a beauty!

That's pretty sweet. I would like to have a Spencer

I'd love a Spencer Rifle (not carbine) copy in .357 Magnum, but I'm not holding my breath.

Seems like a really quick reload lever mechanism, even if you have to manually cock the hammer each time.

Might watch the Forgotten Weapons & InRange videos on the Henry & Spencer.  There was a reason Winchester won.

The original Spencer post said something like "when I want to shoot a lever action rifle slowly, I use the Spencer".  I have only had it out for one range session, but it was a lot of fun.  It is in the 56-Spencer centerfire caliber.

50-yard with commercial BP ammo.  Haven't work up a load specifically for my rifle yet.



The Spencer manual of arms is slow...half cock, work lever smartly and hope you had a good feed onto the carrier, otherwise wiggle it a little and close the lever, then full cock, then shoot.  The Henry and later guns are just Lever-Shoot-Lever-Shoot, etc.

Back to the Henry...

I talked to Taylor's and they show the rifle by SN to be a 44-40.  So the error in caliber goes all the way back to the factory.  They didn't have one in 44-40 to swap with me, so directed me to the retailer.

I called them (Elk Country Arms in PA) and told them what had happened.  Got a call back today and I agreed that I could live with the rifle and avoid the hassle and expense of sending it back for a full refund (which they did offer) for a $100 partial refund.  I can totally live with that.

So now I have a Taylor's 1860 Henry in caliber .45 Colt with charcoal blue finish that "matches" my Schofield revolver and others (instead of one in .44-40 to match a Ruger Vaquero, Colt SAA Sheriff's Model or Colt New Service).

Rob

EVENTUALLY Winchester won.  But the Spencer was bought by the US Government in large quantities during the Civil War and it was well-liked by those that used it.  The Henry only managed a few thousand guns and very few by Uncle Sam.  Most that saw action in the Civil War were private purchase or militia purchase.

Rob

That is pretty cool to know.  Tell them to make it in .38spl or .357mag.

If you think the Henry is heavy NOW...see what it feels like with only a .35 inch hole down the barrel (and mag tube?) instead of .43-.45.



rob

He may have claimed that but if it was true, the guns would not function. The .44-40 and .45 Colt cartridges are longer than .44 Henry rimfire. If the newly made Henry rifles were identical copies (aside from the centerfire/rimfire thing) then they would be too short to work with currently available ammunition.

The 1860 "44 Henry" chambered in 44 Special with smokeless powder may better replicate the original 200ish grain 44 Henry loads of 1,125fps. I imagine it could be made to be pretty accurate, maybe as good as the 44 spl revolvers.

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