Henry Garden Gun

[maxwelhse]

Let's point one of each at your Dad's barn roof from the inside and find out!

So the idea is just way less power so you don't pepper pellets everywhere (and pellet holes)? I'm not being sarcastic here. I've never heard of a garden gun before.

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

It would be saf(er) for use inside a barn. But I still would not recommend it, except under direst circumstances. Before every municipality outlawed gunfire of any kind they would've been used as the name implies. For close range varmint control around the garden or lawn. A .22 long rifle shot shell would have been notoriously low powered for such work, but I can see .22 wmr shot shells being quite effective.

And,.yes, Max. Your Dad or mine would tan our hides if they found out that we were practicing pigeon control up in the rafters of their barns with either. But collateral damage like holes in the roof would be far less likely with .22 shot.

 

[maxwelhse]

It would be saf(er) for use inside a barn. But I still would not recommend it, except under direst circumstances. Before every municipality outlawed gunfire of any kind they would've been used as the name implies. For close range varmint control around the garden or lawn. A .22 long rifle shot shell would have been notoriously low powered for such work, but I can see .22 wmr shot shells being quite effective.

And,.yes, Max. Your Dad or mine would tan our hides if they found out that we were practicing pigeon control up in the rafters of their barns with either. But collateral damage like holes in the roof would be far less likely with .22 shot.

So if you wanna shoot at things INSIDE a building, against all better judgement, this is the gun for you!

Interesting concept, especially back in the days when you could just light off "whatever" in your backyard and most people weren't idiots, but it seems to be an anachronism now. Am I correct to believe that if you just wanted something to pop chipmunks and mice on a rural property that a 20ga is the way to go?

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

Sure. 20 ga, or .410. Whichever you prefer. Rural king has some pretty inexpensive single shots in 12 ga. Ammo is a lot cheaper for 12 because it's so common.

 

[Gabriel]

I have found that feeding my Henry .410 isn't much cheaper than feeding a 12 gauge, if it's cheaper at all. I still like shooting it, though. My 12 gauge hasn't left the safe in years.

 

[maxwelhse]

I have found that feeding my Henry .410 isn't much cheaper than feeding a 12 gauge, if it's cheaper at all. I still like shooting it, though. My 12 gauge hasn't left the safe in years.

It's been awhile since I looked at .410, but it was the most expensive stuff on the shotgun shelf the last time I did. I thought the introduction of the judge pretty much murdered .410 prices? Did that trend finally correct itself?

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

.410 and 20 are still more expensive than 12. Just depends what you like and how much you plan to shoot. All three would be fine for varmint control or rabbit/squirrel hunting.

 

[Grump01]

I believe the Vizard's article is in error talking 22WMR for the Garden Gun as Henry's website shows as 22 LR. But I believe I'm wanting one of these.

 

[two70]

So if you wanna shoot at things INSIDE a building, against all better judgement, this is the gun for you!

Interesting concept, especially back in the days when you could just light off "whatever" in your backyard and most people weren't idiots, but it seems to be an anachronism now. Am I correct to believe that if you just wanted something to pop chipmunks and mice on a rural property that a 20ga is the way to go?

I would suggest that either a pellet gun of moderate power or a .22 with some colibri rounds would be better choices but a 20 gauge would get the job done if you didn't mind the collateral damage. For that matter, there are only a few situations where a garden gun would be a better choice than a pellet gun or a rifled .22 with the colibri.

 

[mmpsteve]

I would suggest that either a pellet gun of moderate power or a .22 with some colibri rounds would be better choices but a 20 gauge would get the job done if you didn't mind the collateral damage. For that matter, there are only a few situations where a garden gun would be a better choice than a pellet gun or a rifled .22 with the colibri.

I love my Henry lever-actions, but the Browning SA in 22 short is probably a better garden gun than the smooth barrel Henry, and very quiet. I do applaud Henry for offering choices though.

.

 

[HoughMade]

That garden gun looks like fun to me. For in-the-barn work, I guess you could use any shotgun, but I don't see any #12 .410 loads out there- the finest being 1/2 ounce of #9 at over 1200fps.....I'm guessing I'm going to ventilate the walls and roof a lot more than less than 1/10th of an ounce of #12 at 1000 fps.

Out to 30 or so feet? A lot easier to hit a small, moving varmint with shot than a bullet.

..and for aspirin skeet? Perfect.

 

[indiucky]

Out to 30 or so feet? A lot easier to hit a small, moving varmint with shot than a bullet.

..and for aspirin skeet? Perfect.

Fun for shooting yellow jackets and carpenter bees with a S&W model 18-2 as well......

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

Most famous line of my deceased best friend Nonny: "Hover, you S.O.B.!" He shot the head off of a carpenter bee at about 25 feet with an old daisy. If I hadn't seen it I'd never have believed it. LOL. I miss that guy.

 

[DadSmith]

Most famous line of my deceased best friend Nonny: "Hover, you S.O.B.!" He shot the head off of a carpenter bee at about 25 feet with an old daisy. If I hadn't seen it I'd never have believed it. LOL. I miss that guy.

Oh if we are going to war against bugs. I definitely want to wage war against horse flies. They drive me insane.

 

[AmmoManAaron]

FYI - According to Page 32 of this year's IDNR hunting and trapping guide, .22 caliber firearms using birdshot are legal for taking bull frogs and green frogs. This has been the case for over a decade, so I guess someone is hunting frogs in this manner. A smoothbore like this Henry would give the hunter a much better pattern, so it's definitely a useful game gun in that limited role.

About 15 years ago, I messed around with 22 LR shotshells for small pests in both rifles and handguns. After a bit of initial frustration, I patterned them on paper at a couple of short distances. I got a perfect donut pattern out of the rifle - which explained the misses at anything more than about 10 feet. Next, I looked into some of the vintage smoothbore 22s from the 1960s and earlier and found the prices to be prohibitive (they were all at least as much as this Henry, but that was 15 years ago), so that was the end of the smoothbore search. I still ended up using a few of the shells inside barns and sheds and they worked OK for that and didn't generate any unwanted holes in things. The rose-crimped metal shells tended to give extraction problems in the rifle I was using, but they were cheaper and seemed more powerful than the blue capsule loads from CCI. Pattern-wise I didn't notice a difference between them.

I don't remember anything about the handgun performance for either type, but I do remember firing a few - must not have made a worthwhile difference?

Next, I discovered and moved to 9mm Flobert. I managed to get a couple of 9mm Flobert shotguns for quite a bit less than what the vintage 22 smoothbores were running. The pattern was much better, but they seemed a bit weak. A little more research and I found the Fiocchi ammo I was using was only spec'ed at 600 fps! No wonder they seemed weak! At 20 feet they would not break a stationary clay pigeon, but I did still manage to kill a few small pests up close with them. I haven't tried the Umarex brand 9mm Flobert, but I hope to get around to it eventually. In the near-term, I'm busy messing with some other small gauge stuff in various applications...32 rimfire shot, 3/8oz .410, and 32 gauge.

Getting back to the new Henry...it is very tempting. With the 1,000 fps velocity of the #12 shot and a hopefully good pattern from the smoothbore, I think it could generate the right balance of power, pattern, and range, while not putting holes in barn sheetmetal or other nearby things. I'm also in agreement with Houghmade about the .410 in that setting - I wouldn't trust #9 at 1,200 fps.

 

[AmmoManAaron]

Here is a good article where the author did testing on CCI 22 shotshells in a variety of guns, one with a homemade choke (not practical, but good enough for basic research). The Henry Garden gun gets mentioned, so I'm putting this here.

https://www.ammoland.com/2019/10/ch..._6f6fac3eaa-b3d90f37d1-21460335#axzz62WXMU6Lu

 

[steif]

I have shot many remington bolt action smoothbores and have always been unimpressed with the results.. Until I found one with a Routledge bore. It is unbelievable how much this tightens up the mini load of shot and makes it a real pest gun. it's so simple too. the first 14" of bore are the standard 22 smoothbore size, then the remaining barrel was bored out to 410, factory done. Fairly hard to find. I have no idea how or why that works like it does, but it sure does. I was making shots at about a hundred foot and eliminating the pests. It is very cool, and happens to be in a 572 pump, so quick recovery too..

 

[t-squared]

The last 2 posts here explain at least why the Routledge bore came about......https://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124071

As to why it works better than a conventional non-rifled barrel.....

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

I sure hope someone at Henry is reading about this Routledge barrel...