Looking to buy my newborn son a rifle (.22lr) to keep boxed up until he is of age. I was checking out some of the lever action Henry rifles at my shop and wanted some feed back from someone that owned one they seem to have a solid reputation.
Negitive on the Plastic barrel bands. They are smooth and american made.
If they make one on special order that does not have plastic parts I would get one of those. They do have the special order engraving and since time is not a factor here that would be a nice touch. Maybe not all of them have plastic. I have not seen all of there offerings. For the price I think you will be all right.
My brother had one and it wasa grat rifle. Frame is of an alloy as compared to steel like a Marlin 39, but it held up fine for him for the several years he had it. good trigger and super smooth action. I've come close to buying one several times, but I've got a littel Rossi pump so it's not been a priority.
Henry does make great products but yes the front sight and the barrel band are plastic. Metal replacements are available from Henry for about $15 dollars each. If you e-mail them and tell them of your intensions I would be surprised if they did not send you free parts. Henry has great customer service and every e-mail response comes from Anthony Imperato, the company president.
I've had one for many years, my plastic front site got damaged and Herny sent me a new metal on for free, I would recommend a Henry rifle to anyone, great rifle and a good company.
My Marlin 39A is over 50 years old (inherited) am I'm told it never broke by the previous owner and it hasn't failed on me either. All steel and wood, and nothing else. If Marlin still makes them that way and you want a gun that will be something he can pass on...I'd really consider a Marlin over a Henry.
I second a pre-safety Marlin 39 or better yet the older Marlin Mod 1892. I have a Mod 1892 in .22 and like it better then I do the Mod 39. Great shooter and collectable.
Not sure about the newer rifles they make now, but I had an older model .22lr and it had a plastic piece in the action.... not sure what the part was called, like a follower or guide between the tube magazine and the barrel/ramp.
The nose of the bullets wore a groove in this plastic piece and it eventually became unreliable. But..... Henry sent a replacement part and it worked great until I sold it off.
After seeing you guys talk about plastic barrel bands and front sights I looked at my Golden Boy. Barrel band and front sight are metal.
I did get a brass band, I looked at the original and it's powder coated black and could be easily mistaken for plastic.
I really enjoy that rifle, it's heavy built and very accurate.
Also, you just can't beat the looks of a Golden Boy hanging on the wall!
My son has a Henry and it was his first rifle. It's accurate and a hoot to fire. His does have the plastic parts, and as mentioned elsewhere, the metal parts off of the Golden Boy are available if desired.
Bought a Henry not too long ago and found it to be a beautifully made rifle, very accurate, and will digest any ammo you care to shove through it. If I am not trying to see how good I can shoot, I will use ammo through my Henry that other rifles don't like. The Henry doesn't care.
thanks for all the replies....the model that i am looking at...the frontier model..does not appear to have the plastic barrel band... On a side note i am also going to pick up a Marlin 795....the blued model has a $25 rebate which means you can pick one up for less than $100...cheap fun!
My buddy has one and I'm always impressed with it. Good quality and it's fun to shoot. If a guy is worried about the plastic parts he can just buy the metal replacements and be done with it. I think they all use plastic now. Sucks but it's reality.
If you want a lever gun go for it but I'd also consider a 10/22.
I bought a Henry .22 Lever Action, back about 2000, paid about $200.00-
$300.00, don't remember exactly, but it is a fine rifle... don't know about
any plastic, but it shoots GREAT, more accurate than I am. Will shoot
anything that I feed it ...
I bought one for my 7 year old to shoot over a month ago. I have no complaints so far. The stock fits him fairly well. He can hit a spinner target regularly at 25 yards. The only problem is that he sometimes cants the rifle to the left and opens the action too slowly to fully eject the spent case. That results in the need to do some digging to get it out. I have a 10/22, but wanted to get him a bolt or lever action so he focuses more on marksmanship than spraying lead down range. I think it worked.
Smith & Wesson is also an American Company Smith & Wesson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and I'm sure there are more (I could keep going). Not trying to stir the pot, just want to clarify there are still plenty of American owned gun manufacturers.