Henry or Puma?

Cerdan

Cerdan

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I'm really itching to get a lever action rifle in .44Mag. My first choice would be a Henry Big Boy, they seem to enjoy a good reputation and they look great (love the brass receiver).

But I see I can get a Puma for a few hundred dollars less.

Should I save up a bit more for a Henry or are the Pumas a good value for the money?
 
Cerdan said:
I'm really itching to get a lever action rifle in .44Mag. My first choice would be a Henry Big Boy, they seem to enjoy a good reputation and they look great (love the brass receiver).

But I see I can get a Puma for a few hundred dollars less.

Should I save up a bit more for a Henry or are the Pumas a good value for the money?
Click to expand...

Henry's are made in the US, Puma are now made in Italy by Chiappa Firearms.
Henry's have a lifetime warranty from a company that is renowned fro its customer service.
Pumas have an unknown warranty period (couldn't find anything on the Legacy International website), perhaps due to the new manufacturer.

I'd save up for a Henry!
 
The Marlin 1895 in .44Mag with the 16 inch carbine barrel is a sweetie too.

Sorry if this muddies the waters instead of helping you decide.... :D

The old Rossi Puma's seem to suffer from a split personality. About half swear by then and the other half swear at them. I've got one in .357 that I use for CAS. But at less than 300 rounds down the pipe I'm not ready to sweary by or at yet.
 
Get the Puma.

The Henry is heavy for what it is and looks cheap and junky. They also have a lot of plastic and zinc parts.

The Puma is a Brazilian made copy of the Winchester 92 and was previously sold as a Rossi. As far as I know, they are of all steel construction.
 
hmmm, pretty scattered response so far, I was expecting overwhelming support for Henry.

BCRider, my initial research on lever-action rifles led me to learn about the Marlin Jam, which took'em out of the race pretty much automatically. I realize it doesn't plague every Marlin rifle but the very fact that a design flaw is so widespread that it has its own name is a pretty bad sign.

tjhaile, are you speaking from experience? It just strikes me as odd that the cheap rifle with plastic parts would be heavier than the all steel one...
 
tbooker, the Ubertis look real nice but they don't seem to make any in .44Mag. I don't feel like getting dies and supplies for yet another caliber (my bench is overflowing as it is!) and I want something bigger than a .357...
 
The reason the Henry is heavy is because its receiver is a big brass casting. While I haven't seen one of the Henry Big Boys up close, Henry is infamous for using cheap materials for many parts on their guns.

The Marlin previously mentioned would also be a good choice.
 
tjhaile said:
Get the Puma.

The Henry is heavy for what it is and looks cheap and junky. They also have a lot of plastic and zinc parts.

The Puma is a Brazilian made copy of the Winchester 92 and was previously sold as a Rossi. As far as I know, they are of all steel construction.
Click to expand...

What are the plastic and zinc parts in a Big Boy?

FWIW, the Pumas are no longer made in Brazil nor are they made by Rossi any longer.

What is with the steel bias. Hardly any firearm manufacturers rely exclusively on steel any longer. Browning, Remington, Ruger, Henry, Marlin, and Tikka to name just a few, all use plastic and/or aluminum alloys in their firearms.

For example the Ruger 10/22 uses an alloy receiver and is considered one of the best 22 semis around despite the fact that many owners replace virtually everything except the alloy receiver and plastic magazine.

Browning has been using aluminum alloy receivers on their semi shotguns and rifles for years but no one claims they are junky.
 
What's with the steel bias? Aesthetics, mostly. I think for an equal price, I would tend to favor the gun with more machined parts as a better value for money. I don't buy into the marketing hype of cost-cutting measures as "features". If I'm going to drop several hundred dollars on a gun, I want form and function.

For all I know, the Henry might work OK, but it's still a rifle that weighs more than many bolt actions while being chambered for a less powerful cartridge. That, and they have a Mickey Mouse magazine tube setup. All this for several hundred dollars more than a Puma.

I'm sure that you could buy a used Browning B92 for less than the cost of a new Henry; a rifle arguably better than any other .44 Magnum levergun in current production.
 
Puma isn't made in Brazil now? Where are they made? The M92 I bought this summer has "Fabrique en Brasil" or (something like that), right on it! The only plastic part I am aware of is the follower, which I see can easily be replaced by a machined aluminium piece available on the internet.

It's used with 357 SWC's for cowboy action, and I've had no problems with it at all.

By the way, everyone that has seen it says the fit and finish is much better than when they were sold under the Rossi name (and presumably made in Italy).

LGH
 
M92 clones are made in Brazil and Italy. Puma is a brand sold by Legacy sports. The Brazilian manufacturer is Rossi, and were are sold by Legacy sports. Legacy now sells their Pumas as made by Chiappa in Italy. The Italian guns are almost double the price of the Brazilian, but they are very nice. Rossi continues to sell their M92 under their own brand name in Canada.
 
CanAm said:
M92 clones are made in Brazil and Italy. Puma is a brand sold by Legacy sports. The Brazilian manufacturer is Rossi, and were are sold by Legacy sports. Legacy now sells their Pumas as made by Chiappa in Italy. The Italian guns are almost double the price of the Brazilian, but they are very nice. Rossi continues to sell their M92 under their own brand name in Canada.
Click to expand...

Rossi are also owned by Taurus. Leagacy Sports who own the PUMA name in the USA apperently had some type of falling out with Taurus, and then inked a deal with Chiappa to do their Puma '92 rifles. They come from Italy with the same type of bolt mounted safety that Rossi used to use.

Interestingly, the Rossi M92's that come direct to Canada from Rossi/Taurus no longer have this safety.
 
Never shot a Henry ,but I do have a Puma in .454 Casull (shoots .45 colt also) and it`s a blast to shoot.Never had a problem ,and handles very nice ,very light rifle.

BB
 
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