just a heads up to those waiting to buy - mine (bought in August) came with no bevel/chamfer on the magazine tube mouth. Cartridge rims would hang up on the edge while loading, making it essentially unusable out of the box. Those that did pass into the tube bore some serious scratches on the case wall. I had to take the thing apart and dremel my own chamfer on the mouth to get the gun to accept ammunition smoothly.
This appears to be the new standard of quality across the board.
My versa max was unusable out of the box...would not accept shells in the tube. Serious grinder and dremel work was required to the lifter to remedy this. My Stag 10's bolt would not lock back even when manually drawing it to the rear on an empty mag, the forward assist did not engage the bolt carrier, and the OEM BCG would not function reliably with 44.7 gr of IMR 4895 while a Lantac enhanced BCG will function reliably with just 38gr of 4895.
Buying a factory new gun is a circus these days.
Hmmm I ended up with a Henry's problem child. My recent brand new purchase - Henry H001TRP 'Small Game Rifle' came with the wrong front sight, to short to zero rifle @ 50 yards. It's the model with the Skinner Peep sight. Henry's warranty response was take/mail rifle, on my dime, to the 'Canadian' warranty centre, they would not just mail me the correct sight. I did the 3 hour (round trip) drive and Grech put the tallest sight they had on rifle. When I got home it was still shooting high @ 25 & 50 yards. Ended up I ordered a taller fiber optic front sight direct from Skinner & installed easily buy my self.
So I don't have a warm and fuzz feeling about Henry warranty.
I fully agree "Buying a factory new gun is a circus these days." Don't expect the Warranty, you see hyped up. for the US to apply here. Buy on-line you take your chances, better to buy in person and try to catch screw up's, but expect to do the 'finishing' and 'tuning' that a CNC machine cannot/does not do. I figure I can do the 'finishing' and 'tuning'. I cannot afford to have their "Custom Shops" to do it for me.
I bought a Chiappa 94 a few years ago and was not impressed that it wouldn't cycle .38spl. Works great with .357 mag. But if I were to use it in cowboy action I'd have to use the more expensive .357 mag, or carry two calibers. I was going to go with the Henry Big Boy, but I've heard people having the same issues, plus the issue with the rifles not cycling if the rifle is held at less than a perfect angle.
If Marlin does start exporting the .357/.38spl I will be right there in line. Don't tell my wife.
RickPS1964
There was not enough adjustment in the peep, with the peep adjustment bottomed out the rifle was still shooting high. I put a 1m alum ruler on top of the Skinner Base and the bottom of the ruler was even with the bottom of the brass dot on the front sight. The sight Grech install (tallest he had) was close to the right height, rifle was still shooting a little high when I tried it at home. I ordered a front sight and small diameter peep from Skinner. The fiber optic front sight from Skinner is a big improvement, sort of glad I got it anyways.