Henry .22 lever action rifles -hit or miss?

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Sharps '63

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My daughter has expressed an interest in a lever action .22. I was considering a Henry but there seems to be widely differing opinions on them. Del Selin won't have them in his shop. I was going to swap my pristine 80's 10/22 for one and was told that would be a stupid move. This after selling me an RIA look-alike 10/22 that was a bummer right out of the box. She traded it up for a .22 Carter Arms revolver.

There also seems to a several of Henrys for sale on the EE at any given time. One of my pals has a Henry brass frame/octagonal barrel model and he loves it! Got if for sale at $499 last Xmas from can Tire in Merritt. P&D has a brass frame model at $625 + s&h/taxes.

There is always the Browning, but I don't care for the mechanism. Another option is a 9422, but that is a lot of money to put into a .22. Marlins are scarce for a good reason - no one wants to part with one!
 
I've had a 9422M for many years and it is a great gun.
I bought a basic model Henry .22 this past year and have just over 700 rounds through it so far.
I'm very impressed with it. No failures and functions very well.
 
They are awesome. Get one, you will not be disappointed. You will probably dump your 10/22 after having so much fun with it. Their pump .22 is a riot as well. I had a basic lever which was great. Sold it when I got the mares leg and slapped a full stock on it. And picked up the pump for myself at Christmas. One of them always comes to the range or cottage no matter what else I bring. One day I'll pick up the frontier model as well.
 
Henry rimfire rifles are an excellent value... well made guns that cycle smooth as butter. I have had a dozen or so... only have one H001T Frontier (my favourite version) at the moment and my daughter and son were both presented with personally engraved Golden Boy's on their 16th birthday's. You would not regret purchasing one. For comparison, I also have had 94/22's, 94/22M's, 39A's and Mounties, Browning BL-22's and BL-Gr.II's... so I have lever rimfire experience.
 
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Best lever action 22 I've owned (actually I've purchased 4 in total now). I've previously owned multiple 94/22's, BL-22, and Marlin 39's.

The Henry just seems so much nicer for the money spent. Some guys complain that the receiver's painted rather than blued, I actually like it because that's where I carry it from (less wear)
 
Where am I going to find a "Frontier" model for the better sights? I've checked all the "usual suspects" and have only tracked down a brass frame model and a brass frame "Youth" model. How much shorter is the stock on a "Youth" model?

Been watching a few more videos and they seem to be a love it or hate it proposition. I've been warned that the next import will reflect the low dollar and I should buy one now.
 
Sharps '63 said:
Where am I going to find a "Frontier" model for the better sights? I've checked all the "usual suspects" and have only tracked down a brass frame model and a brass frame "Youth" model. How much shorter is the stock on a "Youth" model?

Been watching a few more videos and they seem to be a love it or hate it proposition. I've been warned that the next import will reflect the low dollar and I should buy one now.
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Cabelas has them in stock online.
 
Sharps '63 said:
Where am I going to find a "Frontier" model for the better sights? I've checked all the "usual suspects" and have only tracked down a brass frame model and a brass frame "Youth" model. How much shorter is the stock on a "Youth" model?

Been watching a few more videos and they seem to be a love it or hate it proposition. I've been warned that the next import will reflect the low dollar and I should buy one now.
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P&D Ent shows stock on the Frontier model, plus several others.

I currently have the "youth" model. I'm not sure how much shorter the LOP is on it, but I'm 6' and find it quite comfortable to shoot. For what I use it for, I prefer the shorter barrel of the youth. I had a couple "carbine" models, but hated the big loop on them.

I've been thinking about getting one with the octagon barreled in 22mag.
Prices are definitely going up, not to long ago the standard models were $279 I believe.

Many of them have decent wood, I think I lucked out with my current one:

 
Have had a Golden Boy and a Mares Leg (that I put a full length butt stock on). Really enjoyed both of them, very smooth action.

Some folks take issue with the receiver material (a zinc alloy of some type). However if this was a problem we would have whole threads dedicated to it.

I doubt the naysayers have ever owned one, and they also probably say the AR-15 with its aluminum will never last and the polymer in a Glock is just a fad.
 
I put over 10,000 rounds through my Golden Boy the first year I had it...I guess you could say I like it! Out of all the rounds total, ~14000 now, I'd say maybe 4 or 5 times the round tried to feed into the mag instead of the bullet, which was caused by me short-stroking it badly, and was easily fixed with a key from my pocket and about 3 seconds of my time to get the bullet pointing back up towards the chamber instead of pointing down to the mag tube. Ultra reliable, buttery-smooth action, LEVER action (of which everyone should have at least one in their collection), 25 rounds with .22shorts! What's not to like? :d
 
Prairie Plinker said:
I put over 10,000 rounds through my Golden Boy the first year I had it...I guess you could say I like it! Out of all the rounds total, ~14000 now, I'd say maybe 4 or 5 times the round tried to feed into the mag instead of the bullet, which was caused by me short-stroking it badly, and was easily fixed with a key from my pocket and about 3 seconds of my time to get the bullet pointing back up towards the chamber instead of pointing down to the mag tube. Ultra reliable, buttery-smooth action, LEVER action (of which everyone should have at least one in their collection), 25 rounds with .22shorts! What's not to like? :d
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Like Prairie Plinker said, being able to run shorts is a big plus. Round count aside I recently pickup up some CCI CBs and they make less noise then my sparrow silencer on my Prohib. And you can not run shorts in a semi or bolt. If you work the action on a Henry with authority, you will be rewarded. I think the Henry levers are as good as the Winchesters with the Winchesters costing around $300 more.
 
wbaad said:
they are pretty nice rifles especially for the money. i couldnt get over the plastic front band on them to buy one though...
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They haven't used a plastic front band in at least 6-7 years. If you have an older one with plastic Henry will send you a metal one (if you ask nicely) :)
 
That the quality isn't there and they are known bummers. Strange with so may happy owners out there .....

I'm interested that so many men find the Youth model not too short. That means my petite daughter ought to do fine with one. I do find the plastic barrel band off-putting on the early models mentioned. But then, I ,live with the alloy barrel bands on my B-92s.


mr00jimbo said:
Never heard anything bad about it. What exactly did Del Sellin say?
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