Henry frontier octagon barrel or normal henry .22 mag round barrel is the question?

Baytrapper

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Really looking at getting a henry lever action for general shooting around, squirrel, prarie dogs and other small game but mainly for target fun. Pretty set on the .22lr for cost and the ability to shot shorts which are near silent when plinking around the acreage. Can get a next to new frontier model .22lr with the octagon barrel for 450 or the normal henry round barrel in 22mag for 500. Both pretty much new still one being a little more powerful but more expensive to shoot the other being a better gun/sites but hella cheap to fire.


Oh and if i wanna kill anything larger then a rabbit i got 20,16,12g shottys and 22-250,30-30 and 300wm in the safe so thats not an issue.

Anyone have any thoughts even tho i think i made my mind up? Lol
 
Eh, id go with the 22lr octagon barrel. Super cool looking and if you have no need for the 22mag cal why spend the extra money on purchase? 22Mag is more expensive to feed also.

Only 22lr is plenty good enough for coons and smaller animals... The 22-250 is good for yotes... So I mean no real reason for the 22mag if mainly plinking and blastin tree rats.
 
Eh, id go with the 22lr octagon barrel. Super cool looking and if you have no need for the 22mag cal why spend the extra money on purchase? 22Mag is more expensive to feed also.

Only 22lr is plenty good enough for coons and smaller animals... The 22-250 is good for yotes... So I mean no real reason for the 22mag if mainly plinking and blastin tree rats.
:agree:
 
I love my Henry with the octagon barrel - much better looking imo.

One thing though, it doesn't feed shorts very well at all. Dunno if that's just my rifle or whether it's common. Not a big issue though, I find the CCI Quiets softer than shorts anyway.
 
I love my Henry with the octagon barrel - much better looking imo.

One thing though, it doesn't feed shorts very well at all. Dunno if that's just my rifle or whether it's common. Not a big issue though, I find the CCI Quiets softer than shorts anyway.


I like the CCI quiets as well. The lead round nose though. Found they were more accurate in mine than the copper plated HP's. I think my pellet rifle is louder. Shorts have only accounted for about 100 rnds out of the guesstimate of somewhere in the neighbourhood of 3000 rnds I have put through my Frontier since I bought it but I don't remeber if I had any cycling issues. May have to run some through it on the weekend and see how they cycle.
 
Another + for the octagonal Henry. I have a few different ones and every trip to the range at least one comes for the ride. I even have a beautiful golden boy for sale in the EE since I have multiple Henrys.
 
Yupp the octagon henry was my initial choice but hearing more input confirms it more. Like i said its just a plicker for the most part, no need for the .22mag extra jam. Plus the octagon barrel is hella pimp!!
 
The octagonal is heavier - about 1 pound - than to standard round barrel. If you're caring the gun all day hunting I would go with the round barrel. The sights are quit different from the 2 model. Some people like the brass beaded sight of the frontier model other prefer the hooded sight of the H001 model.
 
I have the round barrel h001, so light and comfortable to carry in hand. I put 600 rounds of assorted 22lr (no shorts or long) on Monday, sooo much fun. To my knowledge HIVIS makes the only aftermarket front sight for the round barrel. My 2 cents.
Adam
 
I love my Henry with the octagon barrel - much better looking imo.

One thing though, it doesn't feed shorts very well at all. Dunno if that's just my rifle or whether it's common. Not a big issue though, I find the CCI Quiets softer than shorts anyway.

From what I've seen CCI Quiet is CHEAPER than shorts as well.

From the sounds of your uses I'd say the .22LR option is the way to go. Especially given your desire to use quieter rounds. That alone pretty much seals the deal. And there's a pretty good range of options between Quiet and similar up to CCI Mini Mags.

Besides, with ammo such as regular HV and Mini Mag you can reach out to take the small pests and game in fine style without shocking the animal and ruining the meat if you use them in the stew pot. The higher velocity of .22WMR and .17HMR tends to turn the smaller critters inside out and make them pretty well mush. And if the bunnies are eating your crops I'm thinking that they'd taste fairly good compared to those on a woodlands diet.

I've got the round barrel Henry in .22LR. You're right that the front sight blade is wide and the rear notch is a wider slot to match the front. But for us with oldguyeyes'tis the wider front blade is easier to see by far. And it's not that hard to span the target spot across the width of the top edge and neatly center it. I've also got other rimfire rifles with the small skinny "target" sights that it sounds like you want. In dim light for us with less than ideal vision they all but disappear. But even when they are good I don't find that I lose out to the wider sights.

Mind you I shoot a lot of handguns with wider front sights so perhaps I make out fine because I'm used to the wider blades. Just wanted to point out that they are not a hindrance to accuracy if you use them correctly.
 
The Frontier has really nice balance and is very steady for offhand shooting. Definitely a .22 LR for your uses.
 
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