My first lever action - Henry Big Boy .357

netguy1999

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Over the years, I have owned many different firearms. From a .22 Cooey as a boy to 1911's and AR's. But something always seemed missing. As a boy, I had a toy lever action gun that shot plastic bullets. I loved that toy gun. Somewhere over the years of growing up, that toy disappeared to the place that cherished childhood things are lost. I have alway had a fondness for lever action rifles, but never owned one, other than my cherished plastic toy. Well, feeling nostalgic the other day, I finally broke down. I went to Cabelas and asked to see that shiny lever action with the big deep blued octagonal barrel and polished brass receiver nestled between two Marlins. I promised myself that I wouldn't buy it - just look. Just look. Well, that promise lasted only until I held the Henry Big Boy. As soon as I held it, felt the polished finish of the barrel and receiver, held it to my shoulder, I knew it was coming home with me. I'm sure I had a stupid grin on my face the entire drive home. I got the Big Boy home and polished all the shipping grease away then spent the next hour just fondling and admiring it.

Well, today I took my new Henry to the range. Let me tell you, that stupid grin only got bigger as I started shooting. It was zeroed in perfectly out of the box. I tried some .38 special first. The recoil was that of a .22 short - virtually none. From standing I was hitting dead on from 25 yards. Next up, I tried some .357 magnum rounds. The accuracy only improved with the .357. The recoil was only moderately more than a .22 WMR. This rifle is an absolute joy to shoot. It may not get a tight group at 100 yards, but it is just so damn fun! I have no regrets in buying this rifle. It has found a permanent home in my safe, but it will be taken out on many, many outings.

The only problem that I have now is that I am thinking I should get an old west pistol, like a Uberti 1873 Cattleman in .357 to match and share ammo. :) (if you happen to have one you don't want any more, PM me...)

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She's a beauty! I love the octagonal barrel, which is my ultimate undoing. I also love lever-actions. I enjoy shooting semi-autos, bolts and pumps but something about cycling a lever is so damn fun. How's the weight of the gun? It looks to be about 9 pounds loaded, which seems like a lot but perhaps it balances quite well? How are you finding loading it from the front?
 
She's a beauty! I love the octagonal barrel, which is my ultimate undoing. I also love lever-actions. I enjoy shooting semi-autos, bolts and pumps but something about cycling a lever is so damn fun. How's the weight of the gun? It looks to be about 9 pounds loaded, which seems like a lot but perhaps it balances quite well? How are you finding loading it from the front?

You're bang on about the weight. It is very well balanced. The loading from the front is really not a big deal, just drop the rounds in. Maybe not as fast to reload as a side port, but only marginally. The action is VERY smooth with no issues feeding or ejecting. Trigger pull is about 4.5 lbs and very crisp.
 
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