This is incorrect, any hinge pin assembly has a limited strength... hot loads in a Hornet are not likely to be an issue, but overly hot loads in a .45/70/90/120 or 9.3X74R or Whelen... it is only a matter of time until the hinge pin bends or breaks loose in the housing... it could happen on the first round fired or the 20th, but to varying degrees, it is likely to happen. This is a significantly weaker action than the falling block No.1.
New Henry Single-Shot Rifles
- Thread starter slicknick
- Start date
This is incorrect, any hinge pin assembly has a limited strength... hot loads in a Hornet are not likely to be an issue, but overly hot loads in a .45/70/90/120 or 9.3X74R or Whelen... it is only a matter of time until the hinge pin bends or breaks loose in the housing... it could happen on the first round fired or the 20th, but to varying degrees, it is likely to happen. This is a significantly weaker action than the falling block No.1.
Yep, if they bring this gun out in a configuration that appeals to me, I sure won't be trying to hot-load it into something else.
Sometimes the marketing types just make me shake my head in disbelief. Case in point: the company brings out a break-action, exposed-hammer singleshot rifle. Its design is ill-suited to high-pressure rimless cartridges, and its hammer is so unnecessarily high that scoping it becomes a challenge. It is a perfect platform for iron sights and for cartridges like the .45-70, .348, .303 et al...and yet the bean counters mandate that the first ones off the assembly line are .243, .308 and so forth. Do these guys even shoot?
And, please...no patient explanations about the need to appeal to the masses, who want cheap .243's and .308's. Those folks are going to look at a singleshot hammer gun, then laugh...and then buy a plastic-stocked Axis or similar gun and congratulate themselves on how smart they were while posting pictures of their 4-inch groups.
Sometimes the marketing types just make me shake my head in disbelief. Case in point: the company brings out a break-action, exposed-hammer singleshot rifle. Its design is ill-suited to high-pressure rimless cartridges, and its hammer is so unnecessarily high that scoping it becomes a challenge. It is a perfect platform for iron sights and for cartridges like the .45-70, .348, .303 et al...and yet the bean counters mandate that the first ones off the assembly line are .243, .308 and so forth. Do these guys even shoot?
And, please...no patient explanations about the need to appeal to the masses, who want cheap .243's and .308's. Those folks are going to look at a singleshot hammer gun, then laugh...and then buy a plastic-stocked Axis or similar gun and congratulate themselves on how smart they were while posting pictures of their 4-inch groups.
And have you ever seen any new rifle, bolt action single or otherwise that doesn't offer a few mainstream calibres only for the first few years? They need to recoup some R and D dollars in a hurry or the project is a bust. Call "them" bean counters if you like I'd call it essential business practices. We gun nuts that poo poo the 308s and 243s of the world are a minority the make it or brake it sales come from the masses, the same masses who make 243, 308, 30-06 etc. the top selling calibres by a long shot. Having said all that I sure hope they play with more interesting cals down the road a bit.
45/70 is on the list, and is really the only one of the cartridges you list that has a significant following. Not many Americans using 303, and not many people using 348 in general either.
They could have made this in a bunch of obscure calibers that very few people use, but then they'd be greatly limiting their sales. Limited sales means more expensive guns (gotta cover capital investment in tooling somehow) and then nobody would buy them. In a way, we need the common calibers...
I completely agree with you regarding those cartridges; if you want to introduce a new budget rifle, you had better chamber it for hardware-store basic cartridges to sell to the once-a-year hunter/shooter. BUT...you'd better make that new rifle a plastic-stocked bolt rifle, because that's what you will be competing against in the marketplace. Those shooters don't give a crap about anything except cost-effectiveness as a hunting gun, and with every manufacturer offering at least one budget-grade bolt-action repeater you will be hard-pressed to sell them on the nostalgia, charm or cachet of a one-shooter.
So...if the gun you are introducing is a single shot break-action exposed-hammer rifle (and in today's market I think that alone is a pretty ballsy move!)...you are already more-or-less thumbing your nose at that market. Don't try to hammer that square peg into that round hole. The once-a-year shooters will look at the result and say "I don't want that old-fashioned piece of crap...it's only got one shot!" The traditional gun nuts will say "I don't want that modern-day piece of crap...it's got no soul".
And both camps will say (quite correctly...) "If I want to shoot modern ammo, there are much better and cheaper guns to do it with".
There are lots of gunnies who fit into neither of those categories, and there are plenty of gunnies who don't reload. Therefore, common calibers with affordable (and available) factory ammo is important to the success of any rifle.
A 16 or 18" carbine barrel would be sweet! But even at 22", it's over 6" shorter than my savage axis (37.5 vs 43.875 according to the manufacturers) and basically the same length as a Marlin guide gun w/18.5" barrel (37"). In fact, the guide gun has a length of pull that's 5/8" shorter, so if you modified the Henry to be the same length of pull it would be the shorter rifle.
I still want one if we can get them for a decent price. If we can't get em for under $700, I might as well spend a few more bucks and get a Marlin though...
I like single shots. I am not a choosy connoisseur as far as caliber goes. I do know that I don't want anything with a real short barrel. I had a NEF/H&R 30-06 with a short barrel. Oh man, was it loud. Yes, I know I should have expected it. Somebody else is enjoying it now.
I have a nice NEF/H&R in .223 and a Baikal in 7.62x39, both nice to shoot. I would jump all over Henrys in 30-30, 303, 7.62x54r or any of the "standard" calibers. I reload and cast all my target bullets. I do like the look of the blued one above.
I have a nice NEF/H&R in .223 and a Baikal in 7.62x39, both nice to shoot. I would jump all over Henrys in 30-30, 303, 7.62x54r or any of the "standard" calibers. I reload and cast all my target bullets. I do like the look of the blued one above.
I'm a fan of the levers but imho there is something visually "off" about these.. Maybe a fish belly forend with a cap like the levers would help. The hammer could be curved or pared down too. I have no doubt they will be good quality though.
Well, that ^ is somewhat disturbing. They've managed to recreate all the problems displayed by the old H&R/NEF guns, without correcting any of them. Two-slot base? Brilliant!
In fairness, careful selection of optics and mounts can probably make these work, with a careful eye towards eye relief and mounting height, but that's only viable for us more mature gunnutz who have drawerfuls of old scopes, rings, etc. to tinker around with. If you actually need to buy all that crap and just hope to hit upon a combination that works...yikes...
There is nothing special required for scope mounting on these Henry Single shot rifles, there is a hammer spur available and they take the same multi-slot (NOT two slot) rails that the Handi rifles used... the hammer height will not contact the scope tube and most ocular bells will be behind the hammer.
- Location
- Southern Vancouver Island
I fully agree on that. Hammering the bastards with big bores is just a hoot & keeps folks in tune with their rifles as well as load development.
Set-up is like the Winchester 37a single barrel shotgun. Made in Canada and was probably an affiliate of the the Cooey single barrel shotguns. These were primarily offered in shotgun configuration... So the design is nothing new. I would expect to see common american calibers as influencing what is offered. Just as we see european calibers in their rifles. Both American and European firearm manufacturers feature what their primary markets are familiar with, as well as, the calibers that are most likely to sell as money makers 223, 243, 308. The action is also suitable for 30-30 and a few other calibers. The 7-30 Waters would be cool but not likely to make the "cut". Prices are not feasible for what one is getting. And this would have to be addressed by Canadian importers.
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- Location
- Ford Nation
I like the looks of the blued pistol grip model, would love to get one in 444Marlin, but I think the 45 70 could make me feel warm and fuzzy inside as well. If they do come to Canada I think their price point will be the deciding factor for most buyers.
Better to mount it ahead of the hammer.
and trim the hammer down a bit to make it less... snaggy.
the release lever won't be an issue any more than the release lever on a single shot 12ga.
I learned to keep my thumb beside the grip, not around it. Much more comfortable for a straight stock.
I'd love one of these in 44Mag, reamed to 10.9x46.
How do you figure that you can mount "ahead" of the hammer? No way there is room or eye relief on any standard scope. Mounting ahead of the hammer is not necessary with these new Henry singles, anymore than it was for the Handi rifles.
