Henry Single Shot Initial Impressions

[doghawg]

Put the original springs back in it, after you polish the trigger and hammer, about 30 minute job. I had some ftf's in one of mine, stopped being lazy and did the trigger, about #3, crisp now, with the factory spring installed. I think we make a big deal about this simple fix on these guns, too much drama on this thread to suit me.

You've got a 3 lb. trigger pull with both original springs or just the big one?

[megasupermagnum]

A real, old time expert could probably get the trigger to 3 pounds with both original springs, certainty not in 30 minutes. I probably spent 4 hours on mine, and got it to 4.5 pounds with both original springs, and I wouldn't dare take it down more than that.

[Foggy1111]

A real, old time expert could probably get the trigger to 3 pounds with both original springs, certainty not in 30 minutes. I probably spent 4 hours on mine, and got it to 4.5 pounds with both original springs, and I wouldn't dare take it down more than that.

Does that in any way decrease the force needed to pull that hammer back? That is nearly as big of an issue as the trigger to me.

[megasupermagnum]

Of course not. Your only two options there are lighter springs, or more leverage.

[Colorado0321]

Gentlemen,

I've been seriously considering the 45-70 and reading through this thread has given me quite a bit of pause on telling my dealer to put in the order. Anyway, rather than creating a new thread, I was hoping some of you might have updates on your rifles and their triggers. Has anyone's triggers improved with use? Are the Grainger springs working well with repeated use? Any more light strike issues? etc.

Thanks all, and I look forward to further enjoying this board.

[megasupermagnum]

My trigger has not changed at all. I believe I am running the 42# spring, and no inner spring. I probably put 500-600 rounds through it since I finished modifying it. Zero misfires. The Grainger springs should not wear out for quite some time, probably just as long as any other.

[crappie-hunter]

I am using the original large spring only,and the(Plastic? follower) that is ahead of the spring has been replaced with a stainless steel one, using federal primers ,and no miss fires. This is not a target rifle for me it is a hunting rifle, so a trigger that is a little on the stiff side no problem for me,I'm happy with mine.

[rfd]

MSM did the R&D on the grainger springs and they do work at least reasonably well.

a 7# or greater trigger is just plain DUMB ... even for a hunting firearm.

what a shame that henry is offering such a fine rifle in every way other than that horrible trigger design. they absolutely refuse to fix it, too.

worse yet, it's too bad for the demise of the H&R handy rifles, including their buffalo classic. if henry was looking to fill the H&R shoes, they failed.

[hc18flyer]

I changed out my spring, using CCI primers, not a single misfire. It suits me just fine for hunting. hc18flyer

[FredBuddy]

Changed the spring on my 357 and
put a set of Skinner sights on.

300+ rounds, no misfires and getting
close to that 'one ragged hole' group
at 50 yards. Need just a little more
tweaking.

[Colorado0321]

Thanks for the replies. I'll probably wait until the summer to pick one up since I'm so busy during the school year (Billy Madison type here)... that and I splurged on a turret press that was on sale over the weekend, so I need to start over a little bit in saving up for a rifle and all the reloading supplies to go with it .

[Foggy1111]

I have shot my Henry SS somewhat more this summer....after putting the original Large spring back in....with no small spring. I also finally got the steel hammer extension installed....and that now stays put and does offer considerable relief when cocking the trigger. Maybe not ideal for small hands and kids....but it works for me.

The trigger let off is down to about 6 lbs now.....and I am not getting mis-fires anymore. The accuracy seems fine for it's purpose. I own somewhere north of 35 rifles.....and I'd sure like to rate this higher than I do. Alas.

I would not buy this gun again....nor would I recommend it for purchase by others. I want to like it...for it's simplicity and size.....but there are better choices out there for similar money. The disappointment is largely in the trigger and hammer cocking effort for me.

[koger]

Doghawg, I had not been on this in a while. After I did my first one, and found out what needed to be done, it doesn't take very long using a Dremel tool with attachments, and a good stone to make the changes needed. I removed part of the sear contact, took the glitch out of the trigger, polished the sides of the pieces and polished the heck out of the other contact points, where anything rubs on anything. I even took some pipe cleaners, and loaded them down with valve grinding compound to polish the the holes where the screws go thru.

[nekshot]

I don't have one of these Henry's(sure wish I did), but following this thread I never could figure out why you guys don't just go after the original sear with a stone set or if needed a good metal file. If pulling the trigger and the hammer starts moving up too much I start going after the sear and all that is working with it.

[koger]

Nek shot that is what I described in the post before yours. I have been gunsmithing for 35+years, and once you do a good trigger job on a specific action, it does not take long to repeat the process. I took notes and measured what I did with a mic, so it was easy to repeat the process. I remove part of the too long sear, and polish the rest as noted above. Sometimes something so simple, like polishing the holes in the parts that ride on pins/screws, can make a 1# difference. It seems a lot of folks on here, don't like the Henry's, aren't capable of fixing their issues. I could have lived with my 30/30 as it was out of the box, with a 5# trigger, I could hit anything I shot at up to 150yds with the iron sights. One thing that I don't see addressed on here, is how big the front sight bead is, covers up a lot of area at 75 to 100yds. I replaced mine with one the same height, but 3x smaller from Marbles, and removed the adjustable sleeve in the rear sight, filed it flat, then made a U in it that just showed very little daylight around the front sight. Most of your older rifles had small, fine sights, several of my Marlins made in the 50's and a couple of FN actioned Mausers that I have also have very fine sights on them. These rifles were made for hunting, as much with iron sights as scopes back in the day.

[rfd]

Nek shot that is what I described in the post before yours. I have been gunsmithing for 35+years, and once you do a good trigger job on a specific action, it does not take long to repeat the process. I took notes and measured what I did with a mic, so it was easy to repeat the process. I remove part of the too long sear, and polish the rest as noted above. Sometimes something so simple, like polishing the holes in the parts that ride on pins/screws, can make a 1# difference. It seems a lot of folks on here, don't like the Henry's, aren't capable of fixing their issues. I could have lived with my 30/30 as it was out of the box, with a 5# trigger, I could hit anything I shot at up to 150yds with the iron sights. One thing that I don't see addressed on here, is how big the front sight bead is, covers up a lot of area at 75 to 100yds. I replaced mine with one the same height, but 3x smaller from Marbles, and removed the adjustable sleeve in the rear sight, filed it flat, then made a U in it that just showed very little daylight around the front sight. Most of your older rifles had small, fine sights, several of my Marlins made in the 50's and a couple of FN actioned Mausers that I have also have very fine sights on them. These rifles were made for hunting, as much with iron sights as scopes back in the day.

it isn't that these are bad rifles, it's that henry dropped the ball with the trigger, no more or less. if it came with a 4-5# trigger, i doubt there'd be any griping, but 7-9# is plain ridiculous. doing a "trigger job" is probably out of the realm of most posters on this thread, but swapping springs is easy. spending gunsmith money on a trigger makeover is a cost that would need to be added to the purchase price and warranty considerations. it would be a GREAT gun if at its price point the gun was sold with a decent "hunting trigger" weight of 4-5# - anything more is, well, stupid, IMHO.

[doghawg]

^^^^^^ditto on rfd's post. My .44 mag is a nice, handy little rifle with a 5 lb. trigger...now...but it sure didn't start out that way.

[fixit]

I have a theory concerning that little spring. I've not read the entire thread, however I've seen a couple of weapons in the past that have rebound hammers, that used a double spring arrangement like that. The innerspring was to allow for less spring pressure on the hammer so it could rebound to the half-cocked position. I would be curious if, with the innerspring removed, that the hammer would more or less just flop around between its at rest point and striking the firing the firing pin.

[fenderman57]

This is how I did mine."I picked up ss Henry last summer in 45/70. The first thing I did was to install the Grainger 31 lb spring. That took the heavy hammer pull way down and the trigger pull from 6.75 lb to 3 lb. A dab of moly paste on the sear dropped it to 2.75. Even though I had no misfires, I felt the hammer pull was very light. I cut down the OD of a 1/4 inch washer and put it under the spring. That made the hammer pull about 1/2 as hard as when new, and left the trigger at 2.75. Added a Skinner rear peep sight and a taller front fiber optic sight in order to sight in 475 gr. cast. All in all, it's a very accurate 6.75 lb rifle that's capable of anything in North America. "

[megasupermagnum]

I have a theory concerning that little spring. I've not read the entire thread, however I've seen a couple of weapons in the past that have rebound hammers, that used a double spring arrangement like that. The innerspring was to allow for less spring pressure on the hammer so it could rebound to the half-cocked position. I would be curious if, with the innerspring removed, that the hammer would more or less just flop around between its at rest point and striking the firing the firing pin.

Nope, the rebounding hammer works just fine without the inner spring. Both springs push on the same plunger, and the outer spring is actually longer than the inner spring.