Henry Single Shot Initial Impressions

[megasupermagnum]

I wish I had one to tinker on, I am betting a decent trigger can be had from these rifles.

I rarely admit it, but that's half the reason I buy anything.

As for the springs, I'll probably end up selling them in 3 packs, one of each weight. Price will be $7.25 plus shipping (should be less than $2 in an envelope) for all 3 springs. It may be a week or two before I get around to marking and bagging them, but I'll post a link to the selling forum at that time.

I don't know why anyone would want to buy a whole pack, but the following part numbers are for Grainger, and are lighter replacements for the stock spring. As I said, I don't know for sure what the original was, but my best calculation is 50#.


54MY45 is 31#
54MY44 is 38#
54MY59 is 42#

[doghawg]

My .44 mag Henry came back yesterday. They replaced the trigger guard assembly and there is now no creep, absolutely none. The pull is still heavy but lighter than before and crisp and the gun is now shootable. I've got to hand it to Henry customer service...the people I've encountered from Anthony on down have been first rate.

[megasupermagnum]

My .44 mag Henry came back yesterday. They replaced the trigger guard assembly and there is now no creep, absolutely none. The pull is still heavy but lighter than before and crisp and the gun is now shootable. I've got to hand it to Henry customer service...the people I've encountered from Anthony on down have been first rate.

Good deal. If you ever take it apart, take a picture of the trigger guard. Maybe they have an upgrade over that cone spring mine has.

[glockky]

Anybody shooting real good groups with the Henry 44 mags?

[megasupermagnum]

The reduced power springs are now for sale in the swapping and selling section.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...44#post4463444

[megasupermagnum]

Shot about 20 rounds yesterday with the 31# spring, no misfires. It sure made the trigger a lot lighter. It is definitely in the shoot-able territory now, right along with H&R.

[donald duck]

I wonder if the .257 JDJ is still a proprietory cartridge?? It is rimmed, based on .225 Winchester brass. sure would like to see it in the new Henry Single Shot.

[JoeJames]

Thanks for the thread. I have a Henry Big Boy in 45 magnum/44 Special, and I have mostly been trying to work up accurate 44 Special Cast Boolit loads. So I have not really checked the trigger weight. I had also noticed that I was finally getting decent groups off a solid rest, but I was all over the target shooting offhand; which I ascribed to my eyes, and age... Duh! But the post about the email from Henry got my attention:
"Thank you for owning a Henry rifle.

The normal trigger-pull weight range for our centerfire rifles is 5-6 lbs."

Bless their hearts - I sure don't consider 5 - 6 pounds normal. I will be putting my gauge to my Henry this weekend and report back.

[megasupermagnum]

6 pounds is getting up there, but 4-5# triggers are normal, as in most rifles today come that way. My big boy was far better than the single shot. If I had to guess, my big boy is right around 5#, but the single shot was up around 8#. With some work, and a lighter spring, I've brought that down to about 5#, maybe a little less. I have not tried my big boy at long range, but 3-4" at 100 yards has been typical for mine, once I put a skinner peep sight on. The factory sights are garbage.

[Chad5005]

megasupermagnum if I had known you were looking for a 308 h&r I might would have parted with mine,i hunted with it for a year and have been using I for a back up gun for the last 2 years,i changed it over to tactical stock and fore arm to make it shorter so the eye relief on scope was better for me in my wheelchair

[megasupermagnum]

I'm always looking for H&R's if the price is reasonable. Send me a PM if you you want to sell it.

[JoeJames]

Checked the trigger on my Big Boy this weekend. It varied between 4 pounds and 4 1/2 pounds. Too much for me. I am beginning to wonder if I did not wade off into something here. I bought it hoping to use 44 Special SWC's in it same as my Ruger Blackhawk, and after a couple of months and many and varied bullets I finally found a load that was ok in both - Oregon Trail .431" laser cast 240 gr. SWC's, and 6.5 grains of Unique. Then the sights which are abysmal, and no click adjustment whatsoever and - too far forward for my eyes. Then the weight @ 8 1/2 pounds - not exactly my idea of a lightweight carbine. And now the trigger weight entailing a spring kit of some sort.

[megasupermagnum]

Are you just fishing for comments? 4 pounds is very good for a factory trigger. Try your Blackhawk, I'd bet it's not much less than that. The sights are not very good, but why would you expect click adjustments? What lever rifle has click adjusting sights? I got skinner peep sights for mine, they are fantastic. But the weight, that's bogus. Your scale is wrong. The 44 mag carbine is listed at 7 pounds. I own the 327 federal, listed at 6.59 pounds. My scale puts mine at exactly 6.5 pounds. Plenty light.

Anything else with your completely functional lever gun you want to complain about in the single shot forum?

[JoeJames]

Are you just fishing for comments? 4 pounds is very good for a factory trigger. Try your Blackhawk, I'd bet it's not much less than that. The sights are not very good, but why would you expect click adjustments? What lever rifle has click adjusting sights? I got skinner peep sights for mine, they are fantastic. But the weight, that's bogus. Your scale is wrong. The 44 mag carbine is listed at 7 pounds. I own the 327 federal, listed at 6.59 pounds. My scale puts mine at exactly 6.5 pounds. Plenty light.

Anything else with your completely functional lever gun you want to complain about in the single shot forum?

My Blackhawk after a Wilson spring kit is down to 2 1/2 pounds. I reckon to some 7 pounds is ok then. Since I was also complaining about the actual weight of the Big Boy 44 Magnum, you may have have been referring to its actual carry weight. And when I was complaining about that I hereby admit to being wrong. I stated it was 8 1/2 pounds but a brief check of the internet indicated it was a bit heavier than I thought: Big Boy .44 Mag/Spl»Model Number H006 M.S.R. Price $945.00Additional Specifications»Barrel Length20"Weight
8.68 lbs.

[megasupermagnum]

You said it was a carbine. That's the brass receiver, full size rifle. Worse yet, it's the heavy octagon barrel. Trade it for the steel carbine model.

[JoeJames]

You said it was a carbine. That's the brass receiver, full size rifle. Worse yet, it's the heavy octagon barrel. Trade it for the steel carbine model.

You are correct; I am afraid I made a bad mistake from the git-go. I am thinking seriously about trading it for something. May not be the Henry; also looking at the Rossi 92, or the Marlin 44 Magnum lever action (not micro-groove however). Both are light, and easier and cheaper for mounting a receiver sight.

[megasupermagnum]

I wouldn't go Rossi, Marlin may be good. From the sounds of it, micro-groove is not as bad as it's made out to be. The steel Henry's (I'm not sure about brass) are tapped, and easy to mount sights and optics to. The only real problem with Henry as a brand I see, is no gunsmith will work on them. If you can do your own trigger work, good, else you are stuck with it.

[JoeJames]

I wouldn't go Rossi, Marlin may be good. From the sounds of it, micro-groove is not as bad as it's made out to be. The steel Henry's (I'm not sure about brass) are tapped, and easy to mount sights and optics to. The only real problem with Henry as a brand I see, is no gunsmith will work on them. If you can do your own trigger work, good, else you are stuck with it.

I usually do my own trigger or spring work. Re: micro-groove: You may be correct, but after spending a couple of months with the Henry trying different cast boolit loads and different diameter boolits to get to a point where they group well and do not key hole in 44 Special; I certainly do not intend to borrow trouble by adding a micro-groove barrel into the mix.

[doghawg]

Megasupermagnum
Got my springs today and ended up using the 31 lb.spring and I left the inner spring in. The hammer pull is significantly lighter and easier on the arthritic thumb joint. My RCBS trigger pull gauge goes to 4 1/2 lb. and the trigger only requires a little bit more pull than that to break cleanly which is about 1 1/2 to 2 lb. lighter than it was after the second trip to the factory. I'm content with the way it is and I ain't fixin' it no more. Maybe could have left out the inner spring but with the way it is now I don't think lock time is affected at all and didn't want to risk a lazy hammer fall in a cold November deer stand.

Thanks for the springs and the research....as far as I'm concerned this issue is resolved.

Btw...I mounted an old M8 3X Leupold in the Henry/Talley ring/base set up and tried the .44 off the bench at 50 yards a few days ago. The 1-20" twist works well with 320 gr. LFNGC's and produced a 4 shot group of 1" at 50 yards and got a ragged one hole 4 shot group with 240 Sierra HP's. These were revolver handloads so I haven't done any load development at all yet. Should do even better now with the better trigger.

[megasupermagnum]

Definitely keep us updated how reliable the 31# spring turns out to be. That's what I have in mine, but probably wont get back to shooting it until December. I also sold a set to 1980Harley, but never heard back if he got around to trying any.