22 Lever for practice

[Dman75]

How many of you guys have a 22 lever to practice with iron sights? I’ve got 3 bigger caliber levers (30-30,32 spec, and 44 mag). Thinking of buying a Henry octagon barrel 22 to practice with. Loving the casting and reloading of these guns but think a 22 would be a cheap quick way for practice. Besides another lever can’t hurt right?

[beltfed]

I love my Marlin 39A Mountie for an understudy to my 336 cB, Win M92, Win86-45-70
beltfed/arnie

[dverna]

I have the base Henry. Decent rifle.

But .22 LR is not cheap practice in this environment. If you are serious, get a decent air gun and shoot cheap pellets. You do not need a lever action to learn trigger and breath control.

If you want to justify a new toy...go for it.

BTW, dry firing will make you a better shooter, but it is boring work. I no longer do it as I have a range off my back porch and air guns are cheap to shoot.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I bought the Henry H001 for my Grand daughter, But I am holding onto it until she's old enough...so in the mean time, I'm using it for plinking/practicing fun. A few of these H001 have some pretty wood, just have to wait until you find one.

[Winger Ed.]

I guess you could say my Henry .22 is for practice with iron sights.
And I need a fair amount of it too.
With the safe being thinned out, the only thing I have left with a scope on it is a Rem700 in .30-06.

[veeman]

I don't think of it as practice. I shoot my 9422 on rare occasions just cuz I want to shoot something different for a change.

[Dman75]

I guess I should’ve asked my question a different way. I intend on using the 22 for practice, plinking, hunting. Wondering how many pair up 22 with other larger calibers. I think having the familiar feel of the lever no matter the caliber would help confidence and practical accuracy. Having similar feel, sights, trigger pull seems to me would be a great benefit. I’d love to pick up a 39A. Looked hard at our last local gun show. Found one for $900. Wasn’t willing to go there.��

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I've got scopes on my Henry lever 22's for practice, of course I have scopes on my Marlin 32 Special's, 30-30's, 35's, 444 and 45-70 along with scopes on my Savage 99's, only my walking around rifle, a featherweight .300 Savage 99 has a receiver sight, also use for a rain/snow rifle. Haven't found any advantage to iron sights beyond lighter and handier, don't get covered with rain or snow as easily. A good low powered scope is just as fast as irons and better in dark timber, early morning and bad light. Had scopes on my 9422 and Marlin 39A but I mostly shoot the Henry's when shooting 22's. I practice a lot with the center fires with mild cast boolit loads, the 22's are fun because keeping track of brass is eliminated. I have a 24" octagon barreled Henry that has 'real' rifle heft to it. I have an older 4-12 Nikon Monarch on it and it is as accurate or more accurate than the Winchester 9422 or the Marlin 39A. As always with 22's finding the right ammo makes a difference.

[MrWolf]

I have my Marlin 39a and a new Henry. Much prefer the Marlin, just suits me better.

[FergusonTO35]

Love my Henry H001T. It serves as an understudy to my .30-30's and wears the same Lyman 66 receiver sight.

[indian joe]

How many of you guys have a 22 lever to practice with iron sights? I’ve got 3 bigger caliber levers (30-30,32 spec, and 44 mag). Thinking of buying a Henry octagon barrel 22 to practice with. Loving the casting and reloading of these guns but think a 22 would be a cheap quick way for practice. Besides another lever can’t hurt right?

I bought a Uberti 66 in 22RF for practice - dont hardly use it - going for sale soon I think - also have a bolt action 22 that is my practice gun for ML competitions - helps a lot, comp coming up I shoot five or maybe ten every day standing offhand - shoot for score

[Winger Ed.]

Thinking of buying a Henry octagon barrel 22 to practice with.

I sure like my Golden Boy. However- The big octagon barrel is a little heavier in the front than I'm used to or a .22.
It balances pretty much like a center fire lever gun. The original sights are good, but I like my Tru-glow fire sights better.
I'm a big Marlin 39 guy, but the Henry is right up there with them, and will also cycle shorts like the Marlin.

I got the Golden Boy for its 'cool factor' and it was a few hundred dollars cheaper than a gently used Marlin.
I'd traded a bunch of factory ammo I was never going to shoot for it, but I sort of wish I'd gotten the blue steel version.
If you bang one around enough, the gold finish can chip.

[georgerkahn]

How many of you guys have a 22 lever to practice with iron sights? I’ve got 3 bigger caliber levers (30-30,32 spec, and 44 mag). Thinking of buying a Henry octagon barrel 22 to practice with. Loving the casting and reloading of these guns but think a 22 would be a cheap quick way for practice. Besides another lever can’t hurt right?

Imho, no added firearm to anyone's collection "can hurt"! That said, in the 1970's I paid about $80.00 for a brand new Winchester 9422 and that was my to-do .22 for a good many years! I had it with me so often its action was more of a semi-auto than a lever -- to operate the lever was analogous to having any thought required to turn the steering wheel of ones vehicle! E.g., it was done pretty much with no overt thought! One important note re firing lever firearms, so I have been told, was to learn to operate the lever while the barrel is still up after firing -- this, for a following shot. And, it does (at least in my case) take a wee bit of practice. (For those who enjoy the beauty of any lever, as it is perhaps the ONLY "one-handed action", to shoot from, say, horseback, this is moot.)
I can/will honestly state that mine never was used as any sort of a training aid. Gosh -- it was just pure fun to shoot!!!!!
geo

[Shawlerbrook]

Bought my Henry H001 for $250 nib a couple years ago. IMHO one of the best deals going on a new lever gun. That said, I do agree that the 22 is no longer a cheap way to plink. Probably one of the cheapest besides an air gun, would be shooting cast 38 Special handloads out of a 357 levergun.

[Outer Rondacker]

Bought my Henry H001 for $250 nib a couple years ago. IMHO one of the best deals going on a new lever gun. That said, I do agree that the 22 is no longer a cheap way to plink. Probably one of the cheapest besides an air gun, would be shooting cast 38 Special handloads out of a 357 levergun.

I was on the same page up until china=flu. I have built my entire line up for shooting 38s-357mag and 350 legend for plinking.

I look at it this way. I need to look at the current price of components to purchase and use. I cannot look at my decades old stash price vs current.

.12-.15 cents per primer before tax and 40-75 per pound for powder and all the free lead and brass in the world cannot make any hand loaded bullet cheaper then .22s at the moment. MY opinion with numbers for reasoning. Even 5 dollars for 50CCI's is only .10 cents each. 21.99 for 325 pack is .067 cents so .07 cents. Unless you need more KO power or want it at the moment its hard to beat .22LR. based off PRIMER price alone.

To get to the current price of primers you could spend $7.50 per 50 pieces of 22LR.

Wish I had a .22 in a lever but just cannot afford the price I keep seeing them at. I will keep shooting the hord of 38s I have out of my Trapper Rossi from time to time. Wish that was full size also.

A .22 Lever is on my buy if you can list.

[RJM52]

Have had 1894s in .41 Magnum for a couple of decades and matching "understudies"... Usually a Marlin Mountie or CARBINE. Ended up keeping just one CARBINE as I liked the lighter barrel and 2/3s Magazine.

Couple of years ago I bought my first .30-30 that is a match to the CARBINE..a Marlin 30TK that was a K-Mart exclusive..has a 18.5" barrel with a 2/3s magazine and barrel mounted front sight...

I'd upload some pics but the picture manger says my files exceed my limit...

Bob

[.45colt]

I bought a Henry Youth model .22 lever for the Grandkids . They Like it and so do I. It looks like things may be turning around. ammo is showing up more and more. the local wally world had 115 325rnd boxes of federal .22's Friday morning. they aren't free at $21.16 a box but I got a deal on gas for $3.17.

[rbuck351]

I have a H001 Henry but I rarely shoot it. My preferred lever gun for plinking and small game is a Win 92 in 25/20. With the cheapist 22lr I have seen lately ($21.16 for 325 rds), I can shoot it for less the the 22lr costs. I have a life time supply of primers and I also have a more than lifetime supply of 22lr. Also I have scopes on just about all my rifles and several of my hand guns.

[DAVIDMAGNUM]

I bought a Uberti 66 in 22RF for practice .....

That has got to be one heavy rifle.

[smkummer]

I just ran a new shooter through 6 stages of practice cowboy action and about 1/2 the time, we used my Marlin 39A.