Henry Big Boy or Rossi 92

[Lefty Red]

First of all, the rumors of my death were highly exaggerated! Work, sick, weather, work, surgery, weather, repeat has had me away.

Ok, I was able to talk to an old buddy today and he fell in love with my 45/40 Guide Gun! He is wanting to get a lever! But he is wanting either a 357 or 44, otherwise I would have go get the Rio Grande in 45/70 that I want real bad!

We were talking and any Marlin in those calibers will be way out of what he would want to pay for range gun. So we thought about either the Rossi or a Henry. I know the ten or so Rossi 92s I messed with only about half felt "good". So I was leaning on him getting the Henry, even at the higher price.

Any thoughts?

Lefty

[Hawkeye45]

I love my Henry 44, still working on the " sweet" load. Even with " off my shelf" cast it is right on and a pleasure to shoot. JMHO

Mr. Ed

[06ackley]

I love my Henry as well.Mine is 45 colt but it is very accurate. JMO.

[9w1911]

15grns of 2400 under a 300gr boolit w/gc is a great load in 44mag lever in my opinion I can shoot that all day

[Lefty Red]

I know, I have everything for 44sp/44mag but he is REALLY wanting a 357 mag because I ACCIDENTALLY turned him on to Paco Kelly's LEVERGUNS site! :)

I am thinking he can get a Rossi, a spring kit and the DVD, and we can polish everything up for under $600. But I would put some better sights on it. The Henry's are $150 higher and I really don't see anything they need but a Skinner Sight!

Lefty

[pworley1]

My Henry weighs a good bit more than my Rossi, so for hunting I would go with the Rossi. For a range gun, the Henry might be the better choice. Both shoot fine, but the my Henry is a little smoother.

[Bullshop Junior]

Every Henry I have handled i didn't like and ive seen a good number of them with the tang broken off. I love my Puma 92 in 454.

[mrk_86]

love my henry 45 colt!

[pirkfan]

Have a Henry and a Rossi 92, both in 38 spl/357. Rossi is a 16" round barrel and weighs under 5 lbs, Henry is over 8 lbs. Easier to hold a steady sight picture with the Henry because of the extra weight, and it's soooo smooth. Rossi is just fun to shoot. They both like 38 special which apparently has been a problem for some lever guns. and they have no problem with semi-wadcutters. The Rossi has performed flawlessly right out of the box. The original Henry had a problem in that the tubular magazine and lever interacted in such a way that the lever always popped open when loading the magazine, and the inner magazine tube was almost impossible to turn to and from the latched position. Henry determined that the problem was sufficiently bad that they just replaced the rifle (which I'd say qualifies as great customer service). The replacement has performed flawlessly right out of the box. The Rossi is a "working gun", fit and finish are clean and functional. The Henry is a work of art, beautiful wood and the brass is spectacular...I dread the first scratch. A lot of folks hate the safety on the Rossi bolt, but I don't mind it. The Rossi also has a Taurus locking mechanism on the hammer and I like that too. The Henry is impossible to securely lock with any conventional gun lock, so must be put in a gun safe

[Ilwil]

My .45 Henry has a butter smooth action with lots of figure in the walnut stock; over all, just a thing of beauty. Five shots at 25 yds cuts a ragged hole. Made in America. What more is there to say?

[Lead Fred]

Comparing a Cadillac to a Fiat, The Henry, 1894 Winnie and Marlin 1895 are all superior to any 1892

Go with the Henry, you wont be disappointed

[BCRider]

As someone that has persisted with their Rossi 92 for the past 4 years of cowboy shooting and plinking I've got a bit of a sweet spot for the cheap to buy Rossi. Even though it REALY needs to get the basic slicking up work done to make it sing it still comes out as the cheapest possible option for a pistol caliber lever rifle. And once slicked up and kitted out with the reduced power springs they are actually darn nice and light on the cycling. I've had two people offer to buy it from me on the spot right after shooting it. But they balked when I said I needed enough from it to buy a Uberti 1873.... :D I'm not kidding, I told them that.

I don't doubt that the DVD is fantastic. Everything I've read about it says so. And often times you can't beat the video instructions showing how each step is done. But if you're handy at metal working and do a little light duty gunsmithing you can work from the write-ups and pictures found on the web for the Rossi trigger job. You'll still need the spring kit though. That's just about essential to lightening the lever up to where you don't need padding on the lever loop or thick gloves to save the backs of your fingers. And the softer mainspring makes the trigger SOOOOOO nice.

I've got a couple of Henry rimfires. And if they are examples of Henry's big guns then I feel that they would be quite nice too. But the two things that would put me off a Big Boy is the lack of a side loading gate and the heavier weight compared to the light and lithe 92.

A note on the ammo. The Rossi will cycle the shorter .38's but if the shooter starts to speed up the lever cycle they can stand up and jam the new round coming up. To avoid this he'll want to either cycle the lever a little more deliberately with a slight pause while fully ahead before starting to the rear and up. Or he can simply make all the ammo he uses with .357Mag casings regardless of how much powder he puts into them.

If he goes Rossi and it comes with the silly bolt safety just get the rear peep adapter for it. That's as nice and slick a rear peep sight as anything I've seen. But sadly they are not SASS legal. So if he plans on any SASS shooting it'll need to be a rear tang sight. Or stick with the stock iron rear but change from the buckhorn to something else if he wants.

With the Rossi if he goes that way don't be surprised at the shocking look of the wood. A Rossi I slicked up for a cowboy shooting buddy recently didn't have the wood to metal fit issues that some have reported but the finish looked like they had rubbed some overused gooky black engine oil on the wood and left it. So a strip and refinish job will also almost certainly be needed if one wants to actually look at the rifle without disgust.

All this paints a rather nasty picture. But we can do all this stuff and still come out the other end with as slick and nice looking a rifle as anyone could want. And it'll still be well under the cost of a Miroku Winchester 92.

There's also Chiappa but from my experience as well as those of a couple of shooting buddy's and after talking with the local smith that does most of the cowboy gun work in these parts I would strongly suggest staying away from them. They LOOK FANTASTIC! But it's all window dressing. Lots of odd things and shortcuts inside make their guns less than desirable. If they get their internal act together some day their guns will be hot sellers. Even at the elevated price they charge. But I sure won't be buying any until I get the go ahead from my smith that they've smartened up.

[Lefty Red]

Well, I thank everyone for their input. Looks like Russ is going to go with the Henry and in 45LC! LOL I cast and reload for his 45ACP sidearms and I think/hope the same bullet, unsized, might work in the Henry. If not, just another mold I get to buy and mess with.

But I think the work that he wanted to have done with a Rossi, if he found one he liked, and the extra cost steered him away. And I can't blame him. He is just a range shooter and out at the farm now and then.

Well, I am waiting for him now, to come by and pick me up to head out and get it. Got to get an order in to Midway for some 45LC items.

Lefty

[Tn Jim]

My avatar is my Big Boy 44 and I have a Henry 22 in the safe. Two of the sweetest levers I have ever shot. He won't be disappointed.

[Lefty Red]

UPDATE: 2-15-14

Buddy literally sleeps with his BB! LOL
I have reloaded over 300 rounds and finally just gave him my Lee Loader and the correct dipper and sent him on his way.

I do have to say, I would like to hunt with it and the Lee 300 gr FN bullet! Don't think anything walking within 200 yards is safe. And that is keeping the load just under Ruger Only Loads.

Can't wait to get one in 357 mag.
Also looking at the 17 HMR as well. :)