Henry "Long Ranger" in 223 Remingon - Anyone have one? Thoughts on it?

[bedbugbilly]

I'm curious if anyone happens to have a Henry "Lone Ranger" chambered in 223 Remington? If so - how do you like it and are they any "issues" such as cartridge feeding (with box magazine) and COAL, boolit design, etc.?

Long story short - I got acquainted with a young fellow out here and we went shooting in the desert where he let me shoot some his 223 ARs. A lot of fun! I'm and old fogey though and the AR platform doesn't really appeal to me, but he had one set up with glass for bench rest shooting and I was impressed with the 223 Remington cartridge - enough that I'd like to get a 223 rifle just to play with the cartridge for plinking and target shooting. he 223 is all new to me however.

Lots of choices out there - bolt, single shot, etc. but I ran across the Henry Long Ranger and had never looked at them before,. so wasn't aware of them being available in 223. I have a number of Henrys and like them - and for what I want to shoot, one in 223 looks like fun.

One place out here I can shoot up to 100 yards and my friend just found another place that we can shoot out to 625 yards. Due to eyesight issues, I'll be scoping whatever the of rifle I end up with. I figured I would use Starline 223 Remington brass. I'd like to play with cast boolits - probably several different weights. The Henry Long Ranger in 223 has a 1 in 9 twist rate as does the Henry single shot. Other makes/actions I've started to look at seem to have fast twist of 1:9 to 1:12? I'm not looking to load "hot" , but rather to play around developing loads. At some point I might play with some jacketed bullets, but primarily I have always shot lead and cast my own. In 30-30 and 8 X 57, I have had good luck with cast and powders such as Red Dot, Unique, Bulls Eye, etc. out to 100 yards and have also played with gas checks in those calibers as well so am not afraid to do that in the 223 and go with other powders that would work better.

The videos I've watched on the Henry Long Ranger in 223 seems to show there ability for accuracy with a scope but they are using jacketed rounds. I like the idea of a lever gun in the caliber - but - there are so many options out there for bolt guns - Ruger, Mossberg, Savage. CZ and of course there is the Henry single shot - all priced cheaper than the Henry Long Ranger. So is the extra $$ for the Henry Long Ranger worth it in terms of accuracy ability with lead boolits - I know the quality is there - or would I be better served to go with different make/action type even if the twist rate is similar?

Because of my eyesight, even with a scope. I'm not expecting to be able to put them into a thimble but rather just have fun at shooting different distances and playing with windage and elevation and at long distances. be able to hit steel and hear the plunk once in a while :-)

Your thoughts would be appreciated! Thanks!

[koger]

The 1-9 twist will stabilize up to 69 grain jacketed bullets, and in some rifle 77 gr slugs. This round really shines with these heavy bullets, as all5 of mine love them, and they are big enough to kill deer with a precise shot in the vital, out to 150 yds. They are deer legal here in KY. With the 1-9 twist, they will shoot anything from 50 grain to 69 really well. The Henry Long Ranger is a good, smooth working, accurate rifle. I have shot them in .243, /223, and 6.5CM, and all shot between 1/2" to 3/4" with factory ammo, the 6.5cm shot under half inch at 100yds with a handload. I like them, but they are heavy. I have 3 of the Henry singe shots, .223, 243, and 30/30, and all of them shoot 3/4" groups at 100yds with a 3x9x40 scope, Nikons mostly. They are heavy too, but make shooting them a real pleasure, I have not shot cast in anything but the .30/30 and it did right around an inch at 100yds. I would get the single shot again, if given the chance, you can buy two of them, for one of the lever actions. And they are pretty dang gorgeous guns, or mine are.

[shortlegs]

For cast in 223 I prefer the 1 in 12 twist, but still shoot some in 1 in 9 twist too.

[Markopolo]

We have one in 223.. great gun.. scoped... accurate... had it for a year and my son loves it. only things I don't like is the clip design... the metal bottom tends to slide around, and the weight of the gun is a lot to pack around... the thing weighs the same as a 45/70 ... lol. ok, perhaps not quite as much, but was a bit unexpected... of course we looked at the specs.. just didn't register how heavy it was... great gun otherwise.. well built like a henry... took a while to break in... we shoot it with the lee bator boolit.. be sure you slug and size and it found the gun pretty tight..

i would buy it again..

marko

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Just took one out of the box, good trigger, very smooth bore thru Lyman bore scope, will add comments after scope is mounted and rounds go down range. Scope bases supplied won't work with rings/scopes on hand. New base should be on brown truck today.

[Misery-Whip]

Range guns with levers are way more fun. Every one that tries my bbs has a smile.

[dverna]

Personally, cast in .223/5.56 is a waste of time. I bought 6000 Hornady 55 gr SP for $420 delivered. At $.07 a bullet they are a bargain and able to shoot accurately up to 300 yards with little effort to get a MOA load. I am too old to waste my remaining years weighing and inspecting cast bullets; and trying to put GC's on those itty bitty pills. A cast bullet is going to cost about $.035 with a hard alloy, lube and the GC. You might be able to produce, inspect and weigh 150 per hour. Figures out to a saving of ($.035 x 150) $5.25/hour. And I have not invested in a mold, or two, or three to find a bullet the gun likes; and one or two sizers. It may take you hundreds of rounds to find a .223 load at 2400 fps that is acceptable (2MOA), and less than 100 to find a 3000 fps MOA load with jacketed. But I am a shooter more than I am a reloader, and hate casting, so my perspective is different. It is about performance and KISS.

Cost of a "good" 4 cavity mold is about $100, sizer $20, lube $10, Hard ball alloy for 6000 bullets $100, and GC's $120...so about $350. Time to produce 6000 bullets - 40 hours. Savings of $70

A Howa mini-Mauser is one of my .223's. Less costly than the Henry, It is light and nibble...likely more accurate than the Henry. If you have the funds, look at the little CZ...another excellent and handy to carry rifle. The .223 in a lever action does not make much sense to me, but I have AR's if I need/want rapid repeat shots for coyote hunting. For shooting off a bench, or long range shooting, the bolt action is my preference.

Think about why you want to cast before going down that road. If you love the challenge, you will be happy and spend many hours at it! If you want to save money, you won't save much unless you shoot thousands of rounds a year and have the time to produce bullets.

[Markopolo]

Dverna.. your silly... It is fun, and not a waste... i do it all the time.. i surely thought when I started this hobby all those years ago, I was doing it to save money, but that is not the case.. actually, i do it for the satisfaction... but that is me.. for some, its a waste, for me, it a kick in the butt fun... except maybe the weight sorting thing... :drinks:

[northmn]

For some cartridges I have to agree with Dverna. With cast the 223 becomes a 22 Hornet at best. Really look at your wants before spending what a Henry costs. I thought about a 223 and casting for it and just cannot get excited. Went through that with a hornet and found I am better off with a 22 magnum. I have a Henry 22 mag and it is a lot of fun.

DEP

[dverna]

Dverna.. your silly... It is fun, and not a waste... i do it all the time.. i surely thought when I started this hobby all those years ago, I was doing it to save money, but that is not the case.. actually, i do it for the satisfaction... but that is me.. for some, its a waste, for me, it a kick in the butt fun... except maybe the weight sorting thing... :drinks:

Yes my friend I understand. If I lived on a remote island near Alaska I might think differently. Weighing and sorting .224 bullets would fill those months of darkness and keep me in my cozy cabin with a fire roaring. I pray you keep your sanity!!!

Casting saves money if it is approached from a rational perspective. For me, casting is a means to an end. It provides cheap pistol bullets so it is worth the work. Be assured that if I could purchase bullets at a 25% premium over the cost to cast, I would never cast another bullet. When it comes to rifle bullets, I have thinned my needs to .223, .30/30, .308 and .300 Win Mag. None perform better with cast bullets and, except for maybe the .30/30, all suffer a loss in performance over jacketed bullets. No "fun" there!!!

Cast in .223 is a labor of love aka as a waste of time...LOL. It depends on perspective. Then again, I see folks who buy factory .223 ammunition because they believe reloading it is a "waste of time". I guess man can rationalize almost anything.

[Dimner]

Yes my friend I understand. If I lived on a remote island near Alaska I might think differently. Weighing and sorting .224 bullets would fill those months of darkness and keep me in my cozy cabin with a fire roaring. I pray you keep your sanity!!!

Casting saves money if it is approached from a rational perspective. For me, casting is a means to an end. It provides cheap pistol bullets so it is worth the work. Be assured that if I could purchase bullets at a 25% premium over the cost to cast, I would never cast another bullet. When it comes to rifle bullets, I have thinned my needs to .223, .30/30, .308 and .300 Win Mag. None perform better with cast bullets and, except for maybe the .30/30, all suffer a loss in performance over jacketed bullets. No "fun" there!!!

Cast in .223 is a labor of love aka as a waste of time...LOL. It depends on perspective. Then again, I see folks who buy factory .223 ammunition because they believe reloading it is a "waste of time". I guess man can rationalize almost anything.

I cast for .223/556 for situations that my normal Hornady #2266 (55gr SP) to not fit into. (I bought 2000 of them at 0.07 each as well). Basically, I will cast for .223/556 in a bullet profile that is not similar to the 55gr. So heavy 22 cals, and lighter 22 cals I like to cast for. Once I found the cheap #2266's I stopped using my RCBS 55gr mold.

I don't think it's a 'pain'. It's, at least to me, like casting for anything else. If I could find 150gr Hornady 30cal Interlocks for under a dime each, I probably wouldn't be casting my hunting bullets in 30 cal. I should also mention I do not, using any bullet, cast for any 22 cal semi-autos. Those case bullets just are shot up too fast.

[bedbugbilly]

Thank you all for the help and information - very helpful!

Like anytime you want to add a new caliber/gun - a lot of looking, research and head scratching.

As much as I like casting - been doing it for 55+ years - I will admit that with the cut down in my shooting, wanting to set up and cast a bunch of pistol boolits get's less appealing at times as I dip cast and always have. So, your point on using jacketed for the 223 is well taken and certainly worth consideration. I have a problem buying "store bought" ammo when I can easily reload so have no issues with the reloading part of the process.

As much as I love lever guns - and I love the Henrys I have - the cost point factor is also well taken. I know this is the lever gun section and that's why I posted here on the Henry Long Ranger - as pointed out - for the cost of the LR, once could buy 2 Henry single shots, so that is worth consideration as well. A look at one of the many bolt actions is also perhaps the way to go for what I want it for - plinking, can killing and steel ringing. The difference in cost of the Henry LR and a Henry single shot or one of the bolt actions would go a long way towards getting a decent and adequate scope to put on whatever I end up with.

At any rate - thanks for your kind responses - it is just whetting my appetite further to get a 223 to play with.

[Hamish]

bully,

Though a (very) few may try to dissuade you of casting for for the smaller calibers, it's well worth doing, doubly so if you try the Lee mold and like it.