Hey folks,
I was asked to do a review thread for this new rifle, so here goes.
It came in the standard cardboard box, though with a nicely cut out foam liner to protect the finish. Upon opening, it looked very nice. The pictures are as it came from the box with all the oil it had on it from the factory. The finish is a fairly nice cerakote job with two small imperfections. The left top of the frame rail next to the receiver had a small thick drop of cerakote and another one directly on the front edge of the frame, right above the chamber. Other than that, it is very smooth and even.
The wood is a little proud along the top tang and rear of the receiver. The forearm is nicely beveled on the front near the barrel band, not just chopped with the saw. The rear of the forearm is proud of the front of the receiver but is beveled as well. The wood finish is very smooth and the grain of the forearm and stock is nice and matched very well. The wood finish is not shiny. It has a matte look and is very clear. There are no visible pores in the wood. The sanding was done excellently besides the wood being proud of the metal.
Opening the action is like swiping your finger along warm butter. It is sooo smooth. There is no lever or receiver play and the rear locking block has been polished. It does have the top rear mounted safety. It is positive and is small enough to not get in the way. It also has a half cock safety and Im sure a Rossi safety plug could be installed.
The sights are here and there. The front is a red fiber optic that is bright and well protected in the mount, not being too long to be exposed to damage, but exposed enough to gather light. The rear sight is a little cheap, being a crescent moon type with a notch at the bottom of the crescent. It does not fold which I find is a miss and is overly large.
The barrel is smoothly finished and seems to be sized to the chambering, meaning there is some distance between the barrel and the magazine tube. It will aid in cleaning, but looks more akin to a Henry 22 than a Henry Big Boy series. I also found that this barrel is threaded. The threaded portion is a bit thin in my mind, but the threaded cap is slightly larger than the barrel due to the knurling. It locks on tight and even all the way around the barrel.
I did could not find my loaded 357 rounds, but I did load some 38 special in it. The gate is stiff and the finish is not smooth enough out of the box to cleanly load rounds, but it is manageable with a well place pinky. The loading gate is beveled without a sharp edge to be found. I assume the gate will break in with use and the finish will smooth out a bit. If not, I will remove the gate and smooth it myself. The rounds chambered as smooth as can be without a hitch or stutter. Ejection is nuts. I have a 7.5 foot ceiling in my basement and I am 5'11". Ejected rounds hit the ceiling and fly a good 10 feet behind me, well over my head.
I ran a few patches with Hoppes 9 and a bronze brush on a bore snake down the barrel. It is smooth all the way down with no constrictions that I could notice. The barrel is shiny and smooth as well. I will get to the range either tomorrow or Sunday to run some rounds through it and will report back with 25 yard accuracy pictures using a front rest from a sitting position.
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Originally Posted by sigep1764
