Heartbreak Hotel

[doghawg]

Yes, I need a room at the hotel. I have a .44 Mag Henry single that had a couple trips back to Rice Lake for the terrible trigger and hammer pull. After the recall it's just fine and I'm happy with it. My recent production .357 has been a real joy right from the start. So I had to push my luck. Three decades of prairie dog trips had left a quite an inventory of odds and ends and partial boxes of j-words that are gathering dust so I ordered a H015-223. The plan was to use it as a plinker and maybe to experiment with cast. The gun showed up today and wood was nice and the trigger pull light and crisp. My elation didn't last long though. The stock had two nasty cracks by the tang. The box was in good condition so it wasn't shipping damage. I can't believe the assembler didn't see this and how it ever got past the Jan 26, 2022 inspection. FFL said he has had good luck with Henry service and is going to ask them to send a replacement butt stock. We shall see.

[sharps4590]

I guess I'm just old and have owned and handled too many German and British single shot rifles and '86 and '92 Winchester's to get very excited about Henry. They just feel....not right. Lots like 'em and that's a good thing but, I don't think I could ever buy one.

[georgerkahn]

Yes, I need a room at the hotel. I have a .44 Mag Henry single that had a couple trips back to Rice Lake for the terrible trigger and hammer pull. After the recall it's just fine and I'm happy with it. My recent production .357 has been a real joy right from the start. So I had to push my luck. Three decades of prairie dog trips had left a quite an inventory of odds and ends and partial boxes of j-words that are gathering dust so I ordered a H015-223. The plan was to use it as a plinker and maybe to experiment with cast. The gun showed up today and wood was nice and the trigger pull light and crisp. My elation didn't last long though. The stock had two nasty cracks by the tang. The box was in good condition so it wasn't shipping damage. I can't believe the assembler didn't see this and how it ever got past the Jan 26, 2022 inspection. FFL said he has had good luck with Henry service and is going to ask them to send a replacement butt stock. We shall see.

My dealings with Henry (corp ) were back when they were fledgling in Brooklyn, New York! I bought a .22 which came with a side-bent lever. In addition to gratis repair, I got a personal (computer generated, I am sure... but the thought was great) letter from Anthony Imperato and a gift of a Henry gun sock plus a few other goodies. (This was at the time you could, too, call and speak with Mike Dillon ) (Times have changed)
Anyhoos -- my experience with Henry was in fact one of my -- if not "THE" -- best repair experiences I've ever had!
Re your tang cracks, just a hunch is that they were assembled sans any, but the furniture was perhaps under a bit of tension. Most sadly, in today's warehousing snafu practices, it may have been subjected to tremendous temperature storage changes... enough to cause the cracks. Bion, I had similar cracks on a rifle a few years back, and this is what I was told.
Best wishes!
geo

[ScrapMetal]

I wouldn't blame Henry for that damage could have easily happened in shipping (getting repense from Henry will be a lot easier than getting if from FedEx though). That long box can be "bent" or stepped on or had something dropped on it just enough to do damage without leaving a lot of marks on the box. Dealt with it before myself.

Sad to see that though. Hope it gets fixed quickly for you.

-Ron

[MrWolf]

I guess I'm just old and have owned and handled too many German and British single shot rifles and '86 and '92 Winchester's to get very excited about Henry. They just feel....not right. Lots like 'em and that's a good thing but, I don't think I could ever buy one.

I feel the same way. Henry's are only OK, they just don't fit me right. Kinda like a Glock, they dont feel right either.

[hc18flyer]

Two years ago I sent my Henry single shot back for the recall. While it was there they found a crack in the butt stock and replaced it. They sent the original back too! I have had excellent experience with Henry! hc18flyer

[sharps4590]

I'd be very inclined to agree with george and scrap. My recent experience with Fed-Ex has not been good.

[NSB]

I received an 1885 one time and the box wasn’t damaged, but the stock was cracked at the wrist. The company sent me a return label and I sent it back and got a new gun. They told me that a break/crack in the wrist area is the most common type of damage report they get. You can flex the box enough to crack it without damaging the box.

[John Taylor]

Fedex broke a very expensive stock several years back. The rifle was double boxed and had some kind of mark across the box where the stock was broken. They said is was not boxed properly. UPS delivered an empty box that had been tapped closed, should have had an 1892 Winchester in it. USPS tore a box in half and delivered half. The part that was missing had the action for a Winchester 52 sporter.

[NSB]

Ever notice that every single shipper denies it was their fault? Got to wonder why you even bother with insurance. They don’t want to pay the claims.

[doghawg]

I really don't think it was shipping damage but am often wrong. The box was in pristine condition.

[dverna]

I really don't think it was shipping damage but am often wrong. The box was in pristine condition.

With an attitude like that, your wife has little to complain about...lol

[marlinman93]

If it was inspected on Jan. 26, 2022 I doubt the damage was caused by storage in a warehouse. Can't imagine it even spent any time in storage if it's in your hands just over a month later?
I do think it's possible the through bolt might have been over tightened, and the crack didn't appear until after it was inspected though. It's not unusual for a stock using a through bolt to crack from being tightened to much, and it wont usually happen at the time it was assembled. So could easily have cracked days, or weeks after inspection.

[dverna]

I learned my lesson when I shipped a M70 and it arrived with a broken stock. It was a laminated stock too!

When I ship a long gun now. I either put it in a cheap hard case or if the buyer wants the factory box, I put a few pieces of pallet deck boards top and bottom before over wrapping.

[missionary5155]

The extra wood liners are the key. I have received a box with wood liners that clearly showed the lugged sole of a boot marked on the box. USPS was the offender. Happily the rifle survived.

[doghawg]

UPDATE.....I guess I may have underestimated Henry's customer service. I just spoke with Stacey and explained the situation to her. They are sending me a new stock. AND...after closer examination of the box I can see where the hammer was almost poking through the side of the box. Whether that caused the crack or if there was some over tightening of the stock bolt plus the shock the box took I'll never know.

EDIT to add...Everyone has their own preferences but I think the little blued Henry singles are elegant rascals. Maybe it's because the break action single takes me back many years to being a farm boy and wandering the area woods with that old Iver Johnson.

[osage]

Nice to hear they responded so quickly. Hopefully the replacement is well packaged.

[sharps4590]

One or some baboons who work for Fed-Ex hit a box hard enough to split the head of the stock and pop one side out of the mortise on a $3500.00 Merkel O/U double rifle. The box was severely creased on both sides where the break was and the end was CUT open. It looked as if someone had tried to get the rifle out of the box. Much to the credit of the seller/shipper it was packed so tight it wouldn't "sling" out. I had to cut the box from around the rifle. I told the seller, thanked him and contacted my gunsmith. He repaired the stock with a cross bolt that looks factory and I just paid for it. I think it was $75 or $85. I had experienced Fed-Ex's insurance claims before and knew it would come to a urinating match and I'd lose anyway. Sooo.. I just will not use them and encourage anyone else to not use them. I'd bet $1,000.00 it happened in the Kansas City facility. Lots of stuff goes into that black hole never to emerge.

[john.k]

It pretty certain that anti gun fanatics work in these places ,and try to bust guns..........fella here had a costly English double rifle run over by a forklift at an airport baggage facility....The union that covers baggage handlers also has truck drivers and refuellers....so is just about untouchable.

[marlinman93]

The extra wood liners are the key. I have received a box with wood liners that clearly showed the lugged sole of a boot marked on the box. USPS was the offender. Happily the rifle survived.

The real key is to never ship a long gun with the stock attached to the barreled action! I always demand sellers split them and send them well packed together. This way the stock never gets broken, and the shipping cost is cheaper because the overall length is shorter too.
Never had a broken stock since I started doing it this way. But back about a decade ago I sent two single shots to a buyer in Va. and FedEx broke both stocks, even packed each in their own cases! I built packing crates of wood for each gun, with all the sides and bottom glued and screwed together. Then I packed the guns inside with foam rubber, and bubble wrap. Screwed the lids on, and felt they could run over them with a small truck and not hurt them. I also slipped each in a cheap woven sleeve I happened to have. Buyer told me when he received the two guns both stocks were hanging out the ends of the boxes like they'd been tossing the boxes like javelins! Neither broken badly, and he didn't want to mess with a claim, so he fixed them and just forgot about it. Never used FedEx since, and never will again.