Best NEW lever actions?

I have two Henry's both fine rifles and Henry Customer Service is A #1. I also have 6 Marlins 3 JM and 3 Remlins. All good. I like the Henry's but prefer the Marlins even the new Marlins. Quality is back up and my Remington made Marlins are every bit as good as the JM stamped Marlins.

Any American made Lever is better than any foreign made lever.
 
I recently bought a new Henry 45-70 and so far I love it. A little on the heavy side but I do 90% of my hunting on stand. The weight also helps the perceived recoil with heavier handloads. Very smooth action although the trigger has a little creep at the beginning of the pull. I'll probably take it to my 'smith and have him fine tune the trigger - ain't no big thing but all new rifles could use a little fine tuning, IMHO.
I'm looking forward to trying some cast bullet loads with the thing. I'm definitely taking this rifle during spring bear season.
 
I thought I would share my experience with my Henry 45 70. I live in Anchorage, Alaska by the Chugach National Forest and regularly have moose, black, and brown bears walk through my yard. My neighbor killed a brown bear in his yard a year and a half ago and I had an encounter with a black bear about 8 months ago. I bought the Henry as a bear defense rifle for my house, knowing that my kids are in the yard all the time and I may need something reliable for defense. I took the Henry to the range and fired 10 rounds through it the first time I took it out. Five rounds were leverevolution 325 grain and 5 rounds were Buffalo Bore 430 grain. The action was not smooth on this rifle and for a couple of rounds, the lever would not completely close. However, the rifle was very accurate and the recoil was much more tolerable than I expected. I assumed the bullet didn't smoothly load into the chamber was because the rifle was new and not yet broken in so I didn't shoot any more rounds through it on this trip. I took it home, cleaned it, and took it back to the range on another trip. I loaded three leverevolution rounds through the magazine and tried to lever one into the chamber. Again, the lever wouldn't close so I unloaded it, reloaded it, and this time it loaded without issue. I fired two rounds when I noticed a different sight picture on the third round. The tubular magazine somehow slid forward about three inches past the end of the barrel. I unloaded it, took it home and contacted Henry RAC. Within an hour after I contacted them, they provided me with a shipping label to return the rifle to them. Their turnaround was much quicker than I expected, less than two weeks. In fact, the turnaround was so quick that they didn't even feel it was necessary to give me a heads up to let me know that the rifle was on it's way back. I also wasn't too happy that the rifle was returned to me with an extra hole through the finish and into the buttstock where they obviously clamped it into their vise a little too tightly during their repair. I have to say that my overall impression of this rifle is not very positive at all and I definitely don't have the confidence in this rifle to use it in any kind of defensive situation, My Ruger Toklat 454 now serves that purpose. However, I will use the Henry for target practice and provide an update in the near future. My Henry was a big disappointment to me as I'm a HUGE "made in America" fan.
 
Click This Link and you'll be able to send a message to the owner, Antony Imperato himself. Explain your issue and he will make sure that you are taken care of completely. He won't hesitate to replace your rifle if necessary to make things right. He's dead serious when he says it will be corrected and you'll be satisfied.

I've emailed him with a question or two on my H001 22lr, called and talked to him, and even met him once when he came out to Colorado to talk to some of the SASS shooters during the development of his Big Boy line a number of years back.

Yes, he trades on the original Henry name and yes, he didn't even develop his 22lr levergun as it's a continuation of an Ithaca Model 72 (designed for Ithaca by his father) he bought the rights to but he did increase the quality and smoothness of the action.
 
Thanks Steve. On the Henry website I tried to contact him but the site says he's currently unavailable. I planned to try and shoot the rifle again this weekend to see if the problems have been resolved. I'll let you know.

Also, I don't care about him capitalizing on the Henry name, I care about quality and reliability. His rifles have a solid reputation. My rifle was the exception to that.
 
Always good to hear about good old fashioned class in regards to how a business treats their customers.

Also should note that good customers who respectfully convey their problem with a product without acting like a 4 year old that doesn't get his rear paddled enough is refreshing as well. :)
 
I have to make a comment about my Henry also and their customer service.
I have a Big Boy in 357 and a GB in 22lr. My BB shoots very nicely and the only problem I have had with it was it will not cycle 38 Special. I have a really short cartridge right now and will put a heavier grain bullet in the next time I buy some. Nut the rifle is great with 357 and I like it. I also own a GB like said. I am a shorter kind of guy 5'5" and my arms did not like the length of pull on the GB, so I contacted CS at Henry and they said that for $60 I could buy a youth stock, I told them I would get back as soon as I got paid to order it. In stead a sent Anthony an email asking if I could just exchange the stock that came on the gun for a new Youth stock since my gun had not even been fired as of yet. He wrote back and said no that I could not exchange it but if I would send him my address he would just mail me a youth stock. Got it in less than a week and love the GB length of pull. A+++ customer service.
If you are not happy contact Anthony
 
i just can,t get into the henry rifles, but i don,t mind that others do as it leaves more older discarded winchester and marlin rifles for me. i just can,t see a old man giving his grandchild a henry and saying this rifle has been in the familey for a hundred years and still works. eastbank.
 
Miroku makes very good Winchester/Brownings. My model 92 short rifle with half round/octagon barrel and button magazine in .45 Colt is total satisfaction. They also built my '86 extra light. The model 94 Big Bore from the 80's is a pretty good reference point. My other reference point is a 1907 model 94 in .32WS. Those octagon barrels have a reputation for fine accuracy, and were preferred as they were considered to swing better on moving game than the more expensive round barrels back in the day. Hunting with a 24" octagon barrel is not what I would consider packing light. I think you are probably stuck with Rossi if you need one of those. I like my Rossi , but it did take some smoothing out. The price was right at less than half of a Winny. I also have a Mossberg 464 Frankengun, as easy to scope as a Marlin, 16"bbl. and not too bad after you take the rails off. The adjustable stock actually works out for New Mexico weather, with big coat in the morning, and tee shirt afternoons.
That's a fairly broad range of levers to choose from, considering their "diminished popularity".
 
Update on my Henry 45 70. I received it back from Henry and took it to the range. While the magazine tube stayed in place, the action still wasn't nearly as smooth as I would have expected. Also, the rifle was shooting about 4" low and 3" to the left at 50 yards. It was accurate when shipped to the factory. When I loaded the tubular magazine, the action would open unless I held the lever closed. I contacted Anthony Imperato at Henry RAC and he offered either a refund or replacement rifle. While my Henry 45 70 may have had some issues, I doubt this is the norm for that rifle since most people who own them have a very high opinion of their rifles. I chose to look for something else in a 45 70 but I wouldn't hesitate to purchase another Henry. Their rifle quality is usually excellent and their customer service could not be better,
 
Any further comments about Rossi lever actions? I started a thread yesterday about a Rossi in .45 Long Colt, but general opinions about the guns are welcome.

T.
 
My Rossi 92 has been great with no issues other than it shoots a bit high with .44 mag and even higher with .44 special. It isn't going to win any beauty contest and the action is a bit stiff but there are cures for that and it is getting smoother the more I use it. The rifle has not had a single firing, feeding, ejecting issue with either the mag or special rounds, flatnose, roundnose doesn't matter.
 
The best new lever action is a Browning BLR. ;-)

I have a Henry .22lr. It's a great rifle that I used as a truck gun for some years on the farm. One day I'll get the sights upgraded from the plastic band-type it came with, I'm sure. I'd buy another Henry in an instant.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top