Need help deciding on a Lever action 22. Rifle

J

Jnorman

Inactive
Ok i have narrowed my choices between the Henry frontier or the Marlin 39a.

Henry frontier- I love the history of this gun. Henry repeater impacted the civil war. "gun that won the west.". Looks great. Cheaper then the marlin also. The only drawback is that it's not all steel.

Marlin 39a- great looking gun. All steel. I know it's the longest produced rifle going on 120 years. But I never hear about it as far as history like I hear about the henry.

Any suggestions would be great.
 
The current Henry has absolutly zero in common with the company from the civil war. Absolutly no historical significance at all.

The Henry works, the Marlin is legendary.

LK
 
Pleased with my Marlin 39A. You might check rimfirecentral.com for more information in their Marlin dedicated forum.

marlin39_04.jpg
 
I know very little about the Henry guns, but I have studied the 39 Marlins for about 45 years. The Marlins are built from milled steel. Most parts are machined. A great durable "bulletproof" design. Sadly the internet is full of bad reports on the newer Model 39's. Many problems have been reported. So there is no reason not to get a pre safety model. The gun auction sites have many for sale.
 
Find yourself a nice used 39a. Something 10 years old or more. You'll save money and get a gun that's already broken in. I have one built in 1954 that keeps up with any .22 you can buy for the $300 I paid for it and then some.
 
Although currently a bit pricy if you can find a nice one, is the Winchester 9422. My opinion one of the best lever 22's made. The Marlin and the Winchester get my vote.
 
The 39a has set the standard for others to follow. The Henry is the new boy on the block quality is top notch. I like them both I fired them both brand new out of the box, The Henry Golden Boy is nostalgic looking like days of old but the action of the Henry IMO is far more smoother operating than that of the 39a. Either way you wont be disappointed. Happy shopping :D
 
The Henry is a basic, cheap, aluminum framed gun with painted finish. They are good shooters. Basically the 10-22 of lever actions. Cheap, functional and good enough. As others have said Henry is just a name. Zero connection to the gun company of the 1800's.

The Henry 22 was actually first designed and built by a German company starting back in the 60's or possibly 70's. The same gun has been around for 40 years or so under at least 2 different names. Henry just recently bought the rights to produce it under their name.

The Marlin and Winchester .22's are steel framed, blued classic guns that will increase in value as the years go by. While the Henry may well function and work fine, they will only decrease in value after purchase. For a long term investment that your grand kids will appreciate the Marlin is a better choice. For a cheap plinker the Henry is certainly no worse than a 10-22 and lots of folks like them.
 
The Henry Frontier seems to be a fine rifle from a company with top notch customer service. The Henry rifles have tight actions that are smooth as silk and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one. However, if you can find a nice, older (pre-'88) Marlin for a comparable price, I'd go that route. While the actions are rougher than the Henry, they are well-built classics that will continue to rise in value. If you're lucky enough to happen across a bargain, the Winchester 9422 is smooth like the Henry and built from forged steel and walnut with a great blued finish like the Marlin...the best of both worlds in my opinion.
The most important thing to remember is that none of them are bad, and whichever you choose will be a boatload of fun for years to come.
 
I have a 39A (bought in early 80's) and a well used 9422 that I got for $80 at a gunshop. Yep...$80...a no brainer. I like them both, but each has its little quirks - for instance the 9422 is finicky about the ammo. Old ammo with a little corrosion on the lead bullet often won't feed into the action. Solution...buy new ammo. The 39A is the most accurate, but the difference is slight. The 9422 is lighter and has much better walnut in the stock. If I could only keep one, I'd keep the Marlin, but that's just due to more personal history with it.
 
The Henry is a very smooth action and I've never had a jam with the .22. For xmas this year one of their Big Boy .44s is on my list.

Henry also has one of the best customer service operations I've seen in any consumer products company. They actually respond to e-mails and phone calls -- real people and they're sitting here in the U.S. (This is a real sore point for me since in the last month I've had 2 bad experiences with customer service "chat" services and 1 telephone customer service with other companies where the people were obviously on the other side of the planet, working from some computer script and totally useless in solving my problem...)
 
I would go with the Marlin out of those two.....give the Browning Bl-22 a look, mine will never leave while I'm alive.
 
The marlin is pretty heavy for a .22, but its a more accurate than most henry .22s. If you want a light plinking rifle - get a henry, if you want a real accurate rifle for longer ranges (+50yards) and hunting - get the marlin.
 
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