For many shooters, a lever action rifle is just another pretty rifle. Yet for others, it represents a life style, a way of life long gone by. A time when a man was truly free. Its a living part of the Wild West. There are several companies that do a wonderful job at capturing the spirit of the Wild West in their modern reproductions of these classic cowboy style lever actions rifles. You can get everything from reproduction Henry 1860s to the Winchester 73s and beyond. These new reproduction rifles can cost $900 and more depending on the model. Then you have to purchase the 44-40, 45lc, and other cowboy loads that are rapidly going up in price. But what if you are on a limited budget and want to keep the spirit alive in your home? Fortunately, the Henry Repeating Arms Company, has the answer. The Henry Repeating Arms Company is keeping the spirit of the Old West alive for us budget shooters with their line of .22 cal. lever actions. I will be talking specifically about the rifle known simply as the Henry Lever Action.
I first noticed the pretty lil’ eye catcher in my local Walmart at a price of about $220. As I asked the lady behind the counter if I could hold the rifle she looked at it and with a surprised tone remarked, “I don’t believe we have this in stock!” Being unfamiliar with this rifle, I asked why. Was it not a hot seller? She proceeded to tell me that rifle was the most popular selling rifle in the store (despite the 5 or so cheaper bolt action and semi auto .22s next to it) and to have one on the shelf for more than 2 days was a very rare thing. Taking hold of the rifle was like taking a step back into time. Its all American craftsmanship and old world look immediately made me fall in love with it. I felt as if I should be wearing spurs and riding a horse in a wild chase after some thief who just held up the stage coach. I cycled the action a few times and to my surprise it was as smooth and crisp as any rifle I have held before it. It wasn’t long before I sold myself on the rifle and proudly walked to my truck with some .22 ammo in hand and gun under arm.
The rifles 36 1/2 inch overall length made it an easy handler and weighing in at only 5.25 pounds it was easy to hold and shoot from just about any position. The American Walnut stock is smooth and finished to perfection and the steel has a nice deep bluing. This particular model has a grooved receiver so you can easily mount a scope.
The first day at the range, I mounted an old Simmons Deerfield scope I had laying around. I wanted to see what this little rifle was capable of so I took it out to 50 yards to start off with. My ammo of choice was the Federal .22 550 Round Value Pack. It only took me a few rounds to zero in my scope and once I did, the rifle shot true every time. From a resting position on an old rag and ammo can, I was able to consistently hold groups of no more than a 1/2 inch. Sometimes I was even achieving 1/4 groups. Impressed with the accuracy of my new rifles(and my bad eyes) I took the target out to the 100 yard mark. Once adjusting for the drop of the bullet I could shoot nice groups, the largest being just a hair over 3 inches and the smallest being about 1 3/4 inches. Seeing what the Henry is capable of and being very pleased with the results, I settled into some “reactive” target shooting. Finding shot gun shells on the range, I began taping them to the top of my target stand. The Henry lever action made easy work of hitting the 3/4 inch wide shells at 50 yards. I fired over 500 rounds that first day at the range, with many more boxes of .22 on the days following. It has never had any failures to feed, fire, or extract. The Henry Lever Action is accurate, beautiful, and reminiscent of the old days. It promises to be a great addition to any firearm or western collection and I was proud to add it to mine.