Henry customer service

[sghart3578]

Hello neighbors,

This is my first post (I think) and I apologize in advance for the length but I felt it was important. Some time ago I bought a Henry X in 357 magnum. I am no stranger to 357 carbines. I own several and have sold a few. I own or have owned Marlins, Ubertis, Rossis and Citadels. I let go the ones who didn't perform. And I am well aware of the actual real world accuracy of these rifles. In short, a rifle that shoots 4" at 100 yards is perfectly fine with me for 2 reasons: I am not a world class shot to begin with and second I keep my shots to under 100 yards anyways because I don't usually use an optic except in load development.

I bought this Henry used from an auction site. The seller was a retailer who knew nothing of the rifle's history. The price was right and I am tired of waiting for a Marlin Dark in 357 so I jumped on it.

I mounted a Leupold 2.5 power scope and started my usual testing. To summarize, nothing I did would get the rifle to shoot less than 6" at 100 yards. The following photo shows a typical target with the Henry on the left and my Marlin on the right.

henryvsmarlin.jpg

I decided to slug the barrel and was surprised at the results. I lubed the bore and tapped a slug into the muzzle end. When it got about 2" into the barrel it literally fell all the way down to the chamber. I did this twice to verify the results. I was bummed as you can imagine. But I took a chance and contacted Henry.

I explained the problem to a very nice lady on the phone. She said that they needed to take a look at the rifle. I stressed that I had bought the rifle used and I was not the original owner. She said "It doesn't matter, the rifle should shoot much better than that." She emailed me a pre-paid shipping label and the rifle went back to Henry.

4 weeks later the rifle was back in my shop with a new barrel. I remounted the scope and went to the range. What a difference! This is a typical target at 75 yards. Those are 3" stickers by the way.

henry75.jpg

The one hole covered with tape was a shot that I fired mistakenly with a Lee 158 gr bullet as opposed to the NOE 180 gr bullet that is my standard.

When I stretch it out to 100 yards this is the typical result.

henry1002.jpg

These two groups were the result of slow, controlled fire with plenty of time for the barrel to cool down between shots.

I decided to see what happens to the accuracy from a hot barrel so I started shooting faster and got the barrel hot to the touch. This was a typical group from a hot barrel. It measured 4". This was at 100 yards so I know that I can tighten the groups with patient firing but if I am forced into a prolonged gunfight with the Dick Dastardly gang I can keep the shots close enough for guvment work.

henry100.jpg

Needless to say I am very happy. Henry went above and beyond to make this rifle a keeper for me. I am now a Henry fan and I am looking for a Henry 30-30. Just not sure if I want a lever or a single shot.

A footnote: My standard load in these rifles is a NOE 180 gr WFN GC, sized to .358" and lubed with BLL and loaded over 12.5 gr of 2400. Some may gently criticize and/or suggest more load development. And 10 years ago I would have agreed. But I am now retired and components are harder to find and more expensive. I am also older, crankier and less patient. Ha!

[gamekeeper]

Welcome to the campfire
I too have had good experiences with Henry customer service.

[GunnyMack]

Welcome!
The 41mag Henry I have had a very rough bore that fouled very badly, partly my mistake for pushing plated bullets too fast. I lapped it myself. It now shoots very well.
Years ago I ordered a scope base from Henry for a friend, not an hour later my CC company contacted me about a fraudulent charge. I told them yes I ordered from Henry but the NFL playoff tickets at $350 each I did not order. The next day I called Henry to read them the riot act. Whomever answered the phone assured me it was not an employee there. Then a few days later Mr Imperato called me and apologized and said he found an employee that was skimming CC numbers. It was at that point I knew Henry were worth dealing with.

No with the lack of Alliant powders id suggest looking for a different load, try Lil gun, it has worked very well in my 41.

[.45colt]

Good post, I have a Henry .22 and have only had one issue and Henry delt with it in short order. Welcome to the Fire.

[AmBraCol]

Welcome to the fire! There are plenty of Henry fans around here. My "baby brother" bought a used 22 leveraction from someone a while back. He's not much of a shooter so hadn´t even taken it to the range when he loaned it to me. I found the inner mag tube that contains the spring and follower wasn't right for the rifle and it would not feed like it should. At Andy's suggestion I contacted Henry and the sent a mag tube - no charge. That rifle now cycles perfectly, but haven't had a chance to get back up there and take it out for a real work out. Again, we got the rifle secondhand, but Henry went the second mile and made sure we were up and running with their product.

[Griff]

I'm no fan of Henry Repeating Arms... but... to THE Forum anyway! I'm just an old grouch who dislikes their ad campaigns. But, I do admire their customer service, commitment to American built, but wonder why with such a history of gun building, why they didn't use something more in keeping with that history, instead of relying on someone else's? Rhetorical question...

[Ysabel Kid]

Welcome to the forum!