WWYD - Looking for opinions UPDATED w PICS

[JohnB]

So, I am cruising the LGS used rack and I spy a used Henry in .22LR

It is the standard H001 and has been used, for sure. Receiver paint showed signed of use, chipped, the wood was decent, and the action seemed fine.

The mag tube had a spot of rust on the OUTSIDE of the tube, about 5-7" forward of the fore end...about the size of a pencil eraser. Seemed odd to me...

They had a tag of $149.95....what do you think? I have been stewing on it for a couple of days...I know little about the Henry's but the price seemed decent.

Thanks in advance.

[Hagler]

JohnB,

Get it! If you have not watched Henry's videos, then you should check out these links:

Henry Repeating Arms Company has a slew of Maintenance videos:

http://www.henryrepeating.com/htv-maint ... tion-1.cfm
http://www.henryrepeating.com/htv-maint ... tion-2.cfm
http://www.henryrepeating.com/htv-maint ... tion-3.cfm
http://www.henryrepeating.com/htv-maint ... tion-4.cfm
http://www.henryrepeating.com/htv-maint ... tion-5.cfm
http://www.henryrepeating.com/htv-maint ... tion-6.cfm
http://www.henryrepeating.com/htv-maint ... tion-7.cfm
http://www.henryrepeating.com/htv-maint ... tion-8.cfm

What's under the receiver cover:





Shawn

[Hagler]

...and this will keep you reading about the origin of our modern Henry rifle:

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/sh ... p?t=458413

Shawn

[JohnB]

Thanks for the information, Hagler, but I am still a bit fuzzy on the implication.

I know the Henry's are decent rifles. My question was more directed at the value of the gun, given the condition, versus what they were asking for it.

Thanks.

[rbertalotto]

That rifle is worth $150 all day long.

Henry sells rifles to NRA instructors at reduced prices and I can't buy one as an NRA instructor for that price.

[JohnB]

Sweet! A new toy for me!

Thanks!

I will post up pics...

[rossim92]

get it get it!!!!!! I have one and they go for $329.00 at walmart now. they are very accurate rifles scope it out and have a ball.

[Hagler]

JohnB,

I was trying to relate to you that today's Henry rifle has a 40-odd year pedigree, and that the various incarnations of it have all been good rifles. I paid around $200.00 for H001L, in 2003, and have shot in excess of 10,000 rounds through it, with no sign of it being a poor rifle. It shoot where I point it. The links that I gave you include pictures & reviews of the older Erma & Ithaca guns. Most of that applies to today's Henry.

By the way, I passed on a second, though used, Henry rifle, a few years ago, for $165.00. I wish that I would have bought it.

Shawn

[Streetstar]

The only real value of a Henry .22 is as a shooter anyway -- so why not. They are great little rifles, and in a day and age where people ask more than that for Cricket single shots on Armslist, that sounds like a sweet deal --- and a gun that sounds like it may have been used for its intended purpose (small game hunting and rough-housing)

The receivers actually look kinda cool in the white -- CO Steve did that to his

[Pete44ru]

.

$150 is a bargain, and if you can't live with the chipped paint on the receiver cover, you can always strip it & then use cold blue for a CCH look.





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[JohnB]

.

$150 is a bargain, and if you can't live with the chipped paint on the receiver cover, you can always strip it & then use cold blue for a CCH look.





.

That is AWESOME and exactly what I had in mind!

You will have to share how you stripped and accomplished this finish.. it is really nice. If you don't mind, of course...

[JohnB]

So, I went back to inspect the rifle and make the purchase.

I will post up pictures as soon as time permits, but here is what I know -

1. The mag tube is loose and has rust right under the loading gate (opening) on the mag tube.
2. The front sight is loose, but easy fix.
3. The barrel has some rust right near the receiver, about the size of a pea.
4. The action is SLICK!
5. The paint is chipped/flaked all over.
6. The biggest issue is the rear sight. It appears that the point of the rear leaf appears to line up with the front sight, the center line and the grooves on the receiver, HOWEVER, the rear of the sight blade is offset to the right. If you look at the barrel from the top, the barrel runs north/south at 180/360 degree marks, but the sight runs at 360 in the front and about 175 degree mark at the rear. It is not quite parallel to the centerline of the other points, but only at the rear of the sight. It looks pretty funny when you shoulder the gun, but I think I can fix.
7. The wood is decent. Just some dents that I need to steam out. Nice piece of walnut.

I laid everything out to the shop manager and I told him I would take it for $150 OTD ($139+tax) and he agreed.

My son is going to love this when he gets older....I can't wait to get started.

[Blaine]

I coon-fingered a Henry plain Jane youth model the other day. Fit me just about perfectly. The apparent craftsmanship, and solid feel exceeded my expectations....

[hfcable]

.

$150 is a bargain, and if you can't live with the chipped paint on the receiver cover, you can always strip it & then use cold blue for a CCH look.





.

i have heard of that, even tried it once, but didnt get that result. that looks really good ! how did you do that ??

[JohnB]

Well, I picked her up...couldn't let her go.

Henry H001 #1.jpg

Henry H001 #3.jpg

Henry H001 #4.jpg

Henry H001 #6.jpg

Henry H001 #8.jpg

Henry H001 #9.jpg

She is officially a project now...gonna strip her down, clean her up and then decide how she can be improved, with my limited skill sets of course.

I think the biggest issue I will have is getting the receiver, barrel, lever and mag tube stripped for bluing....I have no such tools for such a task.

If there is interest, I may do episode installments on here...

[hfcable]

certainly i am interested !

[wecsoger]

Either a good candidate for a project, or keep as-is as a 'truck gun'.

I'd shoot it first to see if there's a reason that rear sight is boogered around.

[1894c]

Henry's are great little guns...I have the carbine model (16" bbl) and really like it...you made a good choice... :)

[Hobie]

So, I went back to inspect the rifle and make the purchase.

I will post up pictures as soon as time permits, but here is what I know -

1. The mag tube is loose and has rust right under the loading gate (opening) on the mag tube.
2. The front sight is loose, but easy fix.
3. The barrel has some rust right near the receiver, about the size of a pea.
4. The action is SLICK!
5. The paint is chipped/flaked all over.
6. The biggest issue is the rear sight. It appears that the point of the rear leaf appears to line up with the front sight, the center line and the grooves on the receiver, HOWEVER, the rear of the sight blade is offset to the right. If you look at the barrel from the top, the barrel runs north/south at 180/360 degree marks, but the sight runs at 360 in the front and about 175 degree mark at the rear. It is not quite parallel to the centerline of the other points, but only at the rear of the sight. It looks pretty funny when you shoulder the gun, but I think I can fix.
7. The wood is decent. Just some dents that I need to steam out. Nice piece of walnut.

I laid everything out to the shop manager and I told him I would take it for $150 OTD ($139+tax) and he agreed.

My son is going to love this when he gets older....I can't wait to get started.

Call Henry, they might fix it for a very reasonable price. Just ASK!

[mikld]

I'd be willing to bet Henry would return that rifle to like new condition real cheap if not for free.

[JohnB]

Well, I heard back from Henry on my inquiry..

They offered to sell me a new receiver cover for $40 plus shipping, $7.50

I covered the barrel and mag tube with 3 in 1 oil this week and I went over it with 000 steel wool. All of the freckling and 3D rust came off. The two problem spots (mag tube and barrel base) will be soaked over the weekend and buffed again.

Then some Birchwood Casey Super Blue and it should be good to go.

FYI - A good Sharpie goes a long way on a black, painted cover....as does Ballistol to clean and polish the walnut.

Rifle looks awesome now ( I will take pics once I finish the buffing and bluing process) and I can wait to shoot it. I may actually break down and try to find an Ithaca Model 72 front sight (metal vs. plastic) and a brass ramp from Skinner...I think that may be the hot set up for these eyes....

[JohnB]

OK, so I took it apart, to clean it, re-blue it, polish the wood and remove the paint so I can re-paint the cover...this is a photo journal of how it went...some good, some not so much...

Where I started...




Re-blued the mag tube...better, but not exactly what I wanted...


Job complete!



Guess what I SHOULDN'T have tried....ugh....


BTW, Meguiars ScratchX 2.0 on wood....works pretty good...FYI


Now, to clean and paint the cover and add the HI VIZ front sight.

[Blaine]

You will see every "little thang", but, trust us, it looks GREAT

[MrMurphy]

For a beat up .22 that won't ever be a collector, looks good. Shoot the stuff out of it.

[Pete44ru]

.

$150 is a bargain, and if you can't live with the chipped paint on the receiver cover, you can always strip it & then use cold blue for a CCH look.





.

i have heard of that, even tried it once, but didnt get that result. that looks really good ! how did you do that ??

The rifle pic'd is not my rifle, but I've done a few for others.

Strip & polish the receiver cover, after fileing/working out any scratches before applying cold blue.

Blue one side at a time by laying the cover flat & puddling the cold blue solution on the upper side; let it dry for a bit before blotting (not wiping) up the excess fluid.

If the dried side's appearance doesn't float your boat, just polish the cold blue off to a silver shine again, and try a different method of application/drying.
When one side's done to one's druthers, do the other side, then the top & rear tang.
If you want (eventually) a faded CCH, you're done - If you'd like the CCH colors to last, spray it with a clearcoat.

There's a plethora of examples & "how-to's" on receiver finishes (and sights), over in the Henry section of http://www.rimfirecentral.com


.

[JohnB]

Paint is complete...for now. Still not 100% on the outcome, but better than it was.



Threw the Bushnell on just for giggles....thing is broken but I wanted to see how it might feel if I added glass...

[arjunky]

Looks great from here.
Byron

[jazman]

Send some pics to Henry (do everything by email, usually the President answers and takes care of you personally), show them your great work on this rifle, mention you don't like the plastic sights/bands and ask their advice. I would bet they will send you a set of metal bands/front sight free of charge. Just a hint.