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Henry lever action .45-70

43K views 41 replies 26 participants last post by  billykkutter 
#1 ·
According to their website Henry Arms has come out with a new lever action in .45-70. It has an all steel reciever, XS ghost ring sight, recoil pad and a barrel just over 18". It's supposed to handle all .45-70 loads including the heavy ones. With the recent remlin problems this might be an alternative. Has anyone seen one in the stores yet?
http://www.henryrepeating.com/rifle-45-70.cfm
 
#3 ·
Interesting.

It comes with sling mounts as well (if the picture is accurate).

The Henry action is very smooth. If they keep this up with the 45-70 then the slightly higher price point may be worth it. They may need to offer (or be compatible with) laminated stocks and possible do a stainless version if they truly want to compete with Remlin.

EDIT - Oh and just noticed that it is a drop style/tube loader. Not being able to top off the load without dismantling it may be a show stopper for some folks.
 
#4 ·
I don't know. It looks like they are trying to get some of the crowd who likes the guide gun concept for a hard hitting brush gun. With the problems that arose after Remington accuired Marlin they must see this as a chance to move in. I know a lot of people are leery of buying a Marlin Guide Gun right now because of the QC problems. This would be a good alternative for people in bear country.
 
#28 ·
I wouldnt mind a lever gun in my collection but I am very leery of the QC issues Remlins have had of late. The higher cost of the Henry and its reputation for butter smooth actions might be anough to make me nibble at this one. Given the current market I think Henry might be wise to offer SS and offer something along the lines of a guide gun concept rifle.
 
#7 ·
I had a pretty bad experience with Henry and one of their 22lr models.

However, I do love my .browning BLR in .450 marlin.

For the guys looking to buy a used or new 45-70, keep your eyes open for a .450 marlin. It's the same round, just the cases are a bit different. .45-70 is not a popular round anyways, atleast outside of cowboy action shooting and in my area in general too.

Got a steal on my stainless steel marlin because it was in 450 marlin. The hornady ammo seems to be cheaper than the .45-70 stuff too.

I have seen numerous good deals on winchester, marlin, and browning 450 marlin rifles versus the same 45-70 counterparts.

They built the 450 marlin round because SAAMI was too concerned folks would blow up their old trap-door rifles when using modern pressure 45-70 loads. So they built a belted case that would not fit in a 45-70 chamber. A year or two after production, SAAMI allowed modern pressure 45-70 loads, but they had to put the warning on the box about the old guns.
 
#22 ·
Browning BLR 450 Marlin - the best & strongest big bore levergun



The Browning BLR in 450 Marlin is the best and strongest of the lever action big bores.
It feeds from a detachable box magazine so you can load spitzer type bullets.
The action is smooth as glass and the lever actuated bolt action of the BLR can handle ammo in the 60K+ psi range.......much stronger than the Marlin 1895 which is rated for around 40K psi and even the modern Winchester 1886 clones which are rated a bit higher.
The triggers in BLRs are variable. Some are like the one in my BLR in .308 Win which is fairly decent with little creep and breaks at 4 pounds......not the greatest but I'm used to it. On the other hand I've fired BLRs with triggers that were creepy & very gritty and broke at well over 6 pounds. Not many gunsmiths will attempt to tune up a BLR trigger.......they are very tricky.
Also the 450 Marlin is a proprietary cartridge and the case cannot be made from any known caliber. The 450 Marlin is not very popular and could conceivably become obsolete in 10 years. There are only 2 current brands of rifle still chambered for the 450 Marlin......the new Winchester (Miroku) Model 94 short rifle and the Browning BLR.
If you buy a new 450 Marlin rifle of whatever stripe make sure you get lots of brass. If I was going to buy one, which I'm not because I have 6 x 45-70s, I buy 300-500 brass (450 Marlin brass CANNOT be made from the brass any other known caliber) depending on how much you intend to shoot the rifle.
I would rather Browning have chambered the BLR in 458 #2 which has about the same ballistics as the 450 Marlin and is just a shortened 458 Winchester Magnum and brass can easily be made from that of the parent cartridge.
 
#8 ·
I want one. As far as it being a popular round that depends on where you live. In MS the 45-70 single shot rifles have been approved for primitive weapons season so it is a very popular here. I can get a box for around 30 to 35 dollars a box which is about the same as a good box for my 30-06.
 
#20 ·
I would research the claims that it will handle full power loads in depth before doing it. Bc full power loads in a .45/70 is scary to shoot. I load a lot of .45/70 for handi rifles and ruger #1's and they will stomp your butt. Hot factory loafs feel like powder puffs to some of my full power hand loads. Also if handloading full power hot loads for it ONLY use new brass. NO once fired or twice fired brass.
 
#31 ·
http://www.henryfirearms.org/henrybb/index.php

http://www.marlinowners.com/

http://henryrepeating.com/

I believe that if my husband did not already own a MADE IN CT Marlin Classic Model 1895 (45-70) he would buy a Henry in 45-70.

He owns a few other MADE IN CT Marlin rifles too. Tack drivers too. Two 30-30 rifles - 336C and 336SS. (He has his two Marlin Golden 39A rifles up for sale.)

HENRY rifles are tack drivers in my opinion and they have smooth/slick actions. Both of us love our Henry rifles. I shoot his Henry 22wmr and his Henry 357Magnum too.

We own 4 Henry rifles now.

Henry Golden Boy 22lr = me.

Henry large loop carbine - 22lr = me.

Henry Big Boy - 357Magnum = Montana Man.

Henry Golden Boy 22wmr aka 22Magnum = Montana Man.

Our Henry rifles were delivered to us in excellent condition.

Montana Man and I would buy another HENRY rifle without thinking twice if we wanted another lever action rifle.

I posted about this on the Marlin forum in the Henry section there. I posted this on the Henry Forum too.

Catherine
 
#32 ·
I just purchased a Henry 45/70. The gun store actually had both rifles, the Marlin 45/70 and the Henry. Side by side, there was no comparison in quality. The Henry looked like a lot of care went into building it. The Marlin showed obvious signs of cheap factory imperfection and even though it was brand new, was showing a patina of rust on the bolt. However, The Marlin does have the side door, which is a plus if you're ever up against a wall during the zombie appocolypse. If you ran out of ammo while being chased by zombies with a Henry, your best bet would be to drop it behind you and hope as many zombies as possible trip over it. It is also only 4 shots compared to the Marlin's 6. Also, if you're going to stick to iron sights, the Marlin is the better choice. The ghost ring sight on the Henry feels like a quick after thought design for something intended for a scope. Which is odd, because nowhere in the litureature or on their web site do they tell you what scope mount fits your rifle (Weaver 63B).

Any case, I wouldn't use a .45-70 during WW-Z unless you were in Alaska and you were being chased by zombie moose. There are better suited weapons for personal defense. The lever action .45-70 is just a great "reach out and blow the ---- out of something" weapon. For that purpose, I will by using mine for hogs and Texas mountain lions (both are potentially big game and both need to absolutely-postively be dead on the first round).

I have yet to shoot the .45-70. I just bought it yesterday because a friend of mine is also buying a Sharps in the same caliber and we're going to share reloading tools/supplies. I'm hoping that it's not one of those guns where you shoot it, then you have to get up, pop your shoulder back in socket, go find your gun, walk all the way back to the gun range, put out the grass fire in front of your bench rest, re-assemble your bench rest, wait for the back hoe to rebuild your backstop and for the gun range staff to rebuild the target stand, repost your target (as the last one was incinerated by the plasma bow shock from the 500 grain bullet)."
 
#34 ·
I wish it had a safety or at least a half **** position. You have to drop the lever a bit if you're going to have the hammer cocked and you don't want the trigger to let go. Though I can't count the number of dry fires I've had with my 32 Winchester with the safety accidentally set (mod 94 made in the late 80's... The first 94's didn't have this safety, but they did have "Half ****"). This usually happens when the deer in the sights is over 8 points.

Just read the manual... The hammer down position is safe as it uses a "patented" transfer bar safety system, meaning that the gun has to be fully cocked and the hammer has to be released from that fully cocked position by the trigger (and only by the trigger) for the gun to fire... But I still wish there was a half ****.
 
#39 ·
Nothing wrong with the Japanese stuff at all. Probably on average better quality than just about every other country.

They don't seem to have suffered the cheapening and QC issues that a few others seem to be afflicted with. (Or were)

Put a nice oil finish on the stock, and carry it around everywhere, and eventually it will look just like the originals!

Or you could send me one, and I will give it all those authentic looking touches. Might take a while though. Probably looking at a turnaround time of about 10 yrs. :D:
 
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