Holy Frijoles - Henry Big Boy 357 Magnum

Well, I guess when it rains it pours.

Short version is, a company that my company works with got into a jam, and I jumped in to resolve the situation.  Lots of late nights and a bit of weekend work, but I figured that's what I get paid to do, so I did it.

Today, the honcho from that company called my office and said meet him out front in the parking lot.  There he was with a rifle box that said "Henry Rifle" on it.  He said it was a thank you gift for all the work I did to bail them out.

I opened up the box and there, in all its glory, was a brand new Henry Big Boy lever action rifle in 357 magnum.  Bright sunny day today, and the glare off the brass receiver made me squint.  I heard angels singing "Hallelujah!"  

To say I'm excited is an understatement.  I can't say a Henry would've been my first choice, because they're a bit heavy, and it's not exactly period correct, and it doesn't really fit in my overall scheme of "get away from my car and back on the curb" trunk gun.

But...wow...what a pretty rifle.

Can't wait to shoot it.  I'll get pictures for you guys.

Congratulations, TJ! It's also nice to see hard work, diligence and dedication rewarded. Good on the outside company honcho.

Just to make sure everything appears According to Hoyle, you might want to let your boss know. (Too many years in aerospace.)

I have one in .44 mag. It is hard for me to shoot because it is so pretty... Henry's sure look great and they have very smooth actions. You will love it, but you may cry a few tears whenever you get a scratch.

I always think of the original Henry when the name is mentioned. I have had a vague hankering for one of those for some time. But the lever gun that they make now just doesn't do much for me. Except that it IS a lever gun.

This, of course, continues the long line of carbines chambered in basically pistol cartridges. Your .357 Mag should be a good brush gun. Enjoy it!

Thanks. I'll be shooting it this weekend. Loaded up some 158 grain jhps last night. I've been hoarding a 1 pound can of 2400 for a special occasion, and this is it.

Did ya shoot it yet!?

I sure did.  Great shooting rifle.  Low recoil and muzzle blast.  Smooth action.  Nice trigger.  Very accurate.  I am in love.  Here's a shot of the rifle on my workbench after comepletely disassembling it, cleaning it, and putting it back together.  And here's a 50 yard target I shot after getting it sighted in.

nice shooting!

I gotta admit, this rifle makes me look good.

Now, thats a nice looking piece of hardware.

YeeHAW!

Quick update on this outstanding rifle.

Took my son, his friend, and his friend's dad to the shooting range recently. Took the Henry and a number of other guns for them to shoot. The Henry was far and away the most loved gun there. I invited the father and son to come with us shooting again this weekend, and both asked "Can you bring the Henry"?

Funny, I never would have thought I'd be as crazy about this rifle as I am, but I just can't get enough of it.

Sounds like a bad case of Leveritus.

There is no cure. Congrats!

When I took my Cali friend shooting this weekend, I asked him which guns he wanted me to bring. The Henry was at the top of the list. I think he shot more .44 mag that day than any other caliber. He told me that the Henry was next on his list of guns to buy. Although, the suppressed CVA single shot 300blk was quite fun too. We were shooting the little 113 gr cast bullets and they were VERY quiet. The first couple hours of shooting was all done without any hearing protection. One thing about the Henry--although it isn't true to the time period or what not, it is definitely an easy to load, smooth shooter.

Rossi is pimping their El Jefe "The Boss" R92. The proper Octagonal barrel, as well as the round. In calibers from .357 to... wait for it... .454 Casull. SS, Blued, or Case Hardened.

Wellllllllll.... I might have to get my John Wayne on.

I think we ALL could do better with channelling The Duke a bit more.

Which leads me into another topic on my mind again, single action revolver for concealed carry, but I will refrain for the moment.

Tennessee Jed wrote:I think we ALL could do better with channelling The Duke a bit more.

Which leads  me into another topic on my mind again, single action revolver for concealed carry, but I will refrain for the moment.

Amen.

As much as I love the Cowboy guns, I'm going to run back to the 21st Century for my CCW. The ability to extend the discussion -- given the increasing prevalence of multiple attackers or even mobs -- puts me firmly in the bottom-feeder camp.

Then again, there's the pard Mechican-carrying a black powder Rem '58 when one of the locals tried to enforce income equality in a gas station. Not only did the GOB stop the armed robbery with one quick, close shot, he set the perp on fire. Extreme style points.

.454 in stainless... eh? One of these days, a mainstream manufacturer needs to pop out a 500 mag in a lever. The current options are VERY spendy.

http://www.bighornarmory.com/catalog/big-horn-armory-products/big-horn-armory-model-89-carbine-2/

Tennessee Jed wrote:...single action revolver for concealed carry, but I will refrain for the moment.

I still carry a plastic block, oh I mean Glock for conceal carry... My Glock 19 has gone "bang" every time I have pulled the trigger--not saying it couldn't fail, but so far it hasn't. I have total trust in that gun. As a side note, I could maybe see myself carrying a nice Vaquero or Blackhawk if I was open carrying.

Cornmastah wrote:.454 in stainless... eh?  One of these days, a mainstream manufacturer needs to pop out a 500 mag in a lever.  The current options are VERY spendy.

http://www.bighornarmory.com/catalog/big-horn-armory-products/big-horn-armory-model-89-carbine-2/

Brother, that is for certain. I still don't understand why Big Horn appears to be the only one doing this. I personally think a nice 20 inch barrel lever action, maybe with 8 or 9 round capacity, in stainless with synthetic stocks and a peep sight would be the ultimate "get-me-out-of-here" urban extraction rifle. Nothing says "move your Escalade" quite like a 500 mag with hardcast bullets.

Cornmastah wrote:

Tennessee Jed wrote:...single action revolver for concealed carry, but I will refrain for the moment.

I still carry a plastic block, oh I mean Glock for conceal carry...  My Glock 19 has gone "bang" every time I have pulled the trigger--not saying it couldn't fail, but so far it hasn't.  I have total trust in that gun.  As a side note, I could maybe see myself carrying a nice Vaquero or Blackhawk if I was open carrying.

My choice in carry guns tend to be seasonal. We're starting to cool down a smidge in TN, so I'm about to switch out of my S&W 65LS until the weather gets warm again. Been thinking about what I'm going to switch to when sweater weather hits. Been playing a lot with a Blackhawk lately, and it shoots so well so easily, at least until the 6th round is gone, and as long as I've got 2 hands free to operate it. However, my practical side will probably lead me to something easier to shoot quicker and more simply with one hand if necessary, and something that's more easy to reload.

Being "new" to carry, I have previously carried a PPK mostly because it is small enough to put in my pocket in a pocket holster, where no one would notice. Seems to me that pretty much everything else prints. Maybe not always, but often enough. And remember that we didn't have a carry law in Illinois until very recently. And still can't carry any number of places, but that's another story.

These days I carry the Shield, again because it is easy to carry in a pocket although I do have a slide holster for it. Gives me a bit more oomph for about the same size. With the Apex kit it is a joy to shoot, so I am comfortable carrying it.

What I CAN'T understand is TJ's obsecession with carrying wheel guns for CCW. Especially SA's. Don't get me wrong - the first two guns I ever owned were both Single Actions. But for "combat" it just doesn't seem to make any sense. It is almost giving in to emotion over sense.

In the 19th century SA's were the cat's meow. But even then, with the exception of the Remy 1858 (which was a C'nB pistol) reloading was slow. The S&W Model 1 & 2 were interesting in that they were break-top revolvers, but even then it was not quick to reload. The advent of modern DA revolvers with their swing-out cylinders did allow for much faster reloading. Still, nothing in the wheel gun world will match an auto reload. And generally neither will the capacity.

I have heard all the arguments about cartridge selection, but overall I am mostly unimpressed. I would submit that the best current SD calibre is the .357 Sig, and second is any modern 9mm combat load. NONE of the studies give any of the other loads any significant advantage. Since you can't carry soft lead rounds, you are restricted to modern hollow point ammo. It just isn't that good, no matter what you shoot.

The data ALL says that calibre doesn't make any significant difference in results. There have been only one load that was different - the 125gr .357 Mag Lawman load. It's performance, and effect, is reproduced by the 125gr Lawman .357 Sig round (why I believe that the best SD round). I would LOVE to find that the .45 ACP was a solid fight-ender. But it's not. No more than any other round. You can shoot a man with pretty much any handgun and you get the same result. You want to drop someone, get a rifle. Even the crappy .223 will outdo a handgun. Every day, every time, every where.

I understand BBQ guns. If that is the purpose of the SA, then I am all for it! Beautiful guns on show are great things. But serious CCW?!?! SO don't get yourself killed by having the wrong gun, TJ. We'd miss you here a lot! Carry your Block. Or a Sig. Or an M&P. And wear the BBQ gun to the right "shows".

End of rant. You may now return to your favorite lever gun discussion.

Dev, I appreciate your concern.  However, there's no need to worry about me.  I go through this single action revolver cycle every so often.  In the end, the same thing always happens.  I ask myself these 2 questions, (1) what's the purpose for my carry gun, and (2) which gun best fulfills that purpose?  And that always pulls me away from the single action revolvers.  

That's not to say that I'm giving up on double action wheelguns for carry.  The short version of a long story is that long ago I switched from semi-autos to DA revolvers when I learned that I shot revolvers noticeably better than most semi-autos.  Additionally, the revolvers I prefer (usually magnums) have ballistic performance which (at least then) outclassed most semi-auto calibers.  Better shooting and better effectiveness meant wheelguns for me.

I've never been that concerned about ammo capacity.  I believe that in my most likely bad scenarios, I will run out of time long before I run out of ammo, whether I'm shooting a wheelgun or a semi-auto.

However, I've noticed something interesting lately.  After years of shooting 44 magnums and 357 magnums, having to keep that front sight stable while following through on the trigger pull and being certain not to anticipate the forthcoming recoil, shooting semi-autos has become significantly easier for me.  In the last couple of months, whenever I take a Glock to the range, putting all the rounds into one big hole is almost easy.  

So, I'm thinking about carrying a Glock exclusively, at least for a little while.  Just to see how it goes.

Devereaux wrote:

End of rant. You may now return to your favorite lever gun discussion.  

Okay, Doc - it's obvious we need a CCW section of the Gun Nation forum.

With the move to St Louis (2.5 weeks and counting), I'm suddenly faced with all the many choices inherent in choosing and carrying a CCW. I really need the wisdom inherent in this Fellowship of the Gun. So Jed, Dev, Corn - don't stop posting your thoughts about CCWs here until we get that new forum.

Current Thoughts on CCW:

* Glock 27 (maybe G23)
* IWB carried at 4:30 (type and brand of the holster unknown)
* Glock 22 (full sized - 15 rounds of .40) spare mag carried in a Snagmag holder
* Additional training

Your thoughts?