American Rifleman Article on Henry .30-30...

[Hobie]

I'm sure we'll sell some but, *sigh* less than beautiful to me.

[salvo]

I saw that article yesterday, have not read it yet though. The pictures of it look less than gracefull, to be sure!

[mescalero1]

Saw the blue one at the NRA gig last friday, thought it was uglier than a mud fence.

[SmokeEater2]

Kinda' chunky and clunky for the price their asking. I still think the Henry .22 I bought was a heck of a bargain but I don't see paying what they want for one of the .30 WCF's.

[Cosmoline]

I kinda like them, but the real test will be in the heft, cycle and balance.

[.45colt]

I like their .22 but I think this one and the Big Boy look like something that Mattel Toys sold in the 60's.Yuck.

[TedH]

They seemed to like it well enough in the article, but they won't be selling one to me. Unless I need a fencepost.

[Old Ironsights]

As is everything Henry except the Survivor... Smooth, well finished, heavy as a boat anchor.

I suppose the Brass one is cool for coolness sake, but if I want a Marlin action, I'll buy a Marlin... and it won't have the dorky ".22 loading" "feature".

[J Miller]

The NRA tester went went out of his way to avoid any mention of the obvious similarity to the Marlin lever guns.
To me the rifle doesn't look all that bad. I have only one thing that I don't like and that's the tube magazine loading. It's OK for rim fire, but not a center fire.

I don't think I'd buy one, but if someone offers me a chance to shoot it, I sure won't refuse.

Joe

[BenT]

I've handled one and they are a brick. The merit of any good 30-30 is that it is light and handy. Henry missed on the light part. Fit and finish was excellent as with all Henry's . I think Henry missed the market with this one. If they would of kept the lines closer to that of the Golden Boy 22 and have the weight in the correct range they would have something. It's too bad because I love my Henry 22 and recommend them to people all the time.

[pshort]

Howdy Folks,
Sure down on Henrys around here.. I've been shooting a new .30-30 for 2 or 3 months now, and it's a very well made, good shooting rig...
It's my 3rd one, and I like 'em... I also have Winnys and Marlins. They're all good.. (Mostly)...

Paul

[Old Ironsights]

Not saying it's not "good", just saying it's at least a pound too heavy...

[Buffboy]

The NRA tester went went out of his way to avoid any mention of the obvious similarity to the Marlin lever guns.
To me the rifle doesn't look all that bad. I have only one thing that I don't like and that's the tube magazine loading. It's OK for rim fire, but not a center fire.

I don't think I'd buy one, but if someone offers me a chance to shoot it, I sure won't refuse.

Joe

You know Joe, I was the same way till I got my 454 puma and I've found I like the tube load on it. Well, more the unload part, seldom use it for loading, usually use the gate for that but it sure is handy for unloading.

[Kansas Ed]

I suppose the "steel" version has a painted receiver like their .22's ??

Ed

[marlinman93]

Kinda like a plain boxy look. No frills anywhere; not wood or metal. Hope it shoots, so it has something going for it!

[Lefty Dude]

They could have fed the tube/mag. like a Remington 14/141. I am sure that patent has expired.With the Remington Magazine patent you can load pointy & round nose bullets.

Much easier to load than what they designed.

[Leverdude]

The NRA tester went went out of his way to avoid any mention of the obvious similarity to the Marlin lever guns.
To me the rifle doesn't look all that bad. I have only one thing that I don't like and that's the tube magazine loading. It's OK for rim fire, but not a center fire.

I don't think I'd buy one, but if someone offers me a chance to shoot it, I sure won't refuse.

Joe

I imagine they had to cut the loading gate to be different enough to avoid legal issues with Marlin. I saw a picture several years ago when the Big Boy was in the developmental stage & it had a gate.
I bought one of their 22's for one of my kids & its great. But I wont be buying a centerfire from them. Their misleading advertizing still bugs me. The catalog that came with my boys gun is still in the outhouse at camp. I like the pictures but right on the front cover it says 1860 - today or something to that effect. I think with their customer service & quality American made guns without safteys they could do real well without misrepresenting their history. Still I wish them all the best.

[Travis Morgan]

Well, now Mossberg is better than somebody in the levergun dept.!

[tman]

too much gun for a 30-30. maybe, in a 45-70 or .348wcf. the .22 are great, but they missed the boat on this one.

[horsesoldier03]

I would definately consider a .22 henry, however the 30-30 is not only UGLY it is way over priced if it goes anywhere near the MSRP. You can get almost 2 marlins for that price.

[Chuck 100 yd]

" Clunky" my thoughts exactly. And the price is too high for what you get.

[Steve Redgwell]

I agree that there's something not right with it. To me, it's the action iteself. It's boxy and odd looking. The rest of the rifle seems normal enough.

I have a Henry pump and it is a beauty. Hands down, it's the best 22 I've handled in a long time. This past fall, I took it hunting and it fed me and my buddy for the whole trip. Not trying to sidetrack the post, just pointing out that Henry hit the nail on the head with the 22. It's sleek and carries wonderfully.

They missed the boat it seems with the 30-30.

[2X22]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who saw that chunk as a butt-ugly rifle

22

[brucew44guns]

Several years ago I bought a worn slick 30-30 model 94 Win. No blueing left---just from someone carrying it for years on end and hunting with it in Oregon. No abuse, just lots of use. I wonder about one of these Henry's, my 94 was made in 1950, I wonder how proud you'd be of the Henry after 59 years of hard use? My 94 can still muster pride in it's current owner. Hope the Henry's are built tough like that.

[Old Ironsights]

" Clunky" my thoughts exactly. And the price is too high for what you get.

In brass, if you squint at it, it kind of looks like a 66...

[71fan]

The only way to compete with W and M in the 30-30 arena, it would seem, would be to offer a similar quality rifle for lower cost. Like Mossberg has attempted.

Let's see...ugly, heavier, and more expensive. Wow.

For my tastes, there are millions of Ws and Ms out there that will always be available, and at less cost.

[OJ]

They seemed to like it well enough in the article, but they won't be selling one to me. Unless I need a fencepost.

Remember, the NRA Rifleman had a absolutely glowing report on the Mossberg 464 and how wonderful it was also. I have yet to see any post from a new buyer of that rifle that didn't have problems - mostly in the extractor failures in less than one six round magazine full but not limited to that.

I can't put any stock in any reports of how good a new rifle is just because it was in the Rifleman magazine. I think we tend to hold that publication to a higher standard than other gun "rags" and, in my experience, that's not justified.