Single Shot Number 6

[JEBar]

I would think that reaming the chamber or any other alteration would mean that H.R.A. would no longer be liable for any repairs to the rifle. Is it really worth it?

with some, I have no qualms about modifying/customizing/upgrading my firearms at a moment's notice and count on a gunsmith to take care of any issues down the line .... with a company like Henry, I think long and hard before doing anything that will compromise the warranty ....

[Mistered]

I think long and hard before doing anything that will compromise the warranty ....

I will largely in part agree with this.
Henry is a unique company that has an obvious interest in their products and taking care of them and for most owners this is important and should be maintained.

However there are a lot of experienced gun owners who might see a particular Henry as a perfect candidate for a modification and to them them that may be more important than warranty or service and that is fine.

Personally while I certainly like to tinker with guns to some degree I would most likely never consider a caliber modification to any firearm.

I look at value consideration as well as tooling/die issues for the new caliber and potential problems.

More power to those who perform modifications but for me my guns will stay with their original calibers!

[North Country Gal]

Good points. When you go down the road of doing an irreversible mod on the gun, like it or not, you abandon the warranty and usually, with some rare exceptions, resale and collectible value.

[Mistered]

you abandon the warranty and usually, with some rare exceptions, resale and collectible value.

This is a given.

There are however some cases where where a caliber modification may be necessary to keep an older or otherwise unique gun shooting and in that case there is no debate. Much like the question of when to restore an older gun or leave it original. Sometimes a fine line and sometimes no question about it.

[North Country Gal]

To be sure, there's also a matter of who does the restorations on a vintage collectible gun. I had the pleasure of knowing a gunsmith who was regarded in the Winchester collectible community (we're talking guns that can go to six figures, here) as someone qualified to restore those high dollar Winchesters without destroying the value, but it had taken him years of working on them and he was adamant about NOT sharing his secrets for fear someone would use them and try to restore a gun then blame him if they botched the job.

He was also an authentication expert, so people would use him to authenticate potential purchases, because there is a huge amount of fraud in the collectible lever gun market.

[Mistered]

as someone qualified to restore those high dollar Winchesters without destroying the value

No doubt an 'art' to this!

A couple years ago I was as a gun show and saw a very nice 1886 Winchester in .38-40 with a rare 32" barrel.
Most likely a special order for the time but the receiver and barrel had been re-blued and the stock not completely refinished but kind of given a 'freshening' to improve its appearance but was in pretty good shape with no missing pieces or damage.

Unfortunately while a nice gun this was more of a 'refinish' than 'restoration' and affected the value. Unfortunately the seller was at what I considered 'top dollar' for the gun and while I was interested he was not 'budging' on the price.

[BigBlue]

Personally I would like the fact that I would be able to shoot .38 specials, .357 magnums and .357 Maximums all out of the same rifle. Unless you tried to chamber a .357 Maximum cartridge, you would never have any idea it had been done. With H&R now defunct the .357 magnum versions have become hard to find, but not impossible. Just this morning I saw a used H&R heavy barreled .223 with a scope, their varmint Handi, selling for $199 at my local gun dealer. They were selling for just over $300 when they were new. As had been said, reaming the chamber may void the warranty, but if you bought the gun with a mind to reaming the barrel then you accept the responsibility of paying for any repairs that might be needed down the line. I really can't foresee too many problems occurring to this rifle that couldn't be handled on my own. Of course if you buy guns with an eye towards selling them, then certainly you shouldn't make any changes to those guns. As a matter of fact taking it out of the box, handling it or shooting it will detract from any collector value it might ever have.

[Mistered]

With H&R now defunct the .357 magnum versions have become hard to find, but not impossible. Just this morning I saw a used H&R heavy barreled .223 with a scope, their varmint Handi, selling for $199 at my local gun dealer.

This is a very good deal for a .223 HB - especially if a wood stock and in the NEF SB2 variety. Like some of the rifle calibers .223 is one of the most desirable with .30-30 not far behind.

The .357s however are probably the rarest of all - especially in the NEF SB2 version - and will never be seen in this price range.

[BigBlue]

With H&R now defunct the .357 magnum versions have become hard to find, but not impossible. Just this morning I saw a used H&R heavy barreled .223 with a scope, their varmint Handi, selling for $199 at my local gun dealer.

This is a very good deal for a .223 HB - especially if a wood stock and in the NEF SB2 variety. Like some of the rifle calibers .223 is one of the most desirable with .30-30 not far behind.

The .357s however are probably the rarest of all - especially in the NEF SB2 version - and will never be seen in this price range.

Due to the price I was tempted by the used heavy barrel .233 and yes it was the SB2, but with the pallet wood stock, not the nicer laminated stock that some had. There was a year during H&Rs production that they introduced 18" barreled carbine versions of several calibers and they made them with a really nice walnut stock on them. I have the 45/70 version of that, but I know they made them in other calibers including a .45 Colt version. I would think the old long barrel, possibly 32"?, Buffalo Classic 45/70 would be the most sought after H&R rifle. I was very sorry to see them close their doors after so many years of producing good American made rifles at a fair price. It really surprises me that Henry is producing these great single shot rifles and able to keep the price down to earth. I'm grateful to them for doing so and will probably be buying more of them given the great variety of chamberings they now have available. I always enjoyed hunting with a single shot. I don't know what it is about them, but it just seems special to me. I'd love to see Henry come out with them in a .348 Win. or .358 Win.

[Mistered]

I paid $150 a few years ago for my .223 HBar SB2 and it has the basic wood stock and much better than pallet wood!

It shoots very well as has a fair trigger but could use a little work.

I am considering a .243 barrel for mine as I am a fan of the .243 and have a kit built Santa Barbara Mauser in it.