Long Ranger

[ESquared]

Don't know what happened, but i wrote up a few notes on my visit to Cabela's, where I handled, hefted, racked and pointed a Long Ranger in 223 and 243. He had a 308 in "the back," but I didn't make him drag it out. We agreed that the overall weight of the 308 would be ever so slightly lighter than the other two we were looking at, due to the amount of metal removed from the barrel and chamber for the larger round. I guess that assumes that the barrel blanks are identical, regardless of caliber, but if that's an erroneous assumption, please chime in.

Anyway, the overwhelming impression of this Long Ranger is that it's very sleek. From the lack of a magazine tube to the tapered, sporter barrel to the lack of sights (more on that later) to the smooth (non-honey-combed) recoil pad and the smooth alloy receiver, it's just a very sleek Henry lever action rifle. The furniture and checkering was beautiful, as you'd expect, and the other striking thing about the profile of the Long Ranger is the raised comb on the butt-stock, which sets this rifle up perfectly for a scope.

In addition to the looks of it, the sleekness is underscored by the weight, the heft of it, or the lack thereof. Admittedly, a few rounds of some pretty big ammo will beef it up, but it's very easy to handle. The fulcrum is right under the magazine, which a scope wouldn't change one bit, I wouldn't guess. Speaking of scopes, literally every review (written or in video) I've looked at had the reviewer doing his work with a scope attached. The only debate seems to be how big a scope to attach to it, and it's interesting to read and hear the "underscope" vs. "overscope" debate. Interesting, too, that the only models this Cabela's stocks is the "no sight" version, but I guess that has a lot to do with Cabela's being in the scope business in a big way, huh?

The action is unbelievably smooth (if you take out the empty mag) and the bolt is very long. It's gear-driven, which you can tell by the teeth on the underside, so it's probably no wonder that it's so silky; it's not just sliding back and forth, it's a true mechanical interaction of the parts.

While there, I worked a number of other Henrys that are written about here on the Forum, from a standard steel 30-30 to a brass 45-70, and the sleek comparison was just reinforced by that handling. It's still a Henry (to me, at least) by virtue of the workmanship and the furniture and the smoothness of the action, but it's clearly a "clean sheet of paper" Henry (even though many compare it very closely to the BLR).

If the traditional Henry lineup is "Old West," this struck me as "New West" in design, and the claim by all the writers that it's basically a bolt action lock-up engineered into a lever action rifle seems to be very spot-on.

So, when I think about the Long Ranger 308 vs. a CCH 30-30, it's nothing but apples-and oranges. Going from a BBS .357 to a CCH 30-30 is like getting into a higher horsepower version of the same car with a different paint job. Cooler car, no doubt, but do I want another Mustang (or whatever - insert car model here) in the garage? The Long Ranger is a DIFFERENT car altogether, but made by the same manufacturer, if that's not stretching the analogy too far.

It's interesting how Hickok reacts to Henrys in general and how he sort of tolerated the Long Ranger in his review, but didn't really endorse it in a big way. Just Google "Henry Long Ranger 308" and there are actually lots of written and video reviews out there, many of them with credible range/accuracy reports, even one by one guy who seems to have put 4 rounds through the same hole at 100 yards, something he claimed he had never done before. They all seem to prove that it's a sub-1" rifle with a scope and a rest at 100 yds.

Speaking of vids, here's one from a guy I'd never run across before and he's a hoot (to me, anyway). Sort of like a Hickok45 with high mileage and having led a much harder life. But he's a gun guy, that's for sure and he seems to like the Long Ranger, that's for sure. Hppe this transfers properly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p2S_JQZ00M&t=3s

Anyway, Mags wanted a write-up, so here you go, from a Henry newbie with "the bug."

[PT7]

This "gun guy," Jeff Quinn, really does know his stuff. I've watched many of his, and his brother's, GunBlast reviews/videos in the last 1/2 dozen years. Also have a bunch of email chats with Jeff in my firearms archives; in particular about deer-hunting ammo choices for a Henry .357 Magnum. Couple of ammo choices he suggested to me were: Buffalo Bore 140gr Barnes XPB <or> Doubletap 180gr Hard Cast FNGC. Still have remaining rounds of both in my .357 Magnum stock. He particularly likes to support Buffalo Bore, and shoots a lot of their ammo. I think that his written evals/reviews are better than the vids. Not least, he is a good shooter, as well as proof that Henrys are "OK for Lefties."

I don't have a strong preference or opinion about a .308 versus the .30-30. I did once purchase a Henry .30-30 with the 20" round barrel, but got caught in that 2015 time frame where the lever wouldn't stay closed no matter how many or what kind of ammo cartridges were loaded. I'd get a .30-30 today for deer hunting since that loading issue has been well-resolved by Henry.

But I really do enjoy reading reviews of the different guns that are part of our Henry Forum chats. Following all the recent discussion about the Henry .30-30 and other options (e.g. this Long Ranger.308), I found an article/review of the Henry .30-30 on the TTAG web site. http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2015/1 ... rms-30-30/ Particularly cool were some of the personal experiences the writer shared about his ownership of .30-30 rifles (not all Henrys). Most of all, I really liked his story of a Christmas morning deer hunt he made. Very enjoyable read; just wanted to share it with everybody.

PT7

Speaking of vids, here's one from a guy I'd never run across before and he's a hoot (to me, anyway). Sort of like a Hickok45 with high mileage and having led a much harder life. But he's a gun guy, that's for sure and he seems to like the Long Ranger, that's for sure. Hppe this transfers properly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p2S_JQZ00M&t=3s

[Mags]

Very well thought out and written up. Thank you for taking the time to go to Cabelas to examine the Long Ranger, share your thoughts and what you experienced there! You've sure kept my appetite alive and going for my wish list Henry. I'm all the more stirred up, my voice has gone all high pitched and squeaky now in excitement

[ESquared]

Very well thought out and written up. Thank you for taking the time to go to Cabelas to examine the Long Ranger, share your thoughts and what you experienced there! You've sure kept my appetite alive and going for my wish list Henry. I'm all the more stirred up, my voice has gone all high pitched and squeaky now in excitement

My pleasure, believe me, as I had to go see it for myself and was glad I did. It's certainly wreaking havoc with my wish list. Gonna have to sleep on this for a few nights.

Not to add fuel to the fire, and I cannot vouch for Tombstone Tactical, but I've scouted them several times and they seem to have pretty good prices, free shipping and no CC fees. And, don't know if you're after one with sights or without, but Tombstone has this one:

https://www.tombstonetactical.com/catal ... blued-5rd/

[Henry88]

Speaking of vids, here's one from a guy I'd never run across before and he's a hoot (to me, anyway). Sort of like a Hickok45 with high mileage and having led a much harder life. But he's a gun guy, that's for sure and he seems to like the Long Ranger, that's for sure. Hppe this transfers properly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p2S_JQZ00M&t=3s

Funny but watching it now and @4:40 he says something to the effect of, "We use rests cause you don't want to see how well I shoot, you want to see what the gun can do". The remaining video shows him shooting (mostly w/o a rest) with no pics of the results

Kind of the type of video I was originally referring to.

I think he did mention a tech review which I don't have time right now to watch.

Still, I like the way he reviews, gets a lot in real fast and you feel like you know the gun after watching.

[ESquared]

Speaking of vids, here's one from a guy I'd never run across before and he's a hoot (to me, anyway). Sort of like a Hickok45 with high mileage and having led a much harder life. But he's a gun guy, that's for sure and he seems to like the Long Ranger, that's for sure. Hppe this transfers properly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p2S_JQZ00M&t=3s

Funny but watching it now and @4:40 he says something to the effect of, "We use rests cause you don't want to see how well I shoot, you want to see what the gun can do". The remaining video shows him shooting (mostly w/o a rest) with no pics of the results

Kind of the type of video I was originally referring to.

I think he did mention a tech review which I don't have time right now to watch.

Still, I like the way he reviews, gets a lot in real fast and you feel like you know the gun after watching.

If you fast forward to the last few minutes, you'll see they show his target results from the rest shots. He got some very tight groups.

[MapleHill]

Hey Guys, I thought I would chime in here as the local GS has/had (haven't been there in a few weeks) a couple of these on the shelf. I handled, played with, pointed etc. one in 308 for a bit. I will preface this by telling you I am a BIG BLR fan. I had one for many years and my Dad has had one for ages. The fit and finish on the Henry was just what you would expect, very nice wood, clean lines and light. When racking the lever I found it to be "gritty" in comparison to the BLR. Now, I will say the Henry was brand new while the BLRs I have are well used and broke in. It seems like the bolt on the Henry was not as finished as the Browning. I think with some use the Henry would smooth up and compare nicely with the BLR. I searched this site looking for reviews on the Henry as far as real guys shooting and carrying one in the deer woods as there may be one in my future. If I "pull the trigger" on one, I will post my findings.

[Mags]

If I "pull the trigger" on one, I will post my findings.

Please do both!

[JEBar]

Hey Guys, I thought I would chime in here as the local GS has/had (haven't been there in a few weeks) a couple of these on the shelf. I handled, played with, pointed etc. one in 308 for a bit. I will preface this by telling you I am a BIG BLR fan.

very well understood .... I bought my Belgium made BLR back in the second year they were in production .... from day one it has proven to be an outstanding performer .... the rotary bolt in our BLR locks and unlocks smoothly .... we also have 3 Henry rifles .... given, they don't have rotary bolts, after a break in period, I'd rate the smoothness of the actions in our Henry rifles to be on par with our BLR .... if I was in the market for a caliber in a rotary bolt rife, I'd go with the Henry