Henry Rifle Forums

A guy posted on our local website that he bought his grandson a Henry pump rimfire and that the action is very stiff. One suggestion to him was to oil the bolt where it protrudes to the rear when open. I mentioned the great Henry customer service if needed.

Anybody have a suggestion for him as how to free up the action?

Takes about 500 rounds thru it before it even thinks about cycling any easier. Henry says its not necessary to take one clear down but I did mine and then you can get to the internal parts to lube them up some. There are videos on Youtube to tear one down. One thing the guy can do is watch TV and cycle the action like Sir Henry did.

Good advice above from BigAl52.

Hatchdog wrote: ↑

Wed May 01, 2024 10:20 am

A guy posted on our local website that he bought his grandson a Henry pump rimfire and that the action is very stiff. One suggestion to him was to oil the bolt where it protrudes to the rear when open. I mentioned the great Henry customer service if needed.

Anybody have a suggestion for him as how to free up the action?

See if this helps
https://www.henryusa.com/own-a-henry/he ... del-h003t/

BigAl52 wrote: ↑

Wed May 01, 2024 11:43 am

Takes about 500 rounds thru it before it even thinks about cycling any easier. Henry says its not necessary to take one clear down but I did mine and then you can get to the internal parts to lube them up some. There are videos on Youtube to tear one down. One thing the guy can do is watch TV and cycle the action like Sir Henry did.

Yep. You can also put some fine grit automotive paint polisher on the moving parts. Just make sure it’s all removed after you are done polishing.

It's lever action designed to be pumped. It's gonna be stiff. I have one. Look at the rolling piece under the receiver. That's where the lever would go. It will never be as smooth as a designed .22 cal. pump rifle.

The Happy Kaboomer wrote: ↑

Thu May 02, 2024 12:36 am

It's lever action designed to be pumped. It's gonna be stiff. I have one. Look at the rolling piece under the receiver. That's where the lever would go. It will never be as smooth as a designed .22 cal. pump rifle.

Exactly. I want to buy another .22 Mares Leg and parts from a pump and combine them to make a legal pump Mares Leg. Do you think it’s possible?

Thanks for the tips, I posted a link to this conversation on the local site for his info.

I think that making your own mares leg from "parts" is a good way to get three hots and a cot unless one wants to pay the transfer tax to the ATF.

I'll offer this little story up and preface it by saying that I've never done it on a firearm, but have done it with fishing reels, and it works.

I had a second job at an upscale outdoor store for almost a decade. Sold all kinds of camping, hiking, climbing, and general outdoor gear, as well as hunting and fishing gear. I worked mostly in the fishing department, but had the pink card to sell guns in NJ if that department got busy. We sold some pretty high end fly-fishing gear, along with some class-rated deep sea trolling rods and reels. I fished mostly fresh water, and surf fished the salt, but knew next to nothing about Deep Sea or fly fishing. When those guys would come in and shop, I often picked their brains a bit, and learned why they did the things they did. One regular that had us spool his giant Penn International reels with mono asked me if I've ever felt ones as smooth as his reels, which I hadn't. He told me that when he got a new reel, he'd clean all the grease and oil from the gears, and fill the reel with toothpaste, then just sit and reel it while watching TV. Then he'd wash all the toothpaste out and relube everything. The toothpaste acts as a mild lapping compound, and it sure made a noticeable difference. It actually works even better on lower end reels, which kind of makes sense. You can buy lapping compound, and even disintegrating compound for the same purpose, but as that guys said, toothpaste is $1, available everywhere, and it works.

So short of just sitting and cycling that pump action over and over and over, maybe try lapping the mechanism a bit to smooth it up. Some judicious de-burring with some needle files would probably help a lot too.

^^^^^^^^

That makes sense, just last week I was in the dentist chair getting my teeth cleaned. The hygienist asked me if I used whitening toothpaste which I don’t. I asked her why she asked and she said whitening toothpaste is very abrasive. Sounds like the perfect gun smoothing product

Hatchdog wrote: ↑

Wed May 08, 2024 10:39 am

^^^^^^^^
... she said whitening toothpaste is very abrasive. Sounds like the perfect gun smoothing product

I've used it to polish fogged over car head light lens.

I generally agree that using a quantity of something like Hoppes No.9 accelerates break-in in various types of gun actions. I tested it many times. The oil is not at all abrasive, so I have no explanation why it happens. As the oil gets dirty, it needs to be removed.

The Happy Kaboomer wrote: ↑

Thu May 02, 2024 12:36 am

It's lever action designed to be pumped. It's gonna be stiff. I have one. Look at the rolling piece under the receiver. That's where the lever would go. It will never be as smooth as a designed .22 cal. pump rifle.

Thanks for the info. I've always wondered how the Henry pump could have such a rep for being stiff to pump when every model of 22 pump I've used has been so easy to pump.