Henry Rifle Forums

Our next contest will last from now until December 10th. Everyone has a shot at it too.

Please tell us the story of your best day with a Henry. It has to be a true story. Please post it in this thread. You may post up to three different true stories. The judges will be asked to narrow down the best to the top five and then the winner will be announced.

Good luck everyone.

If you don't have a Henry, borrow one or go look at one in a gun shop. I want everyone to have a chance to win. I think Henry will come through with a nice, just before Christmas prize package. (to be announced later)

As a judge..can I judge 1of my many great stories? Shoot!! Every time I go fire my Henry I could post a story! I won one and would like to win another. As a member I would be honored to post my story. Write Em up folks..I truly look forward to the honor of reading your tales!

I bought my oldest son a new Henry 22 for his 9th birthday. He is my hunting and reloading partner so he was ecstatic about his very own 22. Take it to the range for the first time and sight it in...he proceeds to shoot 100 rounds that afternoon...and every time we get a chance to go!

The Measure of My Henry
May 11, 2013

This is a short story of my very best day with my Henry Big Boy (BBB) in .357 Magnum. It happened when I visited my son-in-law at his privately-owned shooting range in northern Missouri. I had my brand new, never-yet-shot BBB in .357 Magnum to show off to him.

Little did I know what was coming in terms of “showing off.”
On that date, I had been into firearms for only nine months or so. The one gun I had was my SP101 3” .357 Magnum revolver. I had been looking at the Henry BBB for quite a while, and was as nervous as a treed coon when I bought it and brought it home. I couldn’t help but look at it many times each day as I waited for my first chance to try it out. And while I waited, I cleaned that rifle big time. I actually thought I might wear the brass right off the receiver!
I had been training with my son-in-law, a former Marine sniper, since the previous summer. Mostly gun safety and how to handle different firearms. While I only had my revolver to shoot, he let me try a number of his firearms – 12-ga and 20-ga shotguns, semi-autos, various caliber rifles, including the .308 sniper rifle he built. So I was most excited to bring my first rifle to his range. He was going to train me to sight it in, and then we would take turns shooting it. I looked forward to showing it off.
The day was a great summer day, with very light wind on the range. After sighting in the Big Boy, we set up for some target shooting. Oh yes, the BBB was completely stock with the buckhorn rear sights. The majority of my son’s-in-law long guns had scopes on them….easy to figure that would be the choice of a former sniper. He had never shot my rifle before, and rarely had shot any lever-action rifles.
So after shooting the 25-yard sight in, we set up a target at forty yards. The day is so memorable for me that I even remember the first ammo I had bought for my rifle. So I loaded 10 rounds of Winchester .357 Magnum 110gr JHP. The plan was to shoot 5 rounds each at 40 yards. I went first simply hoping my POIs would be in target. As I recall, I did get some in target, but the group size was larger than my current set of calipers. I wasn’t embarrassed at all shooting next to a Marine sniper, and looked forward to his turn to see how well he’d handle the Henry.
First of all, I could barely see the POIs at 40 yards. So didn’t really know how his 5 shots landed. I won’t ever forget what I saw when we walked up to the target. He had shot the rifle at almost a rapid-fire pace, standing, off hand. His 5-round group was less than ½” with all rounds touching each other! I was grinning big time at his shooting exhibition, because I know he is an incredibly excellent marksman from the other times we shot together. But the real surprise was the look on his face, standing there with a lever-action rifle in his hand, staring at the target. He was blown away at the accuracy of the Henry, and almost couldn’t say anything! We shot some more at black steel targets, then called it a day after sending 70 rounds through the Big Boy.
Right along with his fantastic 5-round group showing off my Henry rifle, what he did next put the icing on the cake. He rarely saves any targets because he shoots every day to maintain his high skill level. But he took that target, dated it, and hung it in his shooting shack!! It hangs there to this day, and I really enjoy looking at it whenever I visit him at the range.

So the very best day with my Henry was spent watching an expert shoot my Henry.
It is a most fun memory for me as he “showed off” the measure of my Henry rifle.
I’ll always remember it.

My story:

I have always had a fascination with lever guns. I'm guessing it's because I've watched way to many cowboy movies in my day.

One bored sunny afternoon my buddy Harry and I decided we'd make a road trip to a gun shop about 65 miles from my house. You know, just to look around and maybe by some reloading stuff. While we were wandering around drooling over some of the rifles hanging on the racks. I saw it!

It was the lever gun of my lever gun dreams. Bright and shiny. I pointed the gun out to Harry and said hey, look at that one. The golden one, it looks really cool. Harry looks at me and says "you won't buy that, it's way to nice for you". Well, I yelled over to Mary (the owner) and said "hey give me that one". She grabbed it for me. I cycled the action once and I loved the feel. I said lets do the paper work now. She said really?? I said yep! it's coming home with me.

I got it home and I just fell in love with it. The gun fit me like a glove. But at the range I just could not get the hang of the Buckhorns with my old eyes. I had heard of Andy's Skinner sights. I had previously shot aperture sights on a friends rifle and i did well with them. So I added Andy Express sight base and then added the Merit Adjustable aperture. And there is no going back now. We usually make a range day of shooting it with my boy. It has a lot of fond memories for us. I know my son and his kids will love it for generations to come.




The best day ever at the range was when I made an afternoon out of trying 7 different hand loads to come up with one really awesome load. This is best the best target of the day. I was sighting in the gun at 100 yards. I finally found the center . The 4 holes towards the center are actually 5 holes. I got a 2 in one. The stars and the moon must have been aligned just right. lol



As for my buddy Harry, He is turning out to be an awfully expensive friend. I have been gamed to many times by this SOB , he has instigated another lever (Henry 45-70), a AR-50 50 bmg. A Ruger Super Red Hawk, a couple of Ruger Black Hawks, 2 Remington 700's one in 30-06 and one I had custom built in a 300wm. He just might have to go. I can't afford to hang around him anymore! Na, I love him like a brother He's a real pal. And one of my best friends.

Great stories! Keep em comin!

Yes, wonderful stories, but how do we judge these?

Alnamvet68 wrote:Yes, wonderful stories, but how do we judge these?

I'd say the story that makes you feel good. One that maybe you can relate to. one that makes you smile.
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Lets hear some great stories !!

Please, let's not be shy. I know we have all had good times with our Henry's. Let's here about your rifle experiences!!

Maybe it was a fun day at the range with your kids/family, friends, maybe you were given the rifle as a gift. Or you had a great hunt with your rifle, maybe your first hunt or first hunt with a family member, friend...

You get the idea!! I am hoping to here some really good stories. i know Henry's make memory's Please share yours with us all.

Sunday I had a few friends over, and we were sitting around having a good time, and I brought out the Glenfield 60 (scoped) and Henry H001 (unscoped) to shoot. Just before the first shot a big squirrel jumped onto the wood pile right next to the target and stayed there. We were all cracking up, nobody even thought about shooting it. It took off after a few seconds and we could get started.

I never saw anything like that, but it gave us all a memory that none of us will forget

Since I won the last contest, I really am not entering this one. However, I do want to share my story, even though it requires taking poetic license with the meaning of "day".

On October 1, 2013, the state of Maryland changed it gun laws requiring a handgun qualifying license to purchase a handgun. Since neither Squatch nor I wanted to obtain the license and get on the state's "hit list", we started discussing possible long gun purchases (to feed our adiction). During the course of our conversations, it was obvious we were both fans of lever actions in general and Henrys in particular. So in December 2013 I bought a Big Boy .44 mag for myself as a Christmas present. The next month during a camping trip at an outdoor range, I pulled the BB out of its orange Henry bag. Squatch was annoyed that I got a Henry first (he did not count my AR-7 since it is a semi-auto) until he got to shoot it. Then he smiled and said he had to get one of these. 2 months later he proudly announced that he had picked up both a BB and a Golden Boy.

Fast forward almost 3 years, and I was again at a range during a camping trip. I again pulled the BB out of its orange bag, only this time instead of the stock sights it had a Skinner rear sight and a Lyman front sight. My friend Willie asked why I changed the stock sights. Then he shot the BB. After putting 5 rounds in the head of a silhouette at 50 yrds shooting overhand, he said that he had to get one of these. We'll just have to see.

Good entries so far. Let's have some more.

Dave, I don't get it. After you gave out those beautiful Buck knives last contest I thought that you'd be flooded with entries.

I'm with you Hack.

Had a lot of good days with my Henry rifles but the one, so far, that takes the cake for me was the time I took my granddaughter and son-in-law to the range to shoot the H001 and the H004 Golden Boy. My granddaughter is a serious shooter!

Lets bump this up to the top.

Steve, that's what you call an awesome family outing! It's amazing to see now well girl first time shooters do. Most will out shoot the boys on the first range trip. I was amazed with my daughter on her first trip. Sadly I did not get any pics of her and the Henry 44 mag she shot that day. Along with the 30-06, 10-22, 22-45, 640-3 and even my R1 1911. I love range days with my son and daughter.

Come on guys, Lets see some pics and hear some stories!!

1911ly - it is sad when we don't have pictures of these great outings. I took my other granddaughter shooting & 4 wheeling over the Thanksgiving weekend but did not take a camera. It is so much better to be able to visually see those memories. When will I ever learn?

Steve, she sure looks intense on getting a good group. I keep the loading tube off my benchrest and push the rifle forward so the forearm is resting. I also keep my eye forward so my nose is touching my thumb across the tang. Interesting how we all shoot different.

Ok, perphaps we'll get more entries after I list the prizes.

Henry has agreed to supply the prizes again for this contest. The prize package is:

Fleece Henry Hoodie
1,000 man shoot hat
long sleeve tee shirt
Henry Mug
Henry Key chain
and a Henry rifle case


All entries must be in by Dec 9th.

The winner will be announced on the 10th. Hopefully the prizes will then reach you before Christmas.

daytime dave wrote:Henry has agreed to supply the prizes again for this contest. The prize package is:

Fleece Henry Hoodie
1,000 man shoot hat
long sleeve tee shirt
Henry Mug
Henry Key chain
and a Henry rifle case

Those are nice prizes! Thank you Henry.

Oh, I'm so in....(wipes off the lens on my camera phone or is it phone camera?)