Henry Rifle Forums

I have looked at Henry shotguns and I'm impressed. I'm considering the 12ga BUT I had a H&R that waited 5# and when used Hi brass It was very hard on the shoulder to say the least. By the way I started on FIE 12GA and that was worse than the H&R! I know Henry is heaver 6.65 # and has a recoil pad. I'm still Leary on the recoil thing. The things I like are the recoil pad and the choke tubes can be bought easily and of course the wood And American made and the mass weight. It would be mostly used for small game hunting. Birds and rabbits and bushy tailed friends. Does anyone have the 12Ga and what are your impressions and thoughts on recoil with it? Trying to go down in mass weight for ease of carrying on long walks. I've been 12 ga all my life. I'm not opposed to the 20ga or 410 bore. I just have a lot of 12 ga ammo that's all.

here is a link to an ongoing thread dealing with 12 ga recoil ===> http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=6758 .... there are mods that can be made to any 12 ga which will help but the bottom line is, the only types that have actions which reduce felt recoil are some semi autos ....

Personally, I have a lot of 12 ga shells on hand also but I totally understand the recoil issue. Might not ever use all of them. Not a Henry, but a Rem 870 that I bought a long time ago for pheasant hunting. Will never let it go.
For your hunting purposes, I, personally would go 20 or 410 and not worry about surplus ammo. I'm sure there is a Henry for you!

I have a Remington 870 Magnum Express Pump with the 18 inch barrel. An AR type stock was added to it which has the recoil absorbing spring/piston.
This does a great job in saving your shoulder and I have shot several strings of slug rounds with no issue.
It is fairly light weight and easy to swing into action. Haven't shot it in a while and need to get it out more as I seem to carry my 20 ga. Shockwave
most often when down at the range.

I'd like to see a picture of that 870 express if you have one. Thanks, Jim

What I'm reading about shotgun weight if both weigh the same the 20ga would be less recoil. The 12ga 6.65 and the 20ga 6.62. I think I'm leaning towards the 20 ga and 410.

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Getting both a 20ga and .410 is an excellent decision. I have a 12ga and a .410, both Mossberg. I have plenty of ammo for both, but rarely shoot the 12ga (actually couple of decades since I shot it). My goto shotgun is the .410.

dad wrote: ↑

Sat May 11, 2019 8:19 pm

What I'm reading about shotgun weight if both weigh the same the 20ga would be less recoil. The 12ga 6.65 and the 20ga 6.62. I think I'm leaning towards the 20 ga and 410.

With recoil, all else being equal, the gauge being shot won't matter. I often shoot 1 ounce 12 ga. loads. If the 12 ga. gun weighs more than a 20 ga. shooting an equivalent 1 oz load, it'll kick less. Ratchet it up to a 3" 20 ga. 1 1/4 oz. load, and a 12 ga. 1 1/4 oz. load, both at the same velocity, and there'll be less felt recoil from the heavier gun - but both will kick noticeably more. The beauty of a 12 ga. is that it'll effectively shoot everything from 28 ga. (3/4 oz) equivalent loads to 10 ga. (3.5" 2 oz) equivalent loads. Of course, we shotgun shooters think we need a perfect gun for each gauge, and one for each specific purpose within that gauge .