Henry quality control

[GFK]

GFK, got it. Sometimes you gotta draw pictures fer me to understand!

No worries. It all good.

[Mistered]

I suspect along with the obvious problems of rapid expansion Henry is NO DOUBT having the same problems many businesses & manufactures are and that is simply a lack of qualified people looking for jobs. My company has been operating short handed for a couple years - and what few applicants we get for any of our positions and far from qualified or it's obvious they are not really 'looking' for work - by their appearance and demeanor.
I talk to large manufacturers daily (RVs and components) and they tell me the same thing. And to make things worse Henry rifles are an item that require skilled hands to create, fit and finish to the levels they are renowned for - they are not simply stapled, nailed and glued together. They are a high quality metal and wood product that requires a level of dedication unfortunately not seen much today with workers.

[bmur66]

There is no "Skilled Craftsman" App

[GFK]

They are a high quality metal and wood product that requires a level of dedication unfortunately not seen much today with workers.

Yes, I think a lot of people equate easy with better. Wanting to get paid big dollars for doing nothing. Just sit around and look pretty. Do not want to take the time (or have not been taught to do so) to learn a skill or a trade. Then, wonder why no one will hire them. Some unemployment offices assist with job training. At times, it just a matter of a person willing to apply themselves. Yet, it may be a foretaste of what to come (Matthew 24:12).

[bandit1250]

I hear words at gun shops now that we should not have to hear. "If it doesn't work you can send it back to the factory." That is very encouraging words to hear when laying down hard earned money and going out hunting with something that just might work if you are one of the lucky folks who got a "good" one. I have Remington 22's from the 30's up to the early 80's that work as well today as when they were new and some were my Dad's so I do know the history on how well they worked for him and if they were problem rifles. My Marlin 39A's are from the 40's thru the early 80's and have been very good other than a ejector or ejector spring being replaced on some of the much used ones I bought that had use before I got them. My Marlin's after the rebound hammer came about I have had to do some tuning to get them a 100% reliable and now they are as good as the old ones. Should not have to tune your rifles to work right but it seems to be the norm now. I have been fingering a new Henry Long Ranger 223 at the shop I do business with every time I go in. Just can't decide to lay out the money for it as hard as the action works. It sometimes feels like it is locked up at about a half inch open and takes a lot of effort to make it open the full cycle. Also the wood on the fore arm there is almost none left at the edge of the wood along the chamber area going into the receiver. Looks like a split fore arm waiting to happen. I like the nice figure to the wood and the dealer says " Buy it." " If it doesn't work Henry will fix it." Just what I needed to hear! So I haven't bought it yet and more than likely will not and just buy another Tikka bolt action in 22-250 instead. I may just sit on the side lines with Henry's until I see the quality and reliability get back to what they were known for. I have already had two 001 Henry's that were a disappoint to say the least but my Frontier model has been pretty much flawless except not feeding right if tilted to the side even slightly.

[Mistered]

I also blame high tech In general for part of the apparent lack of practical skills problems with people. There are many people who (and honestly do) have high computer skills yet they continue to try to make a living purely from a computer as the only generator of income. Reality being what it is the computer is a fantastic TOOL for most businesses - but rarely is it the basis for the income. Yes we have the big software companies, Amazon & Ebay and many others who in fact do create income primarily from the computer but in reality they are few and far between. Unfortunately there are still literally 1000s of people who continue to struggle with figuring ways to do this for themselves. I know a 40-something guy who is in this arena. He calls himself a 'software developer' and is constantly coming up with some whiz-bang, hypertext super speed program designed to overlay on top of your business programs to make your job easier but for the few programs that actually do improve computer productivity there are literally 1000s that do nothing.

[bmur66]

I hear words at gun shops now that we should not have to hear. "If it doesn't work you can send it back to the factory." That is very encouraging words to hear when laying down hard earned money and going out hunting with something that just might work if you are one of the lucky folks who got a "good" one. I have Remington 22's from the 30's up to the early 80's that work as well today as when they were new and some were my Dad's so I do know the history on how well they worked for him and if they were problem rifles. My Marlin 39A's are from the 40's thru the early 80's and have been very good other than a ejector or ejector spring being replaced on some of the much used ones I bought that had use before I got them. My Marlin's after the rebound hammer came about I have had to do some tuning to get them a 100% reliable and now they are as good as the old ones. Should not have to tune your rifles to work right but it seems to be the norm now. I have been fingering a new Henry Long Ranger 223 at the shop I do business with every time I go in. Just can't decide to lay out the money for it as hard as the action works. It sometimes feels like it is locked up at about a half inch open and takes a lot of effort to make it open the full cycle. Also the wood on the fore arm there is almost none left at the edge of the wood along the chamber area going into the receiver. Looks like a split fore arm waiting to happen. I like the nice figure to the wood and the dealer says " Buy it." " If it doesn't work Henry will fix it." Just what I needed to hear! So I haven't bought it yet and more than likely will not and just buy another Tikka bolt action in 22-250 instead. I may just sit on the side lines with Henry's until I see the quality and reliability get back to what they were known for. I have already had two 001 Henry's that were a disappoint to say the least but my Frontier model has been pretty much flawless except not feeding right if tilted to the side even slightly.

Check out a Browning BLR and compare

[Henry88]

Problems with Henry Quality..................

[JEBar]

most folks know the old saying about opinions .... well, here is mine .... most of us want flawless operation in whatever we purchase .... while that can happen, its much more the norm to have to deal with some (hopefully small) issues ..... drive by any new car, boat, or any type of dealership, in most cases they have substantial repair facilities .... further, we want every item in its construction to be what is best for us .... the Buckhorn sight comes to mind ..... some want peep sights, some wouldn't want them at all .... if I had my way, they would all come with an appropriate Nikon scope .... we also don't want to spend anywhere near top dollar to purchase it .... Henry rifles are mass produced and are priced accordingly .... we tend to judge the world by our tiny piece of it .... on this forum we have heard a FEW complaints .... emphasis on the word FEW .... we've had over 50 registered in our How Many ? thread in the last few weeks .... when I'm the one with a problem, its a big problem to me .... sometimes I lose sight of the fact that I doesn't mean it is a universal problem .... my position is pretty simple, if I find I don't like a product for any reason, I won't buy another .... I don't find it be productive trying to stir up a tempest in a teapot

[Cofisher]

Agreed, I was hoping perhaps for more conversation on how to encourage Henry to address the issue. I recognize it is a small percentage, but as you say, we all want perfection.

[Henry88]

BTW guys, if you want to see what complaints REALLY look like, be my guest....................

http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/marlin-rant-forum/

[RanchRoper]

What's this "loading gate" they refer to?

[Cofisher]

A device engineered to pinch and cut your finger. It enhances the shooting experience.

[GFK]

BTW guys, if you want to see what complaints REALLY look like, be my guest....................

http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/marlin-rant-forum/

Yeah. This thread has been nice compare to Marlin's. But, I think the owner and managers of Henry will attempt to address any concerns in short order. The key is to inform them of the concerns. Yet as JEBar mentioned, people vote with their money. If a product is not good, it will not be around for long. So, our feedback helps and gives Henry an opportunity to be around for more years to come. Maybe, we are part of the quality control team? Just a thought.

[RanchRoper]

Communication is key. HRA can't help if they don't know about it. Mr. Imperato would not put his personal commitment to customer satisfaction in writing if he did not want to make sure that your first Henry was not your last. As I've said before, if not for the Canadian price of a Henry Original 1860; I'd be packing one on my saddle and I'm sure it would be a shooter.

Thanks all for keeping this discussion productive. Good meat and potatoes here for anyone at HRA who sees it, and they do come on the forum from time to time.

[Yornoc3]

A good thought. We as the buyers of Henry's products surely should offer comments and criticism where we find issues. At the same time, our expectations have to be realistic. As Jebar said, we're talking about a mass produced product that, thanks to CNC and other "robotic" production, can be put into our hands for a surprisingly low price for what we get - unless we find a lemon. That's when the rubber hits the road, on customer service.
The most accurate rifle I own, by far, is a stainless Tikka T3 .270. Built by robots, I doubt if a person did much more than attach the polymer stock to the action, yet that rifle offers performance that would have required custom gunsmithing 40 years ago, and a lot more money .

[JNG3]

Oh boy! There are some rabidly unhappy Marlin owners over there! Can't say I blame em though from the recently built examples I've seen on the shelves of the local ffls. That right there is what I don't want HRA to ever turn into.

[GFK]

Now, this could be an example lack of control:

http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/336/5 ... 336ss.html

[Mistered]

Final last few years for Winchester weren’t pretty either (U.S Repeating Arms Winchester - not Miroku made Winchesters)

[The Wiz]

I have been hesitant to express my opinion about Henry's customer service as a majority of the forum seems that it is to be excellent.

I have to say that I am a little under whelmed with it. I have been dealing via email with my problem and getting it resolved has been a real hassle. I knew is would be slower using email but I like a written record when dealing with any company. And it has been SLOW. Still waiting for a UPS label that was promised a week ago. It was to be sent via email. Nothing. Before that one email after another as the cs person would ask for more info one question at a time. Or he would ask for the same info twice. I believe I gave him the serial # three times. Gave him my return address twice. And then the shipping instructions.... You have to strip you rifle down to original condition, no scopes, no added sites, no decorations, no leather. Find a plain box with no logo to send it back, which I did, thanks to a tip from a forum member ( my gun shop ). On and on and on.

Ok, I done. I do agree though with what North Country Gal said. Concise and to the point. You are turning into my second favorite cheese head. My first? My lovely wife of 46 years. My own North Country Gal.

After waiting patiently for a return label via email for 9 days, I finally called to see what the hold up was. First I had to wait until everybody came back from lunch. Their customer service center closes completely for lunch. An answering service takes messages and they will call you back. I did not leave a message. I am very familiar with call centers and I have never heard of that practice.

Called later and got a rep. Coincidently, the same person I was dealing with via email. He was greatly surprised that I had not got one the same day he order it. He added that they had some problems with that soft ware program two weeks ago. He reordered it and I got it with in an hour. The rifle will be on its way tomorrow. Given an usual turn around of ten days this whole situation would have taken 40 days.... I really don't know what to say anymore about this. One thing more and I hope you will not hear anymore about this situation. If they knew they had a problem with return labels not going out why didn't they check and see if people got one. No, what they did was wait for people to call. Not proactive at all. I am a patient man and my patience cost me 9 days. In this case patience was not a virtue.