Broken Firing Pin, But Excellent Customer Service
Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2016 7:54 am
I have a Big Boy in .44 that I purchased new in 2011. I have not put many rounds thru it until this last year. I put perhaps 600 rounds thru it or maybe more in the last few range sessions without any cleaning except wiping the exterior with a lightly oiled cloth regularly. That lack of cleaning certainly had not done anything to diminish accuracy as my very last group off of a rest from 100 yards was about 1". Hard to tell exactly because I have been shooting my very light loads with a 200gr plated bullet from Xtreme Bullets. They don't make much of a dent on my steel plate so it is hard to tell where the center of each impact is.
I was finally cleaning it two days ago. I took the lever, bolt, and ejector out only to clean it. I have both a large loop lever and the small loop lever that originally came with the rifle. I decided to put the small lever back on after using the large loop for a while. When attempting to close the lever, it didn't seem to close fully so the lever was not fully depressing the trigger lock. I then installed the large loop and it worked fine.
I called Henry Rifles and spoke to Pete. He wasn't sure what could be causing the issue and immediately offered to have it shipped to them and repaired. I hesitated and he offered to send me a new small loop lever. I agreed and thanked him for the wonderful service. I also asked if Henry might be releasing an All Weather version of the Big Boy and he said something along the lines of that being a good probability. I responded that I would purchase one as soon as it was available.
After getting off the phone, I tried loading some dummy rounds in the magazine tube. They would not cycle. Something seemed to be preventing the carrier from dropping low enough for the rounds to leave the magazine. I called Pete and told him to hold off on sending the lever.
Yesterday I completely disassembled the receiver and the tip of front firing pin about 3/16" long fell out of the receiver. It was interfering with the carrier. I called Pete and he is sending me a shipping label.
From a quick search, broken firing pins aren't too common but is an occasional issue. Perhaps most often with rifles manufactured a few years ago. But that was a quick search and nothing thorough.
Anyways, this is more about their excellent employees and service. I am hoping they release an All Weather Big Boy. If so, that will be my next rifle purchase.
I was finally cleaning it two days ago. I took the lever, bolt, and ejector out only to clean it. I have both a large loop lever and the small loop lever that originally came with the rifle. I decided to put the small lever back on after using the large loop for a while. When attempting to close the lever, it didn't seem to close fully so the lever was not fully depressing the trigger lock. I then installed the large loop and it worked fine.
I called Henry Rifles and spoke to Pete. He wasn't sure what could be causing the issue and immediately offered to have it shipped to them and repaired. I hesitated and he offered to send me a new small loop lever. I agreed and thanked him for the wonderful service. I also asked if Henry might be releasing an All Weather version of the Big Boy and he said something along the lines of that being a good probability. I responded that I would purchase one as soon as it was available.
After getting off the phone, I tried loading some dummy rounds in the magazine tube. They would not cycle. Something seemed to be preventing the carrier from dropping low enough for the rounds to leave the magazine. I called Pete and told him to hold off on sending the lever.
Yesterday I completely disassembled the receiver and the tip of front firing pin about 3/16" long fell out of the receiver. It was interfering with the carrier. I called Pete and he is sending me a shipping label.
From a quick search, broken firing pins aren't too common but is an occasional issue. Perhaps most often with rifles manufactured a few years ago. But that was a quick search and nothing thorough.
Anyways, this is more about their excellent employees and service. I am hoping they release an All Weather Big Boy. If so, that will be my next rifle purchase.
