Henry Rifle Forums

Rifle is the new .41mag BigBoy Steel Carbine I bought last week. Took it out for some exercise today shooting from a bench rest. Ammo is std. vel.JHP.

Question: is it normal for recoil to cause the lever to be pushed down slightly by the sear/transfer bar, or am I just not hanging on tight enough? This happened several times. It doesn't unlock the bolt or seem to cause any problems, but I felt I should ask about it.

I haven’t noticed that on either my .357 or .41.

Doesn't sound just right. Does the force of it actually pull the lever down, out of your grip?

I have a 30-30, and it does not do that.

ESquared wrote:Doesn't sound just right. Does the force of it actually pull the lever down, out of your grip?

It's stout, but controllable. I can tell it wants to drop 1/2" or so away from the trigger group at that little button thing right behind the trigger, like something inside is pushing down on it. It doesn't do it when dry firing, just live fire. I tried to make it happen by pushing on the bolt face with a dowel down the barrel, but that didn't do it. And there's no sign of any gas leakage past the bolt. It's a mystery.

This is my first Henry, but not my first lever gun, and I've never experienced this before. Only have 15 rounds thru it as of today, and have not even cleaned it other than to run a patch down the bore last week.

It doesn't do it when dry firing, just live fire.

So does this happen simultaneously upon the round discharging?
If you hold a tight grip on the lever upon firing can you 'feel' pressure on the lever 'fighting' your grip to try to open? And if so is it just momentary at the time of discharge?

The only thing that I know of that can cause the lever to drop is spring tension behind the rounds in the tube magazine. Maybe under recoil the next round from the mag tube is being partially pushed into the receiver. As a test try firing single shots with an unloaded mag tube. For further tests incrementally increase the number of rounds in the mag tube to see if there is a point with a certain number of rounds in the mag tube that causes the lever to drop under recoil. Anyway, I suspect you might have a really stiff mag tube spring.

GunnyGene wrote:Rifle is the new .41mag BigBoy Steel Carbine I bought last week. Took it out for some exercise today shooting from a bench rest. Ammo is std. vel.JHP.

Question: is it normal for recoil to cause the lever to be pushed down slightly by the sear/transfer bar, or am I just not hanging on tight enough? This happened several times. It doesn't unlock the bolt or seem to cause any problems, but I felt I should ask about it.

Mistered wrote:

It doesn't do it when dry firing, just live fire.

So does this happen simultaneously upon the round discharging?
If you hold a tight grip on the lever upon firing can you 'feel' pressure on the lever 'fighting' your grip to try to open? And if so is it just momentary at the time of discharge?

Yes to all three questions.

Mags wrote:The only thing that I know of that can cause the lever to drop is spring tension behind the rounds in the tube magazine. Maybe under recoil the next round from the mag tube is being partially pushed into the receiver. As a test try firing single shots with an unloaded mag tube. For further tests incrementally increase the number of rounds in the mag tube to see if there is a point with a certain number of rounds in the mag tube that causes the lever to drop under recoil. Anyway, I suspect you might have a really stiff mag tube spring.

GunnyGene wrote:Rifle is the new .41mag BigBoy Steel Carbine I bought last week. Took it out for some exercise today shooting from a bench rest. Ammo is std. vel.JHP.

Question: is it normal for recoil to cause the lever to be pushed down slightly by the sear/transfer bar, or am I just not hanging on tight enough? This happened several times. It doesn't unlock the bolt or seem to cause any problems, but I felt I should ask about it.

I'll try that today if I have time and it don't rain. I also have some cowboy loads from Georgia Arms (210gr, SWC) that I might shoot also to see if that makes a difference.

Patrick Hall at Henry Customer Service is your friend, if all else fails. patrick@henryusa.com

ESquared wrote:Patrick Hall at Henry Customer Service is your friend, if all else fails. patrick@henryusa.com

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.

Got this figured out. Basically it's me and simple physics. My bench is too low, which resulted in me being hunched over to far, thus the felt recoil was nearly double what it is in a normal shooting position since my torso was not absorbing it as it would standing or sitting. That means the recoil was focused more sharply not only on my shoulder, but also in the gun itself just enough to cause the lever to overcome the lever plunger and cause it to drop. Gripping the lever tighter against the stock prevents it from doing that, but that refocused recoil remained. So to remedy this, I raised the bench up higher to establish a more natural position and allow my torso to absorb the shock. Success! But I feel like an idiot for not recognizing this issue for what it really was.

Do I read what you say correctly that after establishing "a more natural position and allow my torso to absorb the shock." you can hold the lever against the stock normally and not "gripped tighter"?

GunnyGene wrote:Got this figured out. Basically it's me and simple physics. My bench is too low, which resulted in me being hunched over to far, thus the felt recoil was nearly double what it is in a normal shooting position since my torso was not absorbing it as it would standing or sitting. That means the recoil was focused more sharply not only on my shoulder, but also in the gun itself just enough to cause the lever to overcome the lever plunger and cause it to drop. Gripping the lever tighter against the stock prevents it from doing that, but that refocused recoil remained. So to remedy this, I raised the bench up higher to establish a more natural position and allow my torso to absorb the shock. Success! But I feel like an idiot for not recognizing this issue for what it really was.

Mags wrote:Do I read what you say correctly that after establishing "a more natural position and allow my torso to absorb the shock." you can hold the lever against the stock normally and not "gripped tighter"?

GunnyGene wrote:Got this figured out. Basically it's me and simple physics. My bench is too low, which resulted in me being hunched over to far, thus the felt recoil was nearly double what it is in a normal shooting position since my torso was not absorbing it as it would standing or sitting. That means the recoil was focused more sharply not only on my shoulder, but also in the gun itself just enough to cause the lever to overcome the lever plunger and cause it to drop. Gripping the lever tighter against the stock prevents it from doing that, but that refocused recoil remained. So to remedy this, I raised the bench up higher to establish a more natural position and allow my torso to absorb the shock. Success! But I feel like an idiot for not recognizing this issue for what it really was.

Correct.

Congrats on solving that mystery! Very interesting scenario that I'll have to keep in mind for the future. Thanks for sharing the outcome.

.
Nice!

GunnyGene wrote:Correct.

Mags wrote:Do I read what you say correctly that after establishing "a more natural position and allow my torso to absorb the shock." you can hold the lever against the stock normally and not "gripped tighter"?

ESquared wrote:Congrats on solving that mystery! Very interesting scenario that I'll have to keep in mind for the future. Thanks for sharing the outcome.

The reason I didn't realize what was going on is that I rarely use a bench for sighting in a rifle. In fact, this might be the first time for a high powered rifle. Always used the std. military prone, sitting, kneeling, and standing positions, so didn't really understand how much a bench - especially one that is too low - would effect things. But I'm not as flexible as I used to be, hence the bench. That recoil(kinetic) energy has to go someplace, and like crumple zones in cars it will dissipate in those crumple zones to insulate the passengers from the impact. In a sense your torso acts as a crumple zone, so if you take that path away, it will go someplace else.

GunnyGene wrote:... In a sense your torso acts as a crumple zone, so if you take that path away, it will go someplace else.

So your lever got whip lash...

Mags wrote:

GunnyGene wrote:... In a sense your torso acts as a crumple zone, so if you take that path away, it will go someplace else.

So your lever got whip lash...

That's one way to put it, I reckon.