Henry Rifle Forums

I took my new Homesteader to the range today and was pretty happy with the results. I ran 75 rounds through it with just about every handload in my 9mm inventory and only had one failure and that was with a very light target load. That load barely functions a Dan Wesson PM9, dropping empties only a couple feet away so can't blame the Henry. Otherwise it ate 115 and 125 HAP's with CFE, 124 and 147 XTP's with BE 86, Lee cast powder coated 120 TC's over Power Pistol, and Lee 125 RN over Bullseye. Next bullets to be tried are the new Lee 147 TC and RCBS 124 cone nose. All loads tried today shot 1 1/2" to 3" groups from a rest at 50 yards but that's not a fair test of what the gun is capable of. I'm an old buzzard and wasn't really getting a super clear sight picture with the irons even though I could consistently tag the 8" swinger offhand.

I will probably be going with a Ranger Point rail and maybe a Burris Fast Fire reddot. RP says the "trench" in their rail design allows the shooter to still use the factory irons while keeping the optics down low. Seems like a plan to me.

The trigger broke fairly clean but at 4 1/2 to 5 pounds I wish it was a pound lighter. It did improve a little bit with use today. Maybe it will get even better as the moving parts get to know each other.

This is the "G" model. I've never owned a Glock and probably never will but if I'm ever feeling "tactical" it would only take a couple minutes to switch magwells.

Overall, there were no issues with the gun. It looks and feels very good in my opinion. I had a few guys come over and ask to handle it. I really wasn't sure if I was going to buy one of these but when I handled it and saw the wood...I was hooked. Should have taken a picture in the daylight to do this stock justice.

Nice Tiger striping on the furniture. The trigger pull seems a little heavy. Glad to hear you didn’t have any problems.

Glad you like it 5shot. Nice review. I really like the looks of the reflex dots on the rifles. I have 2 on mine. One on a PC Carbine which is the Burris and one on a Henry SS 357. Take a look at the Cyelee sights on Amazon. I bought one in a green dot I really like. Its 3 MOA vs 2 MOA of the Burris I mainly bought it because I knid of like the green better. They do have another model with the green but its 3.5. I see the one I bought is currently unavailable. The Cyelee sights are a little cheaper than the Burris

Nice review 5shot, and yes the butt stock is pretty cool lookin.

RP

Thank you! I have a couple more observations to make...

Ejection is slightly forward of the 90 degree straight out the side point so a lefty wouldn't be getting pelted with empties.

I didn't try the 10 round mag for capacity but there is no way more than 4 rounds is going in the 5 round mag.

5shot wrote: ↑

Sat May 20, 2023 10:01 pm

Thank you! I have a couple more observations to make...

Ejection is slightly forward of the 90 degree straight out the side point so a lefty wouldn't be getting pelted with empties.

I didn't try the 10 round mag for capacity but there is no way more than 4 rounds is going in the 5 round mag.

10 rounds loads just fine on mine, but I had a heck of a time getting 5 in the little mag. Maybe the spring will loosen with time.

UPDATE.... I keep a shooters log of round count and notes on all guns purchased new. This partly because I'm OCD and also as an answer to that nagging question...."When's the last time I cleaned this thing?" The Homesteader has 349 rounds through it, all of which were handloads and funtion and accuracy has been really good. The only changes made were a Ranger Point rail, Burris Fastfire III reddot and I switched the charging handle to the left side which is a 5 second operation.

Most of my shooting with this little rifle is at our 50 yard plate rack and it's a ton of fun. I've only shot this thing from a rest a couple times but it holds 1" to 1 1/2" groups at 50 yards which is the best I can do with a 3 minute dot. I get a kick out of pulling this "Grandpa's gun" out of the case in front of the "tactical" guys with black "Buck Rogers space guns" and I think they're a little envious!

I watched a review of this gun on Youtube recently. Its on the Honest Outlaw channel. He had the homesteader once and it failed to feed. Sent it back to Henry. So he did another review. His second review was better but still had issues. Glad you are having better luck with yours. A local shop has one with the glock mag well. But they want 900.00 for it.

I don't need another rifle, I don't need another rifle. Really Really.

Pistol caliber carbines are a ton of fun. I havent shot mine as much as I should but when I do its ear to ear grin time.