Henry Rifle Forums

I’m curious to find out IF Henry has addressed the Pump Stiffness issue since one of these puppies has been on my wishlist for several years now.
In this very forum you will find several Pump rifle owners who were unpleasantly surprised by how stiff their PUMP rifles were at the beginning. Eventually shooting them 1K times made them smoother.

I have had the pump rifle for several years. I use a Speed D Loader so that when I go to the range I can spend more time shooting . Is the action as smooth as my 1968 870, No but it is perfectly shootable and I like a pump with an exposed hammer so I never have to dry fire it. I would buy one again if I wanted another but mine is a .22 L.R. so that is plenty. I have a Marlin 39 and the Henry pump gets shot a lot more than the Marlin.

My pump was stiff at first however after a couple dozen pumps it loosened up enough to make it comfortable. Then in the next few thousand rounds it really loosened up. Then some dirt or something got inside of it and it’s gritty to pump. I need to take it apart and give it a good cleaning.

Overall I have few problems with my Henrys and firearms in general. They are not like cars where if something goes wrong it’s $1,000 to fix.

Keeping my firearms in working order is part of the charm of owning and shooting them.

The pump works well, just not near as easy as some of the other pump action rifles you grew up with like a Winchester or Remington. But does loosen up after a little use. That is one of the rifles Henry can not brag about how smooth and easy it is to operate. But I would not pass one up by any means. Good rifle and good shooters.

I put a Skinner peep on mine. Works great. I have no problems with stiffness. I can work that pump faster than my Frontier. Also, it stays on target better between shots.