Compact

[r80rt]

I spent yesterday in the woods with my SS .357. On foot, on the fourwheeler and generally goofing off. It occured to me that if Henry would build these rifles with 20" barrels and compact stocks they would sell a ton of them, I'd buy one in a heartbeat. Am I wrong?

[Vaquero]

I just wish they made one in a caliber I'd like.
As far as a compact walking around rifle is concerned, I'll take my chopped down Marlin in 35 Remington.
Pictured here with another compact, the 444P.

20221101_093119.jpg (4.86 MiB) Viewed 2827 times

RP

[BigAl52]

Compact interchangeable barrels and more calibers have all been suggested and thought of. But maybe the sales arent there we dont know. It seems to me there must be a want for calibers in the restricted cartridge length states as that is the direction they seem to go. Not to mention the tacticool customization of Leverguns. Many people including myself have suggested a 38-55 but it falls on deaf ears like any other suggestions with the Single Shots.

[r80rt]

Im a big fan of big bore short rifles, but in my area for general woods bumming a .357 will handle anything I'm likely to see without a lot of recoil, noise and muzzle blast. I have other guns for other things, I'm just thinking of a general purpose woods rifle. I know I'm in the minority with my thinking, but I always have been.

[r80rt]

Compact interchangeable barrels and more calibers have all been suggested and thought of. But maybe the sales arent there we dont know. It seems to me there must be a want for calibers in the restricted cartridge length states as that is the direction they seem to go. Not to mention the tacticool customization of Leverguns. Many people including myself have suggested a 38-55 but it falls on deaf ears like any other suggestions with the Single Shots.

A .38-55 would be near perfect. Arkansas just went to straight wall cartridges for muzzle loading season, I work in a gun shop and we can't keep .350 legend on the shelf, rifles or ammo. You can't give a muzzle loader away now.

[Vaquero]

Since you work in a gun shop, do y'all have a gunsmith?
You could always have the rifle chopped to your desired length.
You mentioned in another thread that you own a pair of Rossi 357's, what barrel length are those?

RP

[BigAl52]

I havent researched 350 Legend to much but what little I have read the accuracy isnt that great. Might be just me but cartridges that head space on the mouth are going to be more work to get them to shoot as good as one that uses a rim.

[r80rt]

Since you work in a gun shop, do y'all have a gunsmith?
You could always have the rifle chopped to your desired length.
You mentioned in another thread that you own a pair of Rossi 357's, what barrel length are those?

RP

My Rossi rifles are both 16", yeah we have a lathe and I'm already considering chopping it myself, and I know Henry has a compact stock listed. Right now I'd better use it as is and see what it tells me after a few month's. The short light Rossi is a much better choice for woods bumming, but I like the simplicity of a single shot that doesn't throw my brass into the bushes.

[r80rt]

I havent researched 350 Legend to much but what little I have read the accuracy isnt that great. Might be just me but cartridges that head space on the mouth are going to be more work to get them to shoot as good as one that uses a rim.

Yup, I agree with you on that.

[North Country Gal]

None of these ideas are new or radical. TC did all of these and more with their Contenders and Encore platforms. With the Contenders, the standard carbine barrel was 21" and if that was still too long, you could go with a Super 16 barrel at 16.25". Encore rifles ran much longer barrels, but you could chamber them in anything you wanted and there was a 18" and 20" Katahdin barrel in some of the big bore cartridges. If you didn't like what TC offered, you could go custom barrel with Bullberry, SSK, or MGM.

By the way, TC is back in their original Rochester plant and is planning to reopen, soon. At this point, it looks like the Encore is coming back. Maybe this will push Henry to be a bit more competitive with their SS.