All Weather 45-70 Review W/Picture

[Skinner Sights]

Henry Repeating Arms All Weather 45-70 H010AW.

I've been able to get one in for review and testing. From the online photos I was a bit unsure about the black colored stock. Soon as the box was opened any doubt was quickly forgotten!! This rifle is in a word, "BEAUTIFUL".

I've always been a fan of pretty wood and most colored stocks leave me pretty cold. Not with the All Weather Henry. The folks at HRA nailed this... The wood is a nicely stained black that still shows the nice wood grain. Not a paint, not rubber, this is a very deep, dark stain.

While we are talking about the wood, let me say this wood fits the frame perfectly. I've become accustomed to some "Gaposis" in a lot of production rifles (both new and older manufacture) No "Gaposis" or ill fitting wood here. The stocks fit tight and are not "Proud" or "shy". My personal taste would be checkered but this (Like our beloved Marlins of old) smooth finish feels familiar and should be good under heavy recoil.

The Hard Chrome finish is flawless. No discolorations, gaps, or weird texture. This rifle is smooth both in appearance and function. Levering the rifle is effortless and positive. Feeding is reliable and has all the great sounds of any great lever action!

The tube feed has a new catch that eliminates the early issues under recoil. This new catch is not only robust it is attractive. Feeding the 4 round tube is slick and simple. Easier in many ways than stuffing through a side gate. If there is a jam for any reason, the tube comes out and the gun can be unloaded from the front rather than locked up with only one way out like a rifle with the side gate. Some have issues with no side gate but this is effective, smooth, and reminiscent of my Marlin 1894 32 H&R Mag. The Henry 1860 loaded through the tube and worked very well.

First order of business was to remove the factory rear sight, install a stainless steel dovetail slot blank, remove the receiver filler screws and install a Skinner EXPRESS Scope Mount with Integral Peep! WHOOP!!! This is looking epic already. I used Warne 7.3 rings to mount a Leupold 1.75 - 4 X scope. (For the record, I'm not a scoped lever gun guy but its always good to try other options and I wanted to get more testing time in with our scope mount. I am 55, wear bifocals, and have no problems shooting a peep / aperture sight using proper technique)

After closing up shop for the evening, I only had a chance to fire three rounds. More accuracy testing will come catch as catch can. What I can say is the first three shots were all dead on hits! That is always promising...

Any negatives? Nope... Not yet... And from all first impressions, I don't anticipate any!

[Sir Henry]

I like dark stocks. I used black leather dye on one of my Mare's Legs and its dark just like your all-weather. The scope looks like a 1 to 3 Leupold zoom. Great choice.

[Neon Horse]

That's quite awesome. I like all-weather rifles in general. Nice!

[JWC]

Wow! That looks great. I prefer straight stocks, but I see only the H009aw in 30/30 comes with the straight stock. Still, a great looking Henry. Looking at the picture, before I read your post, I thought the stock was plastic..yeah, I really did. Great to know it is dark stained wood. Hmmmmmm...!

[CT_Shooter]

Thanks for the preview and initial report, Andy. Lots of folks are going to be wanting to know more about this one.

[RetiredSeabee]

That is a pretty rifle, Not a traditional finish, but great for it's intended use. And those rounds are scary big.

[ditto1958]

Thanks for the review, Andy. The only negative I could anticipate is not having enough ammo.

[PT7]

That is a pretty rifle, Not a traditional finish, but great for it's intended use. And those rounds are scary big.

Sharp-looking all-weather rifle...way to go Henry. And the sight seems to do the job just fine, too...way to go, Andy.

Also agree with Seabee: "...those rounds are scary big."
Looks like the amount of .45-70 ammo you're holding, I'd guess, is about six or so of my .357 magnums! Big dudes for sure.

[Catherine]

Beautiful rifle!

Outstanding review.

I will show this thread to my husband too. Thank you.

Cate

[JEBar]

write-up appreciated .... I didn't realize the black stock was wood, to me that is a definite plus .... if I planned to use a 45-70 in bad weather, this is a model I'd be very interested in

[daytime dave]

Andy,
Thanks for that first class review. I didn't realize it was dark stained wood either. I like that the finish is well applied. It appeals to me in a utilitarian type of rifle. The 45/70's in your hand give them a nice reference to size. I don't have much experience with 45/70. I'm looking forward to learning more when you have time to shoot it.

[Frank V]

Skinner Sights
Thanks for a nice write up. I really like the look of that rear sight with the scope mount all in one.
Those Henrys really do look nice. Did you have any trouble adjusting to the tubular loading as opposed to the loading gate?'
Thanks.

[Sir Henry]

Skinner Sights
Thanks for a nice write up. I really like the look of that rear sight with the scope mount all in one.
Those Henrys really do look nice. Did you have any trouble adjusting to the tubular loading as opposed to the loading gate?'
Thanks.

I've heard you can't reload on a gallop and that is why the cavalry didn't like the original Henry.

[Frank V]

Thanks, having ridden for a lot of years I can see that.
Reloading anything from the back of a galloping horse would be difficult.
Sure is a nice looking rifle.

[Squatch]

Thanks for the write up Andy. It's a pretty rifle. Other than finish that could have been a review of my new Brass 45/70. I've never had an issue at all with the tube mag loading vs side gate. All my Henry's are easy to side load as a single shot through the ejection port. I do it often.

Last week at the range someone was shooting an old lever action. Not sure what. He had some kind of a stuck cartridge problem and it held up getting a cold range for some time while the range officers helped him clear it. They couldn't call cold range until it was unloaded and they couldn't get it unloaded. New one on me but a point in favor of Henry's.

[Lawraven22]

I picked up the all-weather recently also in 45–70. Really like it. I loaded some reduced recoil rounds to allow me To shoot a bit more often without destroying my shoulder. I'm using Hornady 250 grain FlexTip loaded all the way down to about 1300 ft./s. Makes it shoot much more like a 357 magnum rifle. I got the bullets for free, but when they run out there are some nice cheap alternatives to allow me to keep shooting often for cheap. Really, loading these yourself is the only way to do this caliber affordably if you like to shoot it often.

[JEBar]

I picked up the all-weather recently also in 45–70. Really like it.

very nice indeed .... looking forward to your range reports

please consider going to our How Many ? thread at the link below and adding your Henry to our community total

http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.p ... 084#p35084

[BigAl52]

As soon as I can find an all weather at a decent price I will buy one. I have the CCH but I want the all weather to hunt with and I love the looks of it. Al

[BrokenolMarine]

I thought about making that my next Henry, just because. I'd love to shoot it on my backyard range here on the farm and wait for the phone to ring. One of the neighbors always calls, never to complain, just nosey.. "Hey man... whatcha shootin?"

He's a hunter, a shooter, and semi-retired armored car guard. He still rides in the back a couple times a week. Since I was a firearms instructor and glock armorer for my department... he comes over now and then with gun questions. If I don't have the answer, MY mentor is a phone call away, and HE does. Lol.