New 30-30, and Great Customer Service

[Yornoc3]

As I briefly mentioned in a different thread, I "accidentally" wound up with a New "Old Model" H 009 for Christmas, when my wife caught me admiring a NIB Steel 30-30 (with really nice wood) I found in the clearance rack at the friendly neighborhood Cabela's. It is a Bayonne, NJ, gun dated 9/19/'13, with the XS Ghost Ring sights. Of course, as an early model, it also has the larger ghost ring, .19", (shoots high set at the lowest position), and the prone to popping open lever. After it finally warmed up enough Monday to shoot it and verify these things, Tuesday I sent off an E-mail to Henry, asking what I should do to get these issues corrected. After a prompt E-mail response, Today I received a package with an updated lever, and two replacement ghost ring rear sights, one with a smaller ghost ring, .15", and a lower base model, also with the smaller ring. Now that is customer service! The rifle will be fully updated when I finish switching out the rear sight and lever, both very easy things to do. Makes it real easy to be a loyal customer .

[GFK]

That is service! I brought home a NIB Sept. 2015 H009 around Christmas time (21st) also (my wife was not that crazy about though). And yes, the wood caught my attention as well. But, I sent mine back (Jan. 2nd) due to what appeared to be copper fouling. I have not received it back yet. I have not shot it yet. It is getting warmer. I was hoping to shoot it this weekend. But, I would rather start off on a good foot. So, I will wait with a smile.

[Yornoc3]

That one was also an "old model", right? If so, I would expect them to provide any other upgrades that are lacking, as long as it's in the shop, so to speak. And the good news is you won't be charged for the extra added parts . I live only about 45 miles from the Rice Lake facility, so it kinda explains how the parts arrived so fast, but, still, it's impressive.

[GFK]

Well, it did not have the Ghost Ring setup. It has the buckhorn type setup. And, I just received an e-mail that it is scheduled for return. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! I hope it did get the once over. It would have been a good idea to do so.

[Yornoc3]

Good news! And if it's a Buckhorn sight set up, it must be the current model, so no lever "popping". I remember your post about the barrel's condition, mine was pretty "dirty", too, but nothing like that.

[GFK]

Yes. I would expect a little residue. But, nothing like I encountered. I have been thinking if such residue could have accumulate after just a test fire. But if you have a 2013, I guess not. At least you got a discount. I was expecting one. But, I purchased it from family owned sporting goods shop. So, it might did not receive much of a discount when the rifle was purchased.

By the way, the rifle was sent to Rice Lake. I am suppose to have it by Tuesday. So, this weekend may be a day at the range.

[Yornoc3]

Rice Lake is where all the centerfire rifles (and shotguns) are made, so that's no doubt where warranty work on them is done, too. I think Cabela's had mine in the rack until someone finally noticed that they don't make that model anymore, thus the "Display Model, one only Clearance". I suspect that ghost ring sights seem odd to a lot of people, too - but that's mostly why I wanted it. Anyway, that rifle was still thinly coated with a cosmoline like preservative, and was a little dusty besides, from living in a store rack for 4 years, I guess . It left a brown residue on the white rags I wiped it down with, and the barrel and action seemed have it internally as well. But it cleaned up nice .

[GFK]

Yes. I think I would have liked to try the Ghost Ring as well. Just wondering if I would notice a big difference between a Ghost Ring type sight and a Buckhorn type sight. I am one that typically try and keep things as original as possible. So, I probably will not change it out. My Marlin has a hood, and I don't recall noticing it at all when I was using the open sight. I just tried and stay focused on the front sight which I guess is done with any sight.

[Yornoc3]

I took advantage of the warm up (42F!) and checked out the upgrades to my new "old model" Henry 30-30 after installing the replacement lever and peep sights I received from Henry a week ago. No popping open with the updated lever installed, even with 5 rounds in the magazine, it's locked up. It does take a bit more effort to open the action, and it'll need to break in a bit, but it's already almost back to as smooth as the original. I installed the low base small aperture ghost ring sight, and it now is shooting a little low, but close to where I want it. I'll need to shoot from a bench (I shot from sticks to try it) to get it to right where I want it, but I'm confident that this sight will work. I'll wait 'til I don't have to lug everything out through the snow to do that, fighting winter takes most of the fun out of it. C'mon Spring thaw .

[GFK]

Seems like fun. I am hoping to get out there this weekend or the next. I noticed my lever is getting easier to cycle as well.

[Yornoc3]

I sure notice the difference between ghost rings and other open sights. I've really never been a good user of conventional open sights. I tend to shoot high, not taking a "fine bead" when in a hurry (like shooting at a deer), so I've been shooting scoped rifles since I was 19. That'll be 56 years this fall . I can shoot peep sights better, and I think the ghost ring style are probably the only open sights I'd consider using for hunting. Both XS and Skinner make nice compact steel peep/ghost ring sights that fit Henry rifles. I think it was was a good idea for Henry to offer them, it's too bad they didn't continue to make them an option on the center fires. I might now need a small game rifle in .22, you know, for practice .

[GFK]

Practice is good. 56 years, that's lot of shooting. I thought a Ghost Ring may make it easier to focus on a target also. I am planning to use my Marlin for now as a hunting rifle. It can with a scope. Most people seem to not like it. I thinks it focuses on the target well enough. I am planning to use the Henry as a backup and for target practice. But, something can be said about the ability to quickly bring the barrel up and align on a target. We had to practice something similar to that when I was a correctional officer. It was referred to as quick draw. It was liken to the western gunfight duels. So, open sights still have a place in my book.

[Mags]

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carried over from http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.p ... 959#p93959

What I read here could explain why HenryCS thought something else might be going on. Your rifle was clearly an old early version with the Ghost Ring sights. Mine is much newer (August 2017) with buckhorn sights and probably is already supposed to have the no-popping lever.

No, I didn't take any [pictures] before I replaced it, but I think you could find some with a search. I remember finding a thread on lever popping, there was a DIY discussion before Henry corrected the engagement of the lever, and replaced the poppers . I bought that new old stock rifle at a Cabelas about a year and a half ago, but the thread was quite a bit older. There is definitely a difference in the internal end of the lever; it cured mine. I was E-mailing and/or phoning with someone at Rice Lake, but didn't save anything on it.

Edit: I found my post on the subject on this site, January 11, 2018, but I didn't say who I talked to at Rice Lake .

[Mags]

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This morning's response from HenryCS - almost word for word a repeat of the first. For the time being I'm going to leave the rifle as is. When I have some down time, I'll take a look at the innards myself before deciding additional steps.

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Well, the response I got, they won't send me a no popping lever. However, the person I asked didn't seem to know much of the issue; more or less said something else was likely going on. Anyway, I replied with more history on the issue and we'll see what I response I get from that, maybe on Monday.

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I've been wondering if I contacted HenryCS if they would send me the anti-popping lever. I feel better about asking after reading they did that for you. Thanks for sharing that.

Mags, I had that lever popping issue with the "new old stock" 30-30 I bought a couple of years ago, ... A phone call to Henry resulted in a new lever and ... , so I fixed it myself...

[Yornoc3]

When you remove the lever to look at it, send me a picture (of the end that engages the bolt), and I'll compare it to the "popping lever" I replaced. I know I saved it, just gotta find it. If they're the same, we'll be able to prove it. If not, then it's something else. Or I'll send you a picture back, if that's what it takes.

[Mags]

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Thank you. Appreciate it.

When you remove the lever to look at it, send me a picture (of the end that engages the bolt), and I'll compare it to the "popping lever" I replaced. I know I saved it, just gotta find it. If they're the same, we'll be able to prove it. If not, then it's something else. Or I'll send you a picture back, if that's what it takes.

[Mags]

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Pictures of the lever...

20190430_143643.jpg

20190430_143703.jpg

When you remove the lever to look at it, send me a picture (of the end that engages the bolt), and I'll compare it to the "popping lever" I replaced. I know I saved it, just gotta find it. If they're the same, we'll be able to prove it. If not, then it's something else. Or I'll send you a picture back, if that's what it takes.

[JEBar]

don't know if it will help or not but below are pictures of the lever of our 45-70 .... to my eye they look very similar to the levers shown above

[Yornoc3]

Well, I went to get it, it's not where I "knew" I put it. So I'll look more thoroughly tomorrow. I know I kept it, but I'm gonna have to sleep on it .

[Mags]

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I have that happen with my tape measure. It has mind of it's own and cloaking. I've been using it, just a minute ago and it's disappeared I waste several minutes looking for it and it mysteriously appears right in front of me

Well, I went to get it, it's not where I "knew" I put it. So I'll look more thoroughly tomorrow. I know I kept it, but I'm gonna have to sleep on it .