All Weather Rough Lever and bolt freeze

[crburb1]

Hi all I own several Henrys and have loved them all due to the smooth lever action and quality workmanship. I obtained an All Weather .357/.38 Spec rifle over the holidays. Noticed in first use the action was rough and more clunky than I had experienced before. Shot 100 full metal jacket rounds through it and it was okay but action remained rough. Cleaned and lubed afterwards. Second outing it ceased up half way open after 35 rounds of led tipped rounds through. Took bolt out (required some butt thumping to get it out) extremely tight. Cleaned and lubed and no longer ceased up but very rough. Has anyone else had this difficulty? Any solutions? The All Weather is supposed to operate well in adverse environments. Concerning.

[Yornoc3]

I'd say a call to Customer Service is in order. It sounds like something is binding or otherwise wrong there. Someone else familiar with the Big Boy action should chime in soon.

[CT_Shooter]

Hi all I own several Henrys and have loved them all due to the smooth lever action and quality workmanship.

Welcome to the forum from CT. I agree that a call to Henry CS is in order. Something is wrong. Let us know how you make out.

[JEBar]

agree .... something has changed to where the bold is in a bind .... I'd call Henry

[JNG3]

Pull the bolt from the reciever. Take a bright light and look inside. Make sure there are no burrs on the underside of the reciever where the 3 drilled and tapped 8-40 holes are for attaching the scope base. Burrs here will cause the bolt to bind. The action will feel 'gritty' as well. Might not be YOUR problem, but if it is, it is easily fixed without the hassle of sending the rifle back to HRA.

[crburb1]

Thank you for your suggestions and ideas. I have contacted Customer service and they were great, sent me a shipping box and return label, good communication. They got it last Friday and informed me on Tuesday that they had fixed it and were sending it back. Only concern is I wanted to talk with them about what was fixed and the testing they did. After all the All Weather is designed and marketed to work in adverse conditions. If I have a concern about the action functioning in the wild then it is not useful if I just have to take another rifle. They sent it back with only minor testing and it should be back next tuesday. I brought it up because I wanted some other ideas if after 135 rounds it is ceasing again. You have been great and I will check the burrs. By the way they replaced the bolt and said they adjusted the housing. I am interested to see how smoothly it works and will let you all know. I had a great experience with their Customer Service but I don't yet know what the rest of the story is.

[ruhler]

I also just bought a henry all weather 44mag and got the same result first shooting after about 30rounds I had trouble, took the rifle home and cleaned it, went to the range again and after about 50rounds same problem the bolt got almost stuck. Once again I went home cleaned it and the bolt was hard to get out it was very tight. I then cleaned it and used no lube on the bolt and it was really tight fit on the bolt when I got the bolt in place I and then worked the action in front of the TV and then cleaned the riflebolt and housing and it was clearly grinding material off. reassembly and continued to work the action and it has went from very rough to smoother, havent been on the range and tried anymore but it seems like when the rifle gets a little dirty it jams up because of tight tolerances my guess its the coloring of the bolt makes it offspec, the bolt is clearly not as slick as a normal riflebolt and maybe the "stainlessmaterial" is not as slick as normal metal. Guess the parts need to "marry" eachother and only thing to make it is to use the rifle and work the action dry and clean it. Im no gunsmith but atleast my rifle is alot smoother now and not as tight fit of the bolt when inserting it in the housing, will give it a few more trips to range and keep working the action before sending it back to reseller think it just need to be used and marrying the parts without lube.

[Mistered]

I suspect the tight bolt issues some are reporting might be due to the possibility that Henry is fitting the bolt to the receiver first THEN hard chroming it which will slightly reduce the bolt chamber size and further tighten an already close fit. IF this is the case then Henry needs to rethink their process and fit bolts AFTER the hard chroming process as this will be the only way to achieve the proper tolerance. If someone owns one of these rifles and the bolt is a bit tight (but not galling or grinding material) I recommend a complete disassembly and cleaning of the bolt and chamber and applying a layer of 'Gumslick' to the surface of the bolt. Gunslick is a graphite based grease compound that is designed to 'lap' tight fitting components to a final fit. When the gunslick is applied movement should be smooth but will be slightly tight but will smooth up fairly quickly with use. I I'd say several months of frequent usage with the gunslick in the bolt will make for a very nice fit and much smoother action. Dissassembly will again be required with a thorough cleaning and lube with a light oil ( I recommend Rem-Oil). like I said however a tight but smooth action can be corrected this way but if there is any 'galling' or binding of the surfaces that are grinding and removing material then this requires repair.

[GFK]

I suspect the tight bolt issues some are reporting might be due to the possibility that Henry is fitting the bolt to the receiver first THEN hard chroming it which will slightly reduce the bolt chamber size and further tighten an already close fit. IF this is the case then Henry needs to rethink their process and fit bolts AFTER the hard chroming process as this will be the only way to achieve the proper tolerance. If someone owns one of these rifles and the bolt is a bit tight (but not galling or grinding material) I recommend a complete disassembly an cleaning of the bolt and chamber and applying a layer of 'Gumslick' to the surface of the bolt. Gunslick is a graphite based grease compound that is designed to 'lap' tight fitting components to a final fit. When the gunslick is applied movement should be smooth but will be slightly tight but will smooth up fairly quickly with use. I I'd say several months of frequent usage with the gunslick in the bolt will make for a very nice fit and much smoother action. Dissassembly will again be required with a thorough cleaning and lube with a light oil ( I recommend Rem-Oil). like I said however a tight but smooth action can be corrected this way but if there is any 'galling' or binding of the surfaces that are grinding and removing material then this requires repair.

Thanks for the idea!

[GFK]

I have contacted Customer service and they were great, sent me a shipping box and return label, good communication. They got it last Friday and informed me on Tuesday that they had fixed it and were sending it back. Only concern is I wanted to talk with them about what was fixed and the testing they did. After all the All Weather is designed and marketed to work in adverse conditions. If I have a concern about the action functioning in the wild then it is not useful if I just have to take another rifle. They sent it back with only minor testing and it should be back next tuesday. I brought it up because I wanted some other ideas if after 135 rounds it is ceasing again. You have been great and I will check the burrs. By the way they replaced the bolt and said they adjusted the housing. I am interested to see how smoothly it works and will let you all know. I had a great experience with their Customer Service but I don't yet know what the rest of the story is.

A box and label? That is good and new I think. I just sent mine back the last of the year and had to find my own box. Seems like great communication. I hope that continues. Happy shooting when you get it back.

[crburb1]

Thanks so much I definitely agree that the fit between the bolt and the housing is tighter than other Henry rifles I have owned. I hope someone from Henry is monitoring this conversation and considering the reasons offered for the tight bolt fit. The entire marketing approach for the Henry All Weather is that it is able to operate in adverse weather or conditions. The tight specs on the bolt prevent it from living up to it's promise. Sounds like it is very correctable. Hope mine reflects that solution when I get it back Tuesday. Will keep you informed.

[Mistered]

Dissassembly will again be required with a thorough cleaning and lube with a light oil ( I recommend Rem-Oil).

With regard to the all weather bolt issue I might consider (after the Gunslick smoothing and cleaning) using a product called 'Cherry Balmz' to lube the bolt. Cherry Balmz is an INCREDIBLE product - I was given a sample bottle of the 'Black Rifle' style and am almost out of it. It is a firm, light grease (about the consistency of mayonnaise) and when applied sticks to the surface but soon begins to thin out and 'creep' - I believe it will be a perfect lube for the tight fitting all weather bolt. Smells great also!

[ruhler]

I belive that froglube might work aswell, just heat the bolt up with a hairdryer and apply froglube and let it sit until the bolt is cool and wipe the bolt dry its like seasoning a cast iron frying pan. And it smells great too.

[Conax]

If it has been stripped and the receiver cleaned and lightly oiled, the bolt cleaned and lightly oiled, and it still sticks or binds, I'm afraid I would send it back.
They owe you a functional rifle without your having to gunsmith it or use special oil. I suspect it has a burr or an out of tolerance part in there. Oil won't fix that.
JMO
Good luck with it.

[RanchRoper]

Ditto.

[crburb1]

I received the Henry All Weather .357/.38 back from Henry's repair in Wisconsin as promised yesterday. They turned it around within 2 business days of receiving it. I immediately noticed that the action was smoother and that the specialized bolt for the All Weather had been changed out for the traditional bolt found in the Henry Classic Big Boy .357/.38. This matched my thoughts that the bolt was out of specs and that it may be a design error. It also matched the responses I have read above indicating that the coating threw the specs just enough out to cause binding.

I took it out to the range today for a test run. I fired 100 rounds of .38 special full metal jacket then immediately fired 75 rounds of .357 more dirty led tipped Argentinian ammo. The weapon performed beautifully. The action remained smooth throughout the testing and comfortable to work.

I was concerned and a bit skeptical. However, I have been treated throughout by Henry personnel with professionalism and courtesy. Of course the ultimate proof was the fix worked and Henry now has another very happy customer and Henry owner for life.

[ruhler]

I received the Henry All Weather .357/.38 back from Henry's repair in Wisconsin as promised yesterday. They turned it around within 2 business days of receiving it. I immediately noticed that the action was smoother and that the specialized bolt for the All Weather had been changed out for the traditional bolt found in the Henry Classic Big Boy .357/.38. This matched my thoughts that the bolt was out of specs and that it may be a design error. It also matched the responses I have read above indicating that the coating threw the specs just enough out to cause binding.

I took it out to the range today for a test run. I fired 100 rounds of .38 special full metal jacket then immediately fired 75 rounds of .357 more dirty led tipped Argentinian ammo. The weapon performed beautifully. The action remained smooth throughout the testing and comfortable to work.

I was concerned and a bit skeptical. However, I have been treated throughout by Henry personnel with professionalism and courtesy. Of course the ultimate proof was the fix worked and Henry now has another very happy customer and Henry owner for life.

Thank you for the updatte, seems like its a common problem on these allweather atleast in 357 and 44mag. So Henry replaced the bolt, hope they do it with my rifle aswell othervice I trade this for a ordinary henry rifle I really dont want a gunsmithfix I want a working factory rifle. Will return my rifle as soon as I recieve my returnlabels.

[JEBar]

I was concerned and a bit skeptical. However, I have been treated throughout by Henry personnel with professionalism and courtesy. Of course the ultimate proof was the fix worked and Henry now has another very happy customer and Henry owner for life.

not surprised in the least but absolutely delighted to hear all's good .... looking forward to your future range reports and information exchanges .... please take a look at our How Many ? thread (at this link http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.p ... 590#p51590 ) and add your Henry rifles to our community's total

[Dahliathemeh]

I'm having this problem with my all weather 30/30. After 20 shots the bolt freezes for a few seconds, then releases. After that is every 4-5 shots, freeze release. Before that I had my rifle for 4 days and was working the action to smooth it out. The carrier stopped working! They fixed it and returned. My better half just finished his AR so we will be heading out to the range again real soon. I'll be shooting my Henry to see where I'm standing with it.

[Henry88]

Good luck Dahnia, and let us know how it's working..............