Polish em up bright and show them off here!!! (pic posting thread)

[Dusty Morningwood]

Sweet!  I see some tack decorations in my 66 and Henry's future!

[Ottawa Creek Bill]

Dusty,

You probably already know this...but do your research...the symbols, even the ones that were done with brass tacks have a meaning, and can tell a story...also the style of tack you use can date a firearm as to when it came into an Indian's ownership, or yours!!

Bill

[Will Ketchum]

Bill, how did you get the orginal finish off without sanding it?

Will Ketchum

[Ottawa Creek Bill]

Will,
Strippeze and burlap. the Strippeze you can get at Lowes or Menards...and the burlap bags at your local grain supply. I only took it down to the wood and didn't remove the original stain.

I used Fiebings Dark Brown Oil stain (the same stain I use on my saddles from Tandy's) and applied it over the original red stain. It will penetrate through the stained wood and gives a deep dark walnut color that I finished off with Jim Chambers original oil finish (available form Dixie's).

I don't like the alcohol based stains because they will leave a dull sheen in the finish & the oil stain will penetrate just as good.

Bill

[Long Johns Wolf]

You wanted Iron Frame Henries? Here is my "all blue" Henry from 2006 in .44 Special caliber. But she is fed .44 Colt diet only.
Long Johns Wolf

[Halfway Creek Charlie]

Polish 'em Up? Ain't gonna happen.
Here is the famous Bear paw henry(maybe infamous). It's 45LC today, but soon to be 44 Henry Flat C.F.

[Major 2]

[Long Johns Wolf]

My long-range Henry .44 Colt caliber.
Long Johns Wolf

[Cannon Fodder]

OCB

Beautiful Henry!

What is symbology  of  your  design?

CF

[Frenchie]

Here's my little sawed-off runt, a Henry Special Short Carbine. I replaced the stock sight with a Marbles adjustable buckhorn unit. The man I bought it from is a pard who hangs out at my favorite toy store, got to chat with him about it today. He's upset I haven't had a chance to shoot it yet. Jeez, you know, some people just don't understand about life, they think shooting is life.  

[Cannon Fodder]

Frenchie,

What is the capacity of your "henry special short carbine"?

CF

[Buck Stinson]

Here's an Allen Firearms Henry that I purchased new, back in the early to mid 1980's.  This is a very early Allen gun, so I recontoured the frame and buttplate to resemble the early Henry's in this same serial range.  I wipped off all Italian proofs, but left the Henry patent dates and the Santa Fe, New Mexico barrel marking.  In the late 1980's I had it engraved by a local gunsmith/engraver in an early Samuel J. Hoggson pattern and then antiqued the whole gun.  I've used it for many years and it just keeps getting better with age.

Adios,
Buck

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

  Nice gun Buck, I like the way it looks aged , I think letting the brass age like this , is a much nicer look, than having it polished to a high gloss , and the engraving really puts the finishing touch to it .


                                                 tEN wOLVES

[Ransom Gaer]

Ten Wolves,

I don't know if you have read all of the posts on this thread, but if you did you know several of us like the aged look on our Henrys and Improved Henrys(1866).  And it is so easy to create.  I just have used real BP residue to age my Henry's receiver.  Used the same method on my Improved Henry.  On my first response to this thread I made the comment that with the dull patina it is "better to sneak up on the badguys with."

Buck,

I agree that is a nice rifle.  Ya dun good.

Ransom Gaer

[Buck Stinson]

I have a lot of antique guns, but the Henry in the photo and a Shiloh Sharps are the only reproductions I own.  I wanted both guns to have the look and feel of the real thing, so I went for the antiqued look.  I went a little farther on the Henry than I did with the Shiloh, because I knew how nice the patina would look on the brass frame and buttplate.  I know some guys like the polished "new" look but none of the old timers sat by the fire or at the table in their shack and polished the brass on their Henrys and 1866 Winchesters.  This was especially true if you lived on the frontier.  There are several great looking "antique" Henry's on this thread.

Adios,
Buck

[Henry4440]

Beautiful Henry that you own,Buck.
What cal.?

[louisc]

HOWDY PARDNERS WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN FLORIDA. I OWN THE BLACK BALLED BROKLYN MODEL HENRY.I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE BAD BLOOD BETWEEN THE ONE MADE HERE AND THE ONE IN EROUPE, YES I UNDERSTAND THAT IT'S A MODERN LOADING GATE AND MAYBE SOME OTHER THINGS. THE REVEIWERS OF THE GUNS SAY THE SAME THING ABOUT THE RUGER VACERO SO WHY SO AGAINST THEM BOTTOM LINE IF IT WORKS NOADAYS YOUR LUCKY EVEN IF IT'S A COLT, THEY ALL STILL HAVE PROBLOMS TO DEAL WITH ITS JUST HOW MUCH ARE WE TALKING PERSONALLY I WOULD NOT BUY A NEW GUN KNOWING THAT I WOULD HAVE TO PUT FROM 100-150 DOLLARS OR MORE TO GET THE RIFLES TO SHOOT. THAT SEEMS TO BE PURPOSLY DONE TO GET RIDE OF BAD INVENTORY. SOME WILL FIX THEM THEMSELVES AND OTHERS TRY TO GET RESULTS FROM THE DEALERS.IF YOU WENT OUT AND BOUGHT A NEW CAR AND WHEN YOU WENT TO TAKE IT HOME IT DIDNT WORK AND THE SAILS GUY SAYS OH YOU HAVE TO BUY A AFTERMARKET PEICE TO MAKE IT RUN ,WOULD YOU BUY THE NEW CAR? I DONT THINK SO ,SO WHY are so many people putting up with inferier carftmanship if thats what you call it.somebody needs to take a stand against all the gun companies and demand either a lower price to make the repairs to the new gun making it the  price as before.or recall them and put things right like a company that counts on reputation not sales and complaints.

[Buck Stinson]

Henry 4440,
It's a .44-40.  This is the only caliber available in the early Allen Firearms Henry's.  Boy what a shooter.

Adios,
Buck

[Will Ketchum]

louisc, many of us don't like that the company misrepresents it's self as a descendent of the original Henry company.

Also many of us are more than shooters but history nuts.  Your rifle is a perfect reproduction of a gun that never was.

They could have made a reproduction of many different historical rifles but chose to make this one. Then they added insult to injury and called it a "Henry" and imply it is like the original.   If you like it fine, to me it is clunky and ugly and the manufacturers are charlatans.

Will Ketchum

[Driftwood Johnson]

louisc

The manufacturers are not getting rid of bad inventory, all of their products are pretty much the same, and all can stand a little bit of tuning to perform at their best. Your analogy of a car that doesn't work properly right out of the showroom is not quite accurate. Most of these guns function reasonably well right out of the box. But in this sport some of us tend to run them to extremes. To paraphase a well known CAS gunsmith who used to drive race cars in an earlier life, taking a stock gun to a CAS match and shooting the dickens out of it week after week is a bit like taking the family sedan out on a race track. You will probably get away with it a time or two, but do it often enough and one day you will see the transmission sliding down the road behind you in your rear view mirror. Given ordinary use, most of these guns will function just fine. But they were never designed to be shot as often and as hard as many do in CAS. Many of the originals did not have more than a few boxes of ammo run through them in years. We tend to shoot our guns a lot in CAS, and some shoot them really hard. Just like the family sedan, which works fine for ordinary use, these very old designs usually need a little bit of fine tuning to put up with the abuse we tend to heap on them.

And I happen to share  Will Ketchum's opinion of the HRAC. If you take the time to read their advertising material, and if you know anything at all about the history of the real Henry rifle, you will see that HRAC's promotional material is full of half truths and self serving fiction. If they had chosen to build their guns and simply not come up with the fiction that they are somehow connected with the historical Henry rifle, I would have no quarrel with them at all. It is their dishonest approach to their marketing that continues to convince me I will never buy any of their products.

But I sincerly hope you are happy with your rifle and enjoy shooting it.