Finally got to handle a HRAC Henry

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Ever since they were first announced I have been wanting to get a first hand look at one of the new 1860 Henries made by Henry Repeating Arms Company. Wild Bill Blackerby and I were in the largest gun room in New England today and we finally got to handle one. There were a bunch of rifles standing upright in a rack behind the counter, and we could see by the lack of a forearm that a Henry was among them. It looked a bit different than the Uberti Henries that I am used to, it looked shinier. We were betting it was one of the new HRAC rifles.

An obliging sales clerk pulled it down and let us examine it. First impression is it is a lot shinier than the Uberti version. I did not have an Uberti handy to compare it too, but it seemed very shiny. In fact, it was very highly polished, that was what made it so shiny. Being so highly polished it seemed a few hard lines were slightly softened from what I am used to on Uberti rifles. In fact the carrier looked very different from an Uberti carrier. The same soft, highly polished finish, rather than the more freshly machined looking carrier of an Uberti. Not that any of this is bad, it just appeared different.

Wood was very nice with some figure, but it appeared to have been oiled, not varnished. Again, nothing wrong with that, just different. Wood to metal fit was good. It did appear that the wood and metal had been finished separately rather than together, because at the joint the wood was rounded down ever so slightly to meet the metal, rather than being flush.

The action was a little bit stiff, but so are most other toggle link guns straight out of the box.

I noticed that the knurling detail on the hammer appeared to be cut in with a knurling tool, the old fashioned way, rather than the cast in knurling on the hammer spur of all Uberti rifles.

The most interesting thing was, I could not get the follower to slide up its slot in the magazine. No matter what I did, it would not budge. I couldn't tell if there was some sort of burr preventing it from moving, or what. I didn't want to force it. It was stuck at the bottom of the magazine, next to the frame. Wild Bill couldn't get it to move either. We handed it to the sales guy, who had never even handled a Henry before, and it moved easily for him. I asked him what he had done. He had pulled the tab slightly out, while pulling it up. Apparently there was some sort of interference between the follower and the magazine slot, and pulling the tab out slightly had cleared it. We speculated as to whether it was a safety feature designed in, but I doubted it. I think it is just a bit of a glitch that needs to be smoothed.

I was not interested in buying the gun, just wanted to examine it. The salesman had no problem with that, he learned something from the experience. We thanked him and he put the gun back.

I think the price tag was around $1400, but I forgot to write it down. Sorry.

Just curious, has anybody else who has one of these noticed any problem moving the follower?

[Long Knife Rich]

 Thanks for posting your impressions of the rifle. I've never handled, or saw one first hand so I can't comment on what you experienced with the follower. That price you mentioned sure seems a bit more reasonable than the MSRP. 

[Major 2]

Elsewhere in this column is my review...attached is side by side photo with two of my other Uberti's .
I've had mine just shy of a year now.

[chuckerbird]

Driftwood,
I have not experienced the problem with the follower that you mentioned. I have had mine for about 6 months and it has been flawless. The only complaint is it sure is a finger print magnet.

[Coal Creek Griff]

Actually, my Uberti Henry has a similar issue with the follower.  I've gotten used to pulling out slightly when I start sliding it up.  Mine is the only one I've handled, so I didn't know that wasn't normal...

CC Griff

[Driftwood Johnson]

Sorry, I wrote down the wrong price.

Price is $1939.99.

Sorry for the error.

[Sean Thornton]

Sorry, I wrote down the wrong price.

Price is $1939.99.

Sorry for the error.

WOW