Iron/Steel Framed Henry

[Grapeshot]

Aside from being the rarest of the Henry rifle series, the Iron Frame Henry was the first of the Henries manufactured.  It appears that only about 600 to 650 were made, depending on your source.

Experiencing some manufacturing difficulties with the iron frames, New Haven Arms opted to make the Henry frame out of what was then called "gunmetal".  This was similar to the Bronze that was used in the manufacturing of Cannons but because of the high polish that these guns were subjected to they were called Brass Frame Henries.

Uberti USA sells a well made steel framed Henry in both a blued finish and a color casehardened finish.  I recently acquired one of their steel-framed Henry's in .44/40 (.44WCF) caliber with the color-casehardened receiver.  This Henry is a beauty.  The wood is a red brown with a very shiny finish.  The wood to metal fit is perfect.  The bluing on the barrel is deep and even.

Like all Henry's, this has no fore-end grip and loads from the front after you push the follower up into its recess and turn the barrel and magazine extension to one side to allow you to insert cartridges into the now open magazine.  A word of caution here, do not drop the cartridges down the magazine nor allow the follower to snap back in place.  Both actions may cause the center fire ammunition to fire, causing catastrophic results. 

This particular Henry is different than its Brass Framed Brethren.  The lever does not have the spur that is captured by a locking devise.  In fact the lever does not contact the frame except at the pivot point.  There is a distinct gap between the lever and the bottom rear of the lower tang.  This alone makes it unique from all the other Henry's out there.  On top of all this there is engraved on the top of the receiver the words "One of One Thousand".  A check with Uberti about this revealed that Winchester / New Haven Firearms originally were going to manufacture 1000 of these rifles and inscribed that on the receiver.  However, they did not quite make that many with the Iron receiver.  Uberti just kept the tradition going with that inscription on their steel framed Henrys.

As a side note, I found this Henry on Uberti's web site advertised as a blemished gun.  The note said that it had a "cracked" stock.  So I picked it up for $200 less than wholesale.  What a deal.  Turns out that it was not a cracked stock, but grain separation.  A trip to my gunsmith after I checked out its mechanical functioning and shootability resulted in a whole different look for this rifle.  Taking the red, glossy finish off the stock and giving it a satin walnut finish and filling in and repairing the "crack" just enhanced its beauty immensely.

Firing the Henry I grouped my rounds in a 2-inch cluster just left of center.  A quick rap with a hammer and brass drift brought the group into center at 25 yards.  With this adjustment I should have little problem at a cowboy match hitting my targets.  However, I did not purchase this Henry to shoot at cowboy matches primarily.  My other reason for getting this rifle was to engage in Civil War reenactments and possibly at the National Matches in Winchester, Virginia.  So it might shoot more blanks than live rounds while I have it.

One of the drawbacks with this particular lever gun is that you must be aware of where the follower is at all times.  If you are used to firing any of the other lever guns out there, such as the Winchester styled M1866, M1873, M1892, M1894 or the Marlin M1894's, you will forget to let the follower past your hand and you will hear that distinctive "click" as you drop your hammer on an empty chamber.  Just reposition your hand and allow the follower to continue its rearward travel and feeding will continue.

The other drawback is the lack of a forearm.  In the heat of competition that barrel will get hot, especially if you're using Black Powder as your propellant.   A good leather glove will save your hand from the heat generated by shooting, not to mention the heat absorbed from the sun on those hot summer days when it stands unprotected in your gun cart.

Because of the weight of this gun, recoil is negligible.   I will be trying several .44 bullets of different weights to see which one will give the best accuracy.  I am also going to try Black Powder, Pyrodex and Clear Shot to see which gives the best performance.  I dread the cleanup chores I am getting myself into with these propellants.  But that is the price of playing with Black Powder and its replacements.

Now that I've got this Henry back from my gunsmith I have used it in three matches, all using Cleanshot powder and Bull-X's 225-grain RNFP.  What a trip.  It has been so long that I've fired Black Powder or its replacements that I'd forgotten what a rush you get when all that smoke and fire come belching forth from the muzzle of a gun.  Coupled with my two 1860 C&B revolvers and SxS coachgun I blazed a fiery trail across the range spewing smoke and fire.  I couldn't pay to have so much fun.

The .44/40 Winchester brass came out of the chamber almost as shinny as when I loaded them.  After I collected them I dropped them in a solution of water, vinegar and Ajax.  This neutralized the powder residue and cleaned the cases at the same time.  Cleanup of the Rifle was equally easy.  A couple of patches saturated with T/C #13 black powder solvent were pushed through the bore followed by a dry patch.  This left the bore as clean as if it had never been shot.  I then pushed a patch saturated with Ballistol up and down the bore and my clean up was completed.  Clean up of the brass was even easier.  After being shaken up in the jug of water, soap, and vinegar the contents were poured into a strainer and rinsed with clean cold water for about two minutes to get rid of any traces of soap and spread out on some paper towels to dry over night.  The next day they were run though a de-capping die and set aside.  After they were checked for any remaining moisture, they were dropped into the tumbler for polishing.  Then the cycle was started over again. 

I took this Henry out to the Jefferson Gun Club for a Cowboy match with the former Deep Run Rangers, now called the Jefferson Rangers.  I was using a brace of .44 First Model Dragoons along with this Henry and managed to shoot a clean match.  I hit every target and received no procedurals.  But, I had myself a heck of time trying to find the targets after the first round went off, and for each subsequent round I was doing the bob and weave to get a clear view of the targets.  Did I shoot fast?  No.  But I hit all my targets safely and had fun, and that's what it's all about.

I am looking forward to shooting this Henry again right soon. 

[Wes Virginian]

Sounds like you did real well! When I had my Henry in .44-40, I read that you should not use a bullet larger than 200 gr. So that was what I used along with BP. They are good shooter's.

Wes Virginian

[Fox Creek Kid]

Actually, they made about 300 - 400 original iron framed Henry rifles and there is considerable speculation that COLT made them for the New Haven Arms company. Also, all original iron framed rifles were blued and had the early style buttstock, rounded at the top of the buttplate. Go here for a look see:

http://67.155.195.3:8050/FMPro?-db=GMA_Inventory.fp5&-format=inv_detail.html&-lay=web&-RecID=42389&-Find

[Dakota Widowmaker]

FCK-

I too had heard of the rumour that Colt made the first set of rifles for them.

If you read the Henry book, it talks about them and such. No proof was ever given as to who started the rumour or if it ever happened.

Colt was notorious for keeping all production in-house and keeping prices high. I have a hard time believing they would have done this for the "New Haven, Ct. Repeating Arms Co.", which was a direct competitor to them with their Root Revolving Rifle.

But, I guess anything is possible.

[kcub]

Regarding the rifle cleanup it sounds like just the bore was involved.

Is that all that is necessary with the Henry and the .44-40 blackpowder loads due to the reduced blowback (compared to .45 Colt)?

[Henry4440]

Actually, they made about 300 - 400 original iron framed Henry rifles and there is considerable speculation that COLT made them for the New Haven Arms company. Also, all original iron framed rifles were blued and had the early style buttstock, rounded at the top of the buttplate. Go here for a look see:

Les Quick wrote in his book :

...A very few early iron frames rifles retain traces of case-hardening in the protected areas of their frames.
One such rifle was observed and two additional rifles having case-hardened frames were reported....

Henry rifle with case-hardened iron frame sn 2 is illustrated in the book.