Now that Big Boy Is Legal

[Micheal Fortune]

Now that the Henry Big Boy is SASS legal, How do you feel about it?

[Foothills Drifter]

Howdy......
...  ...

Good shootin......
Vern...

[REELFOOT REGULATOR]

Dont really have a major problem with this rifle. With all the time and effort that Henery usedc to tool up to make this rifle, They could have just as easily made a 66 yellowbow. I would love to see some US companies such as Henery make some replica arms
                                                         Reelfoot Regulator
                                                         SASS 30186

[Mule Clanton]

  I have a certain degree of ambivalency towards this particular gun. I own a Golden Boy in .22lr and I just think it the finest operating and best looking .22 Lever I have ever owned including my o-o-o-old Marlin 39A. That being said I wish instead that Henry of Brooklyn would have rather made a reproduction of an original Henry Rifle. I just saw a new Uberti Henry at my gun club today and you cannot compare the heft and feel of that gun compared to the Modern day Henry (Brooklyn).  Even though I am very happy with my Marlin Cowboy, I have covetous eyes towards that Uberti reproduction Henry. As far as SASS approval, I am only a member for one year and I am already a little fed up with the "Money Talks and B.S. Walks" attitude of SASS. Mebbe there is something in the NCOWS preamble that I am starting to prefer over the $A$$ attitude.  Please understand I don't mean to insult anyone but, the facts are in the open.  While the new H.R.A. big calibre lever action is a good looking gun, if one is "historically correct" and follows the "spirit of the game", you have to do some soul searching with this one. I for one do not believe in "action jobs etc." because I think the CAS game has become more IPSC in equipment demands as time progresses. But that's another story for another day. 

[J.W.Neely]

What  The MuLe said.

[Pukin Dog]

It will be interesting to see how many show up at matches. 

Hope I don't see very many.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Well, judging by this, they can't keep anything from being SASS legal from now on. I must say it's disappointing, but not unexpected. And to think they wouldn't allow a very period correct Winchester model 93 that was going to be produced by AWA.

[Tommy tornado]

If the Ruger Vaquero is legal , then why couldn't the big boy be legal?  I don't have a big problem with it, and I really don't plan on going out and buying one.  Henry does make some good products, though.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

The Vaquero kinda looks like a Colt from a distance. The Big Boy doesn't look like anything.

[Pukin Dog]

The Vaquero kinda looks like a Colt from a distance. The Big Boy doesn't look like anything.

And besides that, it was always said that the Vaquero was allowed since there weren't many options for shooters at the start of CAS.  Now there are lots of reproductions.  My beef is that the Henry BB is NOT a reproduction and it doesn't look like anything made pre 1900.  So now the old "grandfather" theory for the Vaquero goes out the window.

As far as I can tell, anything and everything that even hints of being "cowboy" is now legal for CAS.  They don't even need the rule book anymore as far as I'm concerned. 

[Will Ketchum]

Upchuckin Canine, not for NCOWS it don't .  It isn't allowed and won't ever be allowed.

The company could just as well made a external copy of a Whitney or one of the other rifles that have nevr been cloned.  Oh well' just another reason to ride the NCOWS Trail

Will Ketchum

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Upchuckin Canine, not for NCOWS it don't .  It isn't allowed and won't ever be allowed.

The company could just as well made a external copy of a Whitney or one of the other rifles that have nevr been cloned.  Oh well' just another reason to ride the NCOWS Trail

Will Ketchum

I suppose I'll get to do just that when a club starts up close to here. So far, the closest one is 4 or 5 hours away. A bit much for a match, yet. But I'm infinitely patient. There was a time when CA didn't have any.

[Griff]

I keep seeing folks say that "Well, if the Vaquero is legal..." and "there weren't many options when the Vaquero was made legal".  The 1st statement; well, ok, that one flies.  The second:  No way!  I don't know about the rest of you folks, but I've been shooting in organized cowboy action matches since 1985, and there were several options for shooting back then.  Rugers, modern class; Colt, and clones thereof, traditional class; cap & ball i.e. 1851, 1858, 1860s etc, black powder.
The arguments about good quality at a reasonable price were just as revelant then as now.  And the solutions were the same.  Either spend the money for a Colt, or buy a clone and have a competent gunsmith rework the thing to make it work better.  And that may not actually be necessary.  Case in point:  I still have the EMF Dakota I started shooting with.  After buying a Colt for me to match the EMF 1873 rifle I bought, my wife starting shooting the Dakota (in fact we shared the gun for several matches).  When my son started shooting, they shared the Dakota until the budget fit more guns into it.  After buying her a Colt, my son continued shooting the Dakota.  He shot it for a couple of years until winning a Hatford Model EMF that had been customized by Bill Oglesby.  That Dakota is still serviceable and sees some use in practice and plinking.
I simply feel that anyone shooting Rugers belongs in the Modern Class, whether a Blackhawk or Vaquero.  The Big Boy and even the '97 Winchester shotgun should also place 'em in a Modern class.  However, to feel that they shouldn't be allowed to compete is simply elitist.
However, I can't throw stones, I load my own ammo, shoot light loads, and have polished and honed my guns to race condition.  Does that make me a "Gamesman"?  I think not, light loads allow me to shoot more and enjoy that shooting, polishing and honing parts so they operate smoothly means they don't break as often, again allowing me compete more.
New shooters should be made welcome, shoot what ya brung attitude.  If they don't have something appropriate, loan 'em one!  When I first started I shot what I brought and wore what was in my closet:  Levis, snap shirts and a straw hat.  After a couple of monthly matches I felt uncomfortable and wanting to fit in better, I upped my wardrobe to include more period correct attire.  Same when I started mounted shooting, I didn't own a 1800's styled saddle, so I rode what I had until a more period correct saddle appeared in my tack room.
Point is:  Make the new shooter welcome, explain the spirit of the game, period attire, etc. and the rest will take care of itself.  Big reason why I ain't Rendevouin' it.  They simply put down everything that isn't historically correct and anyone that doesn't have the correct stuff right off the bat isn't welcome.   
A little tolerance is not a BAD thing.  'Nuff said.

[Tensleep]

I saw a Big Boy at a match last week.
It was anything but smooth and it was being run by one of the best operators I know of.

He said it was gonna really take some work to make the gun operate at CAS speeds and to function properly.

[RowdyBill]

I think the dilemma with the Henry Big Boy is easily resolved:  just make it fit into the "Modern" category.  If it didn't exist in the West in some form, and it's cowboy-like, then call it "Modern".

[Mustang Gregg]

How do we feel 'bout it?
Kinda indifferent.
We'll probably never buy or trade for one.  We don't like 'em.
But I reckon it was a real crappy way that the Henry outfit advertised in the gun mags.  As a CAS gun.  HAA!!  
Some newbie folks got snookered, I reckon!!!
Now that's it's legal for SASS, leave it alone.
MG

[Angus McKechnie]

My thoughts are pretty much like a lot of folks here- why? It's a rifle that never was- pure fantasy, nothing more. Personally, it sounds like the issue was all about marketing and sales- if it's approved by SASS then sales are assured. It's nothing more and there really isn't any other way to explain it. There are plenty of reproductions on the market so, as others have explained far better than I, there's no need to have "something" similar like the Ruger Vaquero (don't get me wrong I like it- it's one of the most rugged, functional pistols around BUT it's not what was there in the 19th Century). Call me cynical or whatever but I call them how I seem them.

Here's a radical notion: Make decent reproductions of guns THAT ACTUALLY EXISTED! 

There, now I went and said it....I tend to come at this from the historical side and want my stuff as historically correct as I can get it. Fantasy guns with calibers that never existed during the period doesn't cut it. I'm not interested in being a competitor nor doing product endorsements, I like the period and I like to shoot what eixsited during the period. I shoot black powder and a good part of the time I miss but so what? If I need to destroy something, I can always pull out my AR-15 or call in an airstrike! 

As for SASS legal- so what? I don't need someone else to determine things for me- they can do whatever and I'll do my thing.

Angus