When were the first reproduction Henrys made?

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy Boys

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I don't remember the answer. I seem to remember that Uberti produced the first replica Henrys in different calibers than are available today, perhaps 44 Henry centerfire? Anyway, can anyone tell me when the frist Italian replica Henry riflles became available, and what calibers they were chambered for? Also, it would be useful to know when the present version, with the larger frame chambered for 44-40 and 45 Colt became available.

Thanks

[Fox Creek Kid]

I bought an Uberti Henry in the Spring of 1982. It was purchased from Primitive Arms in Ozark, MO but the rifle was stamped Allen Arms, Santa Fe, NM. Dealer cost was $440.00, which was a considerable sum then.

[Henry4440]

In 1959, Aldo Uberti took on the project of producing replicas of the 1851 Navy Colt to commemorate the centennial of the American Civil War they were so well received that his newly founded company could build on that reputation and become the first large scale manufacturer of Old West type reproduction firearms. The product range grew over the years and in 1965 the 1866 Winchester marked the first lever action replica in the catalog while the following year saw the introduction of the Colt Single Action Army copy, named the "Cattleman".
In 1973 Aldo Uberti began offering a reproduction of the Winchester Model 1873.

The first of the "Modern Henrys" was introduced in the late 1970's when Navy Arms offered a Henry rifle for sale. These were a limited run of 500 Henrys offered at a price of $500. They are chambered for the famous .44-40 center-fire cartridge. Following up this limited run of Henry rifles was another limited run of 1,000 Henry carbines with a 21 inch barrel. These were also offered at $500 and chambered for the .44-40. They also advertised a reproduction Henry rifle chambered for the .44 Henry rim-fire cartridge. One of these rim-fire Henrys is located at the Perryville, Kentucky Battlefield Museum. These limited production Henrys sparked a new interest in the Henry and a high demand. These first two Henrys are different than the reproduction Henrys of today. One big difference is that there are two screws that hold the side plates on instead of one, like they are made today and as were the originals.
Through the 1980's several companies have imported several different variations of the Henry. There is a military version of the Henry. It has the sling swivels and the door in the butt of the gun. The Henry carbine is still offered with its 21 inch barrel and there is also a "Trapper" version with a 16 inch barrel. Neither one of these have the sling swivels, but they could be added if the owner chose to do so. There is a steel frame Henry offered by Navy Arms Co. It is offered in blue or case-hardened finish on the receiver.


That's what i found searching the web.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Thanks

That's exactly the type of information I'm looking for.

Any more information would be welcome.

[Major 2]

I tried to chime in the other day and it kicked out.

I had a circa 1980 date code I bought from Navy Arms (it was marked Allan Arms SF N. Mex)
My gun was 22" it had no trapdoor in the butt or any swivel (I found Dixie Gun Works had orginials so I bought and added the barrel Staple and swivel).
I owned that gun until 1989, and had to sell it, as I needed cash when my Daughter was born.
They had offered a limited run in 44 RF and even fewer in 38 Spcl. I've held both. I was told 44/40 was the only cal. available at that particular time I ordered.
When Clinton was elected , the Henry was caught up in the + 10 Magazine ban...and the supply dried up and no imports for about 3 years.

Once the Henry was exempted about 1994, They returned and now in addition to 44/40 , 45 was offered...
no longer were 44 RF or 38Spcl offered.

My current Mil. Henry is a 24" circa 1996 and my 24"Steel frame is a 2006....

I still see my old gun regularly it has seen 28 years of reenacting and the only problem was a bent Magizine spring ( I did on horseback hanging it up on a tree branch.
The blue is worn and it has some rust browning, but still shoot CAS and blanks in CW reenacting regularly.
My friend has had no issue with it , though he had the follower tweeked to shoot his blanks with more reliability.   
Pretty good testimony, my present 1996 has proven trouble free in 11 years of live fire. 

[Driftwood Johnson]

There is a guy over on the SASS Wire who claims his Henry was made by Navy Arms in 1959. I think he is mistaken. Any comments?

[Bryan Austin]

There is a guy over on the SASS Wire who claims his Henry was made by Navy Arms in 1959. I think he is mistaken. Any comments?

I am learning not to post over there very often!

I like your questions, they remind me of my questions....lol

[Steel Horse Bailey]

I don't know the date involved, but my good buddy has one of the earliest Navy Arms.  He called Navy Arms trying to find information about it.  I don't remember the particulars, but his gun was one of a VERY FEW that are made/marked "Made in USA."  When he called NA, they offered to buy it from him, so they could have one in their OWN company "museum."

His is a very LOW serial number; 2 digits, if I remember.  I'm thinking that the original run of guns was 50 or so guns, with some being 44-40 and the others 44 Henry.  I don't remember if it was the 44 Henry Rimfire or the 44 Henry Center-fire, which was produced for a while - "back in the day."  Some of the 66s (from Winchester) were made in 44 Henry CF, but not a whole lot; most were RF versions.


Hopefully, he will notice this post and "chime in" and correct any mistakes I've made in telling about HIS gun. 

[Fox Creek Kid]

If I remember correctly the Navy Arms Henry (American made) came out in the late '70's. I have a buddy with 3 or 4 of them and I will ask. I remember the day I showed him my new Uberti in 1982. He almost cried. 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy Again

I just got an email reply from Navy Arms.

My question was:

Can you please tell me what year Navy Arms first had replica Henry rifles manufactured?

The answer I just received was:

Late 1960's.

[Fox Creek Kid]

Driftwood, I think the person at Navy Arms must be new.    I spoke with my buddy the other night and he bought three when they first came out and he said it was the late 70's. I remember the big "ta do" then as everyone wanted a Henry. I e-mailed Uberti asking when but have heard nothing.

[Major 2]

My source at Gardone...said they began tooling in 1974-5
Val Forgett was involved.  I know there was a 38 Spcl offered in 78-79 along with the 44/40 and 44RF

I think (IMS) there may have been a German made 22 Short Volcanic rifle and it was about 36"-38" OL
I kill for one now 

[Henry4440]

I think (IMS) there may have been a German made 22 Short Volcanic rifle and it was about 36"-38" OL

Major2,did you have more information about that Volcanic rifle?

[Henry4440]

My source at Gardone...said they began tooling in 1974-5
Val Forgett was involved.  I know there was a 38 Spcl offered in 78-79 along with the 44/40 and 44RF

Here is a link to GunBroker.They sell one of the first prototypes made for Val Forgett's Navy Arms Co.
Serial number 246, last owner says it was the first one the Forgett gave his final approval on before he turned the blueprints over to the Italian arms makers who make them ever since.
Take a look at the rear sight.
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=110907098

[Major 2]

LH..I only saw the volcanic briefly as I was so overwelmed by Mr. Dents overall collection of CW weapons.

It as I now remember was in 22 Long (not long Rifle) though it would shoot shorts....
I seem to remember the markings were Haig ? I think it been 25 years 

Now my 22" henry looked just like the one you show on GunBroker...I ordered it from Navy Arms / Replica arms
and it had a two line mark... Only it said 
Henry's Patent Oct. 16, 1860
Allen Arms Santa Fe N.M.

I believe the S# was 661 or 667 I'm spotty on this 

[ABOYNAMED SUE]

Heris the reply I received from Navy Arms to my inquirey...

name: Kenny DeWitt
>
> phone: 9724912569
>
> comments: I have one of your iron Henry rifles in 44-40. It's totally in
> the white. Ser # 15471. On the top of the receiver it is engraved "One of
> one thousnad" in script.  Is this model still availible?  I traded for
> this rifle several years ago & have been very pleased with it.  When was
> it made/imported?  I would appriciate any info you can provide.
>

Yes the gun was imported from Uberti, that 1-1000 model
is no longer sold,  however we do still import and sell the Henry
with a blue finish, no longer available in the white.  That gun
would have been imported in the early 1980's and sold from
the Navy Arms Ridgefield NJ location, which is no longer
in business.

Navy Arms

[Sean Thornton]

According to Val Forgett the first reproduction Henry rifles were manufactured in 1979.  This was a limited run of 500 rifles with the 24 inch barrel chamber in .44-40.  This was followed up by a limited run of 22 inch barrel "carbines" also only chambered in .44-40.  There were 50 of the Henrys made in .44 rim fire of which I have handled one and it was complete with the correct 2 prong firing pin.  However the owner purchased a centerfire bolt and firing pin and fired blanks in it.  There have been a few other limited production runs.  The first run of rifles and carbines were manufactred in the United States before production was altered to the current Uberti configuration.  The Navy Arms Henrys do vary greatly from the current Uberti Henrys.  I have a carbine from Navy Arms and a Military rifle made by Uberti.  Check out the following websites for more indepth information.  The dealer price on these first Henry rifle was only $375 while retail was $500.

http://44henryrifle.webs.com/index.htm

http://www.rarewinchesters.com/articles/art_hen_00.shtml

[Hoof Hearted]

This late '60's date that keeps coming up in reference to the first manufacture date for Henry rifles actually applies to the 1866.

The 1866 was first made in 1966. I have one and the date code stamped on the rifle is XXII. By the way it has a shorter brass carrier and shorter hole in the frame, along with corresponding shorter action parts. Interestingly they had to mill a slot in the top, forward portion of the ejection "port" in order to eject loaded 44-40 cartridges. Obviously the early 1866 was based on the dimensions of the original Winchester rimfire version.

It was the 1866 that they erroneously copied when they made the Henry, hence the extra screw.

As FCK stated, "must have been someone new" that does not know the difference between an 1860 and an 1866 as Navy Arms was not associated with Uberti at that time.

HH

[Major 2]

I tried to chime in the other day and it kicked out.

I had a circa 1980 date code I bought from Navy Arms (it was marked Allan Arms SF N. Mex)
My gun was 22" it had no trapdoor in the butt or any swivel (I found Dixie Gun Works had orginials so I bought and added the barrel Staple and swivel).
I owned that gun until 1989, and had to sell it, as I needed cash when my Daughter was born.
They had offered a limited run in 44 RF and even fewer in 38 Spcl. I've held both. I was told 44/40 was the only cal. available at that particular time I ordered.
When Clinton was elected , the Henry was caught up in the + 10 Magazine ban...and the supply dried up and no imports for about 3 years.

Once the Henry was exempted about 1994, They returned and now in addition to 44/40 , 45 was offered...
no longer were 44 RF or 38Spcl offered.

My current Mil. Henry is a 24" circa 1996 and my 24"Steel frame is a 2006....

I still see my old gun regularly it has seen 28 years of reenacting and the only problem was a bent Magizine spring ( I did on horseback hanging it up on a tree branch.
The blue is worn and it has some rust browning, but still shoot CAS and blanks in CW reenacting regularly.
My friend has had no issue with it , though he had the follower tweeked to shoot his blanks with more reliability.   
Pretty good testimony, my present 1996 has proven trouble free in 11 years of live fire. 

   Today reproduction Henry rifles are made by Uberti in Italy and imported into the United States.  As of this date they are the only company that manufacture the Henry rifle.  However that was not the case back in the late 1970s and into the early 1980s.  Navy Arms manufactured the first reproduction Henry rifles.  These were manufactured in the United States, not Italy.  These are truly American made Henry rifles as were the originals which were produced by the New Haven Arms Company which later became Winchester Firearms.  In an e-mail dated June 7, 1999 Val Forgett, president and founder of Navy Arms, confirmed this to me stating "yes the first Henrys were made in the United States-manufacturing was then moved to Italy by Uberti."  Navy Arms produced a limited edition of 50 Henry rifles marked .44 RF.  These Henrys had the correct two-prong firing pin and were rim fire.  I have been able to look at one of these Henrys.  The owner of this Henry purchased a center-fire bolt and replaced the rim fire bolt and began shooting his with .44-40 ammunition and blanks.  There was also another limited edition of 500 Henry rifles as well as a limited edition of 1000 Henry carbines with a 22 inch barrel.  All of these were chambered for the .44-40 cartridge.  I have been told by others that there were a couple of other limited edition runs of Henrys by Navy Arms.  Navy Arms manufactured Henrys likely number less than 3000.  The Navy Arms Henrys are also different from the Uberti manufactured Henrys.  The carriers will not interchange.  The side plates of the Navy Arms Henry are held on by two screws while Uberti only uses one screw.  The trigger spring on the Navy Arms is an internal two-prong trigger and safety spring while the Uberti Henry has an external trigger spring.  The Navy Arms Henry does not have the magazine lock to prevent the magazine from just being twisted open and ruining the magazine spring.  The Navy Arms Henry and the Uberti Henry are indeed two completely different guns.  The cost of Henrys sure has skyrocketed.  The current retail price, as of this writing, for an Uberti Henry is between $1100 and $1200.  The retail price for the reproduction Henrys when they were first introduced by Navy Arms was $500.[/color]

The highlighted above would explain the damaged spring on my 22" version....