HRA H011 Henry Review

[Major 2]

At the request of Fox Creek Kid, and since all extra copies of the 2014 Winter Issue of NCOWS Shootist are now gone...

I'll post the review here :  I hope you enjoy it 

Henry Repeating Arms Co. M1860 Rifle                          Review by:  Roger Ragland

    I began to experience the excitement of a child on Christmas morning and found myself quickened of step as I approached Signal Zero Supplies, my friendly Federal Firearms Licensed dealer.
Earlier in the day, I had received a letter that the Henry Repeating Arms Model 1860 Henry had arrived.
At my request, Mr. Anthony Imperato CEO of Henry Repeating Arms, had personally seen to it, their latest product was sent to me to review for the National Congress of Old West Shooters and a gun test article for the Shootist the National Magazine.
    There before me was the box with the HENRY brand Logo, and a label "Henry Original Henry" Model  H011  MADE IN THE USA.
I carefully opened the box with anticipation, and my first reaction as I parted the wrappings ... Pards they got it right !
I was first drawn to the figure of the Walnut stock, and a snug fitting black cloth sleeve encasing the receiver.
The barrel is roll engraved, Henry's Patent Oct.16th.1860 Cal. 44/40 Henry Repeating Arms Bayonne N.J. U.S.A. in one line.
     

The Gun....

     I have the opportunity to compare the new Henry Repeating Arms H011 Henry with 3 of Uberti's Henry offerings.
In a side by side visual tour, I noted the H011 butt stock was thicker at the comb. I also noted the rise from the wrist was taller and further rearward from the Uberti models. I compared the silhouette to some high resolution photos of several original Henrys, and found the H011 stock is very close in the originals shape and profile.
The H011 has a somewhat different balance point; I believe this due to both the thicker butt and perhaps the density of the flame burl walnut. I found the balance point pleasing allowing the Rifle to shoulder and point very nicely.
In comparison the Uberti balance point seems to be somewhat muzzle heavy.
The wood itself is eye catching, the likes of fine Presentation rifles and shotguns; it is simply stunning with a satin oil finish.
The brass butt plate has the trap door and is bored to except a cleaning rod assembly, though it's not included.
The rear sight is a ladder design for both manufacturers. The H011 has a square notch where the Uberti sight is V notched, all have a German silver front sight thought the H011 sight it seems ever so slightly thicker. The square notch makes for fine sight picture over the OEM Uberti V sight with my eyes. The function of the sight is smooth & light and stops at each detente setting.
The H011 is chambered in 44/40 and cycles nicely. The action is smooth though bit on the heavy spring side. 
Barrel is nicely polished and blued, fit & finish is quite good, as it is on the three Uberti offerings in this comparison.
The H011 receiver is highly polished and finished brightly.

Henry H011  Action : Lever
Caliber : 44-40
Barrel Length : 24 1/4 "
Capacity : 13 +1
Length : 43  3/4" 
Weight : 9.03 lbs.
Finish: Blued
Number of Grooves: 6 Twist: Right

Uberti Henry  Action : Lever
Caliber : 44-40  & 45 Colt
Barrel Length : 24  3/8 "
Capacity : 13+1
Length:  43  3/4"
Weight: 9 lbs.
Finish: Blue
Number of Grooves: 6 Twist: Right                                                                                                                                               

 
                                                                                                                                           
At the range...

    The rifle arrived in padded shipping carton wrapped in brown dry silicone paper. The first order of business as I normally do with a new gun was to, of course check if it is unloaded then clean and lubricate.
Generally, I use a product like Break-Free, Gun Scrubber or the like.
I liberally flood the actions nooks & crannies and allow it to drain. I'll swab the barrel a few strokes and follow that with Gibbs Lube and a final clean patch down the barrel.
I realize it is over kill, but it's a tradition that has served me well.
    So with the gun cleaned and joined by NCOWS members Bill "Cherokee Bodie" Cunningham and Capt'n' John Holmes, I arrived at the range with the three Henry's.
The new HRA H011 and two Uberti Henry's, a military model and a Iron frame model . Bill also brought his main match Uberti Henry 44/40. The photo op was obvious, But it also gave us the chance to compare the shooting qualities of both makes.
    I had at my disposal, three boxes of different factory loading's and some hand-loaded black powder loads by Cherokee Bodie ( Cracker Cow Cavalry ).
The Factory brands are Black Hills, Ultramax, and Magtech, all are Cowboy lead loading's courtesy of Capt'n' John also of Cracker Cow Cavalry.
The Black Hills is a 200 Grain RNFP, The Ultramax is also 200 Grain RNFP and the Magtech is flat nose 225 Grain pill. The Black Powder loads are full case ( no filler ) 32 grains of 2 FF topped  with a 200 grain SPG lubed flat nose lead bullet.
     We set a large torso silhouette out at 100 feet, and decided to shoot offhand as this is the normal position for most NCOWS style action.
We loaded the Black Hills offering first and each of us fired three go arounds. Each of us went for a different area on the target. Bill shot center mass, John a head shot and I,  well lets say "below the belt".  The factory loaded Black Hills happened to be some older stock, the price tag still affix stated $24.95 for the box of 50 .  A price not seen in these parts in some years, well below the current going retail rate.
I guess it was at least 8 years old. The H011 handled this product with a reasonable grouping of about 3.75 for the three shooters, Remember off hand at 100'.
I suppose I should mention the weather was a breezy 76 degrees and threatening rain, the wind was directly into our face. Next we loaded the Ultramax; we had the best results and the only misfire with this brand. I shot a 3" group and experienced the only misfire. I re-chambered the well dimpled round, to confirm it was not a light tap, the round failed again , and it also failed in the test Uberti. Lastly we loaded the Magtech 225 Grain, I expected these rounds to print a bit lower but in fact held POA at 100' , John posted a 4" group which I duplicated. Overall, I'd give the nod to the Ultramax, but in honesty , off hand in a breeze nothing was all that scientific or methodical.
     Next we moved to Berm # 7 which is a covered 6 store front town walk , here we had the 8"  knock down targets set up at 36 feet. Loading 10 rounds (Ultramax)  we shot what might be a standard stage for a rifle. Bill went first and hit 8 of ten shooting high twice. John and then I followed shooting clean. John unused to the Henry snuffle stumbled on the last round. 
The H011 cycled smoothly with no other hiccups.
    Time for the Holy Black, we loaded Bill's hand loaded 32 Grain 2FF reloads , the H011 digested these just as well as it had the factory loading's. Bill was deadly; first he cleaned the targets with his own Henry, and then repeated with the H011.  . John and I both were clean but Bill was faster, the man knows his loads. We had grand time choking smoke and the Guns never balked aside from the one faulty Ultramax round. As the clouds and rain closed in we gathered our impressions of the new Rifle....

In conclusion:
    We noticed the action seem to get even smoother as we shot it. The gun shoulders, points and sights very nicely. The H011 digested and ejected every round I ran through it including the reloads.
On examination of the brass, the firing pin dimpled the primers well and just tick off dead center.
I did not witness any blow by into the receiver from the soot of the black powder while cleaning the rifle.
    Henry Repeating Arms has produced a very nice replica of the Original 1860.  I'm happy to see the Henry return to be made in the good old USofA. I hope it is a trend and we'll see more of the old iconic firearms brands that were deemed obsolescent or abandoned return to us.
Tyler B. Henry would be proud... welcome home !

Update:
I felt I had left a bit of my review on the table...So the next day, I traveled to the Public Range in Bravard Co. stopping in at The Ammo Attic in Melbourne on the way, I picked up a box of Magtech Cowboy 44/40 200 Grain RNFP and some  Day Glo Targets . The Magtech RNFP we used the day before was 225 grains, so this was still another round to experiment with.  I borrowed a leather bench rest and set my  paper target at 100 yards on the rifle range. I loaded just 5 rounds at a time, so to not impede the magazine follower. From a seated position, I set the ladder sight at 100 yards and taking my time, carefully aimed and squeezed off a shot. The H011 shot centered and about 3 " low, but I had 4 shots in rather tight with one flyer. I reloaded and adjusted my hold and position a couple of times, till I had some nice groups. My eyes don't really focus like they once did, but I could see the dayglow green 6" bulleyes ,  3 1/2 "  groups seemed pretty common.
On the Bench, I could hold steady and was rewarded with my best 2 3/4 " 5 shot Group, with 2 close enough to create a ragged hole. I think I'll be happy with that....considering open sights and old eyes.
Oh ! and it was a little breezy and a steady drizzle/rain all day, The covered facility was most welcome.





Thanks to:
John Holmes 
Bill Cunningham
and
Signal Zero Supplies
St Cloud, Florida 407-891-9136
www.SIGNALZERO.BIZ

and special Thanks to:
Mr. Anthony Imperato CEO of Henry Repeating Arms
59 East 1st Street
Bayonne, NJ 07002
http://www.henryrepeating.com/


* I'd like to point out, since I wrote this in November 2013 I have put some 700 rounds through this Henry ( about 500 Smokeless and the remainder BP reloads ) I can report no issues.

update:  July 31, 2015 I am fast approaching 2 years with is Henry, time flies when its fun.
I have now put quite a few  more rounds through the H011 ...some where a tad south of 1900 I guess.
Still pleased , I have found I learned to shoot tighter , I've had no issues , it remains box stock.
I have darken the bright front sight and my groups improved, I'm inside 1 3/4 " at 100 yards benched .

UPDATE  June 6 , 2019

6 years now , still the gun performs flawlessly, though of late I only used Black Hills 44/40 cowboy loads.
I had a case and the Henry is the only gun I have in 44/40 anymore.

However since I got this rifle, In non related trade I got a Henry Golden Boy in 22, it was as new in box, only thing I did is swap out the 14" length of pull butt for the youth 13" LOP ( $65 w/ hardware from HRA) this made the rifle easier to shoulder for me... and fun gun to plink.

I'm quite a fan if HRA .

[Fox Creek Kid]

Great review & thanks. 

Question:  do you feel it is more authentic in detail than an Uberti?

[Major 2]

I think the stock profile is closer to the Early Henry's ...

[Crossdrawnj]

But is it worth the $2,300.00 MSRP?

[Major 2]

I've seen it listed below MSRP .... If you value, USA made then....yeah .....course I also own 3 Uberti Henry's 


However, you have to decide that for yourself....

I have since improved my 100 yard groups ( I feel the 200 Grain Magtech was to light )
I grouped a tight 1 3/4 " with new Winchester Cowboy 44-40 WCF 225 Grain Lead Flat Nose....

[Crossdrawnj]

Thanks for a great review. I have a Navy Arms (Ridgfield NJ) Uberti Henry and love it. My son picked up a Uberti iron frame a couple of years back. Nice guns. I'll be keeping an eye out for the new Henry Henry.

[chuckerbird]

Major,
I am shooting 200 grain .427 cast bullets in mine. Have you slugged the barrel on yours, or do you feel it is even necessary to do so?

[Major 2]

I haven't cast any lead in years...I used to cast for my Sharps.

I'm inside 1 3/4 " at 100 yards , I don't think I could do any better... so I haven't slugged.

I think the 200 grain Magtech is OK for WAS,  but reaching out there I found the heavier Win. 225 is the better choice...

[Major 2]

I'm coming up on the 1 year mark , having picked up my H011 at my FFL....

Frankly, I have not shot it or any long gun since mid-July due to a torn Rotator cuff 
and I have missed it   

I'm often asked , is it worth the MSRP... well I can't fairly answer as I paid no where near MSRP
That is best answered by the person and his wallet....

Am I glad to have one ?....  absolutely
Glad it's American made ?....absolutely, fine product
just as glad to have my Uberti's too ( did not pay MSRP for those either )

Proud owner of both manufacturer's 

[Cliff Fendley]

I asked and got a reply back from Jeff at Henry Repeating Arms and he said that the rate of twist is 1-36.

[Major 2]

http://www.hinterlandoutfitters.com/henry-rifles-c-1316_1424_1534_1555.html

in stock @ $1819.00 

[Sean Thornton]

http://www.hinterlandoutfitters.com/henry-rifles-c-1316_1424_1534_1555.html

in stock @ $1819.00 

Interesting they refer to it as 16 + 1 rounds. I don't think so.

[matt45]

  Maybe they're shooting 44-20's

[Sean Thornton]

Maybe they're shooting 44-20's

that is probably true. LOL
Mine actually holds 19 blanks.

[Cliff Fendley]

Has anyone handled the deluxe engraved model? Is that hand engraved or laser?

[Tascosa Joe]

Has anyone handled the deluxe engraved model? Is that hand engraved or laser?

Cabelas here in Fort Worth has one but I have not handled it.

[Major 2]

hand engraved

[Cliff Fendley]

My local gun shop is a full line Henry dealer but hasn't kept any of the Original rifle in stock for me to look at. Apparently what few he has gotten in were spoken for so I was just trying to figure out what to order, plain or fancy. I talked to him earlier and found out he has one of each on order so when they come in I can have first choice of either.

[Drydock]

My .45 Colt Uberti Henry will hold 16 rounds of .45 S&W (Schofield).  Perhaps that is the reference?

[matt45]

Is that with one in the pipe?  I shoot 45 S&w's as well, but it strikes me I get 15.