A LITTLE DISAPPOINTED WITH HENRY GOLDEN BOY

chief38 · Dec 2, 2014

Just yesterday I helped a friend out by taking apart his new Henry Golden Boy .22 LR after his first Range session. First off I do not own one so I was unfamiliar with the design. Anyway, I took it apart all the way for a thorough cleaning and was a bit taken back that the entire Receiver was made out of a cast alloy of some sort and the few steel parts like the bolt, lever, trigger & hammer seemed like cast steel.

The gun did work well (very smooth actually) and was finished to a good quality, however I was very surprised that the $500 gun was not made of forged steel. I guess I am living in the past and thought it was comparable to a Marlin 39A or a Winny.

Anyway, while it did work well and did feel good while shooting, I just wish that it had been made of forged steel instead. As far as the design goes, I was not thrilled about what you need to do for disassembly to clean. My Marlin 39A comes apart in a few seconds with no tools where as the Henry is a bit of a P.I.T.A.

All in all it was an OK gun but IMHO not even close to an older Marlin 39A. I also found out that other than machining the barrels and bolts, Henry farms out all their parts and basically does nothing more than assemble them. Yes, all parts are supposed to be made in USA, but not by them - again I was a bit surprised.

oneflycowboy · Dec 2, 2014

Price Point Firearms, outsourcing parts, cost cutting redesigns, manufacturing short cuts, this all seems to be a sign of the times nowadays.

JimC · Dec 2, 2014

I don't own a Henry but my two sons do.
One Octagon bbl. Frontier model and one Golden Boy.
They are both well pleased with their rifles no matter the metal used to make the receiver.
I have owned a couple of Marlin 39A's over the years, great guns however, if you find one, be prepared to pay a lot more for it than you would a new Henry with their outstanding warranty.

RIDE-RED 350r · Dec 2, 2014

My Pop finally got his brand new Henry 30-30 (brass) about a year ago and has been nothing but pleased with it. It's a beautiful rifle to look at and he seems to be satisfied with it's function and accuracy. We have not disassembled it so I cannot speak to what it looks like on the inside, but I suspect it's probably got fewer cast parts inside being a more powerful centerfire chambering.

I would like to add a Big Boy 44 to my stable in the relatively near future myself, or a m94 Trapper in 44 mag... still on the fence with that one.

iwanna · Dec 2, 2014

I don't think they will ever have any collector interest.

flundertaker · Dec 2, 2014

It's a .22lr. Not much need for expensive forged parts when cast will more than suffice.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

Dave from Pa · Dec 2, 2014

FWIW a friend brought a new hunter to my range to sight in for the upcoming deer season.Rife was a Remington 770.Shot and functioned very well,groups were consistent,with a little instruction and guidance he was capable of placing shots in the vital areas out to 200 yards off the rest.That being said it has to be one of the most clubby butt ugly rifles l have ever shot or handled.Was it a good buy for this new hunter l think so,but will it be a collectible/heirloom of the future l think not.Sign of the times in our throw away society.

BigChief52 · Dec 2, 2014

I'm at that age now where I get sticker shock over most things. The words thousand dollars and lever action 22 just don't go together in my mind. That's pretty much where you have to go for a 9422 these days. A Golden Boy is half that and is still a good shooter with an unusually smooth action. I'm sure the receiver alloy is plenty strong enough for a 22.

shocker · Dec 2, 2014

Die casting has come a long ways. While it can be derided as pot metal, in fact zinc alloys can have the strength of mild steel.

I bought a Russian gas welding torch and nearly every part of it is die cast (even the tips which get hot as ****). Works great so I did some internet research on die cast. Definitely an amazing technology and I have no qualms about having it in a tool (gun).

Arik · Dec 2, 2014

It's a 22lr. I don't like paying $500 for one let alone more because it's forged. Also most Rugers are cast. Service six, security six, P90, 95, 89, 945....all cast and they hold up quite well in 38spl, 357, 9, 40 and 45acp

Rick_A · Dec 2, 2014

Would anyone buy one at $1200?

That'd be about right for one "made like the old days."

Then there would be all the "why are Henry Golden Boys priced so insane" threads.

Ya just can't win these days.

High end rimfires are a very small market. Manufacturers like to sell products and such.

epj · Dec 2, 2014

Rugers may be cast, but it's heat treated cast steel or stainless steel.

Coaltminer · Dec 2, 2014

BigChief52 said:
I'm at that age now where I get sticker shock over most things. The words thousand dollars and lever action 22 just don't go together in my mind. That's pretty much where you have to go for a 9422 these days. A Golden Boy is half that and is still a good shooter with an unusually smooth action. I'm sure the receiver alloy is plenty strong enough for a 22.

Yeah, I'm with the Big Chief on this one. Most guns I would like approach $1000, some are over that. I scrape to buy anything new, usually have to trade something I don't want to, so, generally I've just given up buying/trading. I really can't afford that luxury anymore, and I'm not alone, as witnessed by used prices of high quality guns .

PA Guns & Ammo · Dec 2, 2014

I have a Henry 22 with the big loop lever and love it! It has a smoother action than that of my Marlin 39a. If you want forged parts be prepare to pay other than that, Henry's are priced to sell. From what I have read, the company is great to deal with if you have any issues. Henry's are 100% American made.

James

Grayfox · Dec 2, 2014

Nope, they don't make anything like they used to. They never will again because nobody could afford to buy it.

New methods, materials and technology has been both a blessing and a curse. While many of us old farts long for the days of finely finished forged steel and walnut, the new guns work just fine and are afordable.

hoosierone · Dec 2, 2014

Was considering a Henry since reading the safety warning on Winchester 94 models in the current issue of American Rifleman. I have a 9422 in excellent condition and I love the accuracy. However because of the safety issue I'm going to sell it. Now trying to decide what to replace it with. I really thought it would be the last .22 rifle I'd buy. Oh well.

silentflyer · Dec 2, 2014

I have 2 Henry's a .22 LR and a .22 mag, great rifles, very good action/trigger. There is a HUGE difference between "old" Marlins and "new" Marlins since Remington acquired Marlin, no way would I buy one of the new ones, take a look at one of the newer Marlins. looks like a poorly made BB gun, nothing like the old ones.

gdnagle · Dec 2, 2014

Like srv1 stated 100% American made. Now as I would like a Henry or more a 39 Marlin I'm too cheap to spend the money so I'll have to stick to my early model Marlin 56 with steel receiver and micro groved barrel.

Like MIM parts, cast alloy has come a long way since pot metal.

OLDNAVYMCPO · Dec 2, 2014

I recently bought a Henry Big Boy in .45 Colt for Cowboy Action Shooting. I really wasn't expecting MOA accuracy with the combination of rifle and caliber, just a hobby gun to mess around with. I was pleasantly surprised at the accuracy and shocked at the smoothness and rapidity of the action. CAS requires shooting as rapidly as possible and this action operates flawlessly just as fast as I can possibly work the lever and shoot. Many other CAS shooters use other, more expensive makes and have them slicked up. I thank I'll leave this Henry as is.

wheelgun28 · Dec 2, 2014

I was in the Brooklyn plant many years ago.

They make lots of parts in house, machined the receivers, bolts etc. The made the barrels from blanks, drilled and rifled.

I found out later that they did sub some work out to a shop in Michigan (?). Recently the shop owner wanted to retire, Henry bought the whole factory and kept it going.

I think pretty highly of the family that owns the company, they are nice people. They have been in the gun business for many years and were involved with things you know. They own John Jovino Gun Shop, they made the Colt Blackpowder series, I think they were Plainfield Arms (M1 Carbines), also I think Navy Arms and more I am sure.

They started Henry from scratch a new design and a new factory.

Yes its made from some zink type material and its powder coated, but its priced accordingly and it just plain works, nicely too.

The factory had decent modern cnc machines (horizontal Matsuuras) The gun drills were Prat and Whitney and I think the rifling machine were too.

A LITTLE DISAPPOINTED WITH HENRY GOLDEN BOY

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