.38SuperMan
Member
I've owned several M1 carbines and they're sure fun to shoot and very easy on recoil so even a slight built person could shoot it all day with no problems. But, the choice in ammo is limited.
As mentioned, I'm a lever action fan. The last guns they'll come after are bolt action, single shot and lever action rifles. I collected military arms from the Indian wars through WWII in US, German, Russian and British weapons and have owned and shot a boat load. I was never a big fan of rifles for personal pleasure until my wife gave me a Henry 22 carbine a couple of years ago. I enjoyed shooting it so much it started me thinking about a larger pistol caliber lever gun. In January I bought a Henry Big Boy Carbine with the brass receiver in a 45 LC. I'm hooked now and might buy another in 357/38 in the next week or two. They're not long range guns but neither is the M1 carbine. You'll be good out to about 150 yards with the right load. Accuracy is excellent and recoil mild even with a stout load. Accuracy is excellent too. I've been working up a new load and shooting from a rest with open sights at 25 yards I put 16 shots in less than 2 inches. The 357 should do a comparable job and as mentioned the cartridge will be complementary to your revolver and there's a huge selection of ammo.
Henry rifles are American made, if you should need customer service it's excellent and they're beautifully made. They're beautiful and precision rifles that function like a Swiss watch straight out of the box. To show what kind of company Henry is, the owner often answers the phone himself and handles any issues personally. Customer satisfaction is paramount.
Some people prefer a side gate loading rifle but I personally like the tube loading magazine. If you need, it's easy to make speed loaders out of PVC tubing for tube loading lever guns. With a side loader one shell at a time has to be loaded by hand. It's like Chevy vs Ford, some like one and others like the other.
The only con I can see for some people is the weight of the Big Boy Brass receiver. It has a beautifully blued steel octagonal barrel and it's a little on the heavy side. I selected the carbine version with the 16" barrel vs the 20" because I felt it balanced better. Henry also makes a steel receiver with a round lighter barrel in a 16 and 20 inch also and they're much lighter. It's also available in a case hardened steel receiver.
As mentioned, I'm a lever action fan. The last guns they'll come after are bolt action, single shot and lever action rifles. I collected military arms from the Indian wars through WWII in US, German, Russian and British weapons and have owned and shot a boat load. I was never a big fan of rifles for personal pleasure until my wife gave me a Henry 22 carbine a couple of years ago. I enjoyed shooting it so much it started me thinking about a larger pistol caliber lever gun. In January I bought a Henry Big Boy Carbine with the brass receiver in a 45 LC. I'm hooked now and might buy another in 357/38 in the next week or two. They're not long range guns but neither is the M1 carbine. You'll be good out to about 150 yards with the right load. Accuracy is excellent and recoil mild even with a stout load. Accuracy is excellent too. I've been working up a new load and shooting from a rest with open sights at 25 yards I put 16 shots in less than 2 inches. The 357 should do a comparable job and as mentioned the cartridge will be complementary to your revolver and there's a huge selection of ammo.
Henry rifles are American made, if you should need customer service it's excellent and they're beautifully made. They're beautiful and precision rifles that function like a Swiss watch straight out of the box. To show what kind of company Henry is, the owner often answers the phone himself and handles any issues personally. Customer satisfaction is paramount.
Some people prefer a side gate loading rifle but I personally like the tube loading magazine. If you need, it's easy to make speed loaders out of PVC tubing for tube loading lever guns. With a side loader one shell at a time has to be loaded by hand. It's like Chevy vs Ford, some like one and others like the other.
The only con I can see for some people is the weight of the Big Boy Brass receiver. It has a beautifully blued steel octagonal barrel and it's a little on the heavy side. I selected the carbine version with the 16" barrel vs the 20" because I felt it balanced better. Henry also makes a steel receiver with a round lighter barrel in a 16 and 20 inch also and they're much lighter. It's also available in a case hardened steel receiver.
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