Around 1860 Benjamin Tyler Henry received a patent for his lever action rifle that was simply known as the Henry Rifle. Over 125 years later, the Imperato Family chose Henry Repeating Arms as their company name. In tribute to the original Henry, the name of the modern company was chosen to represent innovation, quality, and a “Made in America” value.
Henry’s 30-30 rifles are a continuation of the company’s line of traditional styled lever action rifles yet these rifles feature many modern and unique design characteristics. The Model H009 is the steel, blued model while the H009B is the brass model. The commonalities between the two rifles include their 20” barrels, 5 round capacity and straight grip stock with a smooth lever action.
In order to get reasonable opinions of the rifles that represent a broad variety of consumers in the marketplace, two range days were arranged which let shooters try the rifles in exchange for their feedback. A good quantity of ammunition was supplied by Grizzly Cartridge Company and was provided at no charge to the shooters.
A pre-shooting opinion was solicited and one common myth needs to be put to rest before you continue as it will keep or enhance your interest. “I’m not paying twice what another brand of 30-30 cost for this” was muttered at least twice among the shooters. The reality is that in spite of the MSRP, the actual street price for the H009 averages just $565 and the H009B averages just $100 more. This puts the Henry 30-30 rifles in a competitive price range with most currently produced foreign and domestic lever action rifles offered in 30-30 caliber. The Henry H009 comes standard with the most common accessories most hunters will pay extra for on other brands including XS Sights, sling swivels and a recoil pad.
A plus is that Henry Repeating Arms is well known for their outstanding, personalized customer service, staunch, active support of the 2nd Amendment and a commitment to having the rifle and all its components 100% made in the USA. This family run business is a role model of ethics, commitment, patriotism, honesty, value and service.
The H009 features a straight grip stock and slim fore-end with wood that would be dubbed “deluxe” or “high grade” by any other company. Every shooter commented on the outstanding wood with highly accented swirls and patterns of chocolate and black underneath a sheen oil finish. Staying with the wood, the checkering is meticulously cut (even though by machine) and the wood to metal fit and finish was without flaws. The straight grip butt-stock is dressed with a black recoil pad with the Henry logo on it that actually works to absorb recoil. The fore-end was slim and long and fitted with a blued steel end cap. The drop of the butt-stock was a little higher than most straight grip lever action rifles. That was appreciated by the shooters as it made it easy to see the sights with a good cheek-weld and resulted in recoil that was a straight push with virtually no muzzle rise upon firing.
The metal is treated with a matte blued finish that is non-reflective and well executed. The lever itself had a more polished, deep blued finish. The 20 inch round barrel has a slightly recessed muzzle crown. The top of the receiver is drilled and tapped for scope mounts but comes with an XS peep sight with white blade front sight. The rifle weighs 7 pounds 5 ounces on my regulated postal scale.
The action of the Henry is unique among lever action 30-30’s. The most obvious difference is the lack of a loading gate. The Henry loads through a magazine tube. Some of the shooters were taken back by this and a few thought they preferred the loading gate system of other brands. However, after shooting the rifle followed by discussions, everyone agreed they could get used to the magazine tube loading system. The comments in favor of a loading gate all related to the ability to “top off” the magazine or the “ease of loading” on the range. Let’s face it the Henry is not a combat rifle that requires the ability to load on the go. For hunting, 6 rounds should suffice but should you need more a few seconds is all it takes. To prove this, I started with 6 rounds in a belt carrier on my right hip. Holding an empty rifle with a loading gate I set the timer and loaded 6 rounds as fast as I could which was 7.85 seconds. I repeated this with the Henry rifle and my time was 10.15 seconds. For easy range loading the Henry could always be fed one cartridge at a time directly into the chamber.
A quick search of the internet for “30-30 rifle malfunctions” will give you at least 58 discussions on problems with the loading gate including “popping out”, “not letting cartridges pass”, “cannot get cartridges to go into the tube” ,and “allowing rounds to jump from the magazine prematurely”. Additional comments regarding the loading gate include “tough on brass” and “hard on thumb”.
The action works in a different manner than other established lever action designs. The lifter is not a ramp that tilts upward to guide the cartridge into the chamber. The Henry uses a lifter block that cradles the cartridge and raises it in a horizontal position much further up into the action before toggling upward in the front to guide the cartridge into the chamber. Additionally, because of the loading tube combined with the lifter block there is no link with cartridge stop on it. Our internet search for “30-30 malfunctions” shows the predominant reasons for “dreaded jams” and other malfunctions are related to the link, cartridge stop and lifter, among other problems.
Unloading a rifle that features a loading gate requires cycling cartridges through the action. This is taxing on brass if the same cartridges are loaded and unloaded many times and there are potential safety risks that are obvious. The Henry magazine tube loading system alleviates all of the issues inherent to the loading gate system.
The actions on both rifles were extremely smooth. The Henry utilizes a small trigger block located just behind the trigger to prevent accidental trigger manipulation during cycling. A side effect of this trigger block safety is that is prevents the lever from touching the lower tang. Many lever action rifles show wear and tear on the lower tang where the lever hits it upon closing completely but this is not possible with the Henry lever. Some of the shooters were used to having to squeeze the lever to disengage the lever safety common on other brands. One of them commented that he could not determine if he has the lever sufficiently closed or if he was putting enough upward pressure on the lever of the Henry. However, he readily admitted this was a familiarity situation and no fault of the rifle. Out of curiosity, the shooters operated the Henry rifle sideways and upside down. The lifter is a trough of sorts that cradles the cartridge somewhat loosely. Therefore, the Henry can be finicky if you try these stunts. Trying two other systems of lever actions proved they were finicky as well in the sideways and upside down position, but less so than the Henry. The trigger pull of the H009 measured 5.6 pounds.
Over 350 rounds were fired through the H009 over two days and no malfunctions occurred. Ejection was positive and consistent creating a concentrated pile of brass to the right and rear of the shooters. Accuracy was difficult to judge fairly due to several circumstances. First, the Grizzly Cartridge ammunition featured 170 grain Nosler Partition bullets at over 2300 feet per second. This load shot several inches high even with the sight in the lowest position. Second, the targets we used were 3.5 inch black bulls-eye circles at 100 yards, and lastly there was a constant wind of approximately 15 miles per hour and gusting to over 25 miles per hour. Many of the shooters were able to get 3 shots into 1.75 inches or less when shooting off the bench at 100 yards. I later shot 3 brands of standard factory ammo (one each of 150, 160 and 170 grains) off the bench at 100 yards under better environmental conditions and produced an average 3 shot group of 1.42 inches.
The shooters gave praise to the H009’s balance. There is ample room to hold the receiver just in front of the trigger guard and the gun balances perfectly there. Much of the appeal of 30-30 lever actions is the ease in which they carry, but the Henry H009 surpasses all other brands in the way it balances when carried.
The biggest criticism of the Henry H009 was the front sight. The sight is an XS style white striped blade that is an integral part of the barrel band. The inability to adjust or change the front sight was disappointing to some shooters, especially those with more experience that would like the ability to set up the rifle with the same sights they use on others. One easy solution to this is to send the entire barrel band assembly to Skinner Sights. They will cut a dovetail in the front sight for $32 including return shipping. At the same time, you can get one of their front sight blades installed.
The H009B differs from the H009 in that it features a brass receiver, barrel band and butt-plate. The lettering on the barrel is gold filled. The stock is a more classic looking style with a concave butt, smooth red-ish tinted wood of straight grain and heavy octagon barrel. The sights are a Marbles style rear with white triangle and sliding elevator and a brass bead dovetailed into the barrel up front. The receiver is drilled and tapped for scope mounts. The H009B weighs 8 pounds 8 ounces on my scale. The test shooters fired approximately 100 rounds through the H009B without any problems. The trigger pull measured 6.3 pounds.
The sights were adjustable enough to sight-in with the Grizzly Cartridge ammunition. I was able to get an average 3 shot group of 1.12 inches using the Grizzly Cartridge ammunition. The average of 150, 160 and 170 grain standard factory ammo produced an average 3 shot group of 1.22 inches.
For hunting purposes, the brass receive is quite a bit shiny and the weight is a bit much for all-day carry. Henry includes a soft receiver sleeve to protect the rifle during storage. I cut a rectangle out of one to accommodate the profile of the ejection port. In this manner, the shiny receiver is concealed but the action can be worked instantly for a second shot. The soft cover will come out of place when the action is worked but after the first shot the gig is up. For hunting out of a box blind the shiny receiver becomes much less of a concern.
The stock is slightly different on the H009B with a little more perceived drop but the extra weight and heavy barrel disperse any felt recoil. All of the shooters were impressed with the lack of muzzle rise and gentle straight back push of whatever recoil was noticeable. Over 100 rounds were fired with no issues.
Cleaning the rifles was easy and straightforward. Removing the lever screw allows the lever to come free and the bolt can be pulled out. The extractor can also be removed by hand. A few passes through the breach and the bore was back to shiny-new. Some Gun Scrubber was sprayed in the action, followed by a swabbing with some cotton applicators and a dose of high pressured air. A dab of oil was put on all metal parts that showed any wear or contact points as well as the bolt. Inserting the extractor was simple but requires a steady hand. Pushing the bolt in and re-engaging the lever was simple and the lever screw requires very little torque to remain in place. Now both of these rifles are ready for a hunting trip to the field.
Today there is a noticeable decline in the quality and service being offered by the bigger firearms manufacturers that offer lever action rifles. The quality of imports has always been hit-or-miss and service depends greatly on who the importer is. Henry Repeating Arms offers a refreshing high standard of quality, dependability and service with a motto of “Made in America or Not Made at All”.
Henry Repeating Arms sent gifts for everyone that helped out with the test. Campfire mugs and watch caps with the Henry logo will conjure up memories of a great day shooting!
I encourage the shooters who helped out to post their direct comments here so you can hear it "from the horse's mouth" instead of my translation or abbreviation of their thoughts.
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