El Juez

I have one I use every now and then. Got it for a little over $200. It wouldn't eject the last hull. I spent a little time shaping and grinding and took care of the problem. Only way I could get it to work was to grind the pin the keeps the lifter from raising up too high. It now ejects the hulls just fine, but can't load from the magazine tube, because the lifter rises too high. This isn't a problem for me since I am only using it for cowboy and can load 2 from the top, and don't plan on using the tube magazine. It fires and cycles/ejects 2 rounds just fine. For the price, and for what I am using it for, I am very happy with it. Out of the box, for general use, not a great gun.

I have the Henry single shot with the steel receiver in 45-70. I have shot, and won, a couple of plainsman matches with it. I subsequently sold my H&R Handi Rifle in 45-70 to a friend. Love the gun. Its great looking, good quality. It has extractors, not ejectors, so I shoot in traditional plainsman category. After some modifications, I love the gun. Right out of the box it had some quirks that kept if from being as competitive as it could be. I am going to explain the modifications I did on my gun, but of course take no responsibility for the function of your gun or your safety if you try to do the same. I also would not make these modifications if I was going to use the gun for other purposes. However, I purchased it just for plainsman competitions. It does take some bravery (or stupidity some might say:) to start grinding away on a new gun like I did. The gun is fairly easy to disassemble and is fairly mechanically simple once you get inside. I could not find any instructions or videos on line and was able to completely disassemble and reassemble the gun without any problems. The Henry comes with some internal safeties that prevent the hammer from being cocked when the barrel is open and prevents the barrel from being opened if the hammer is already cocked. This is not ideal for speed in a plainsman match. The first is a part inside the action that slides to the rear when the barrel is opened. It has what looks like a pin on the end that fits into a hole and locks up the hammer. I ground that pin completely off. Also, when the barrel is open the hammer is prevented from pivoting back, as it is blocked by the lower part of the release lever. I ground away part of the lower rear of the hammer to prevent it from being blocked on its backwards travel. I took a little off at a time until it was able to travel back without obstruction. With these two modifications I can now open the barrel with the hammer cocked, or cock the hammer when the barrel is open. The other quirk is that the hammer and trigger are very stiff. This is because there is a strong double spring assembly. This is necessary because the gun has a rebounding hammer which, after hitting the firing pin rebounds backwards. That way the hammer is not resting on the firing pin. The strong spring is necessary to overcome the rearward force of the rebound. I modified the shape of the bottom of the hammer by grinding it, in order to defeat the rebounding action, I then removed one of the springs. The gun's action is now much smoother and lighter. Because it doesn't rebound, the hammer does now rest in the closed position. The gun has functioned perfectly since these modifications and is also in much better condition to compete in a speed match. With these modifications I am very happy with the rifle, and will take it over a handi rifle any day. Without the modifications, while it is still a great looking and solid rifle, I probably would keep the handi rifle for plainsman competitions. If you want a gun for hunting or plinking, its great right out of the box.

I have had to replace the firing pins on stoegers. The tips mushroomed a bit. They had a lot more than 50 rounds through them though. Its fairly easy to check. Long Hunter (longhunt.com) sells a spanner wrench for $15 that makes the process much easier. You just unscrew the fitting where the firing pin sits. Pull em out and take a look. Long Hunter also sells the firing pins if you need to replace one.