Father Kit Cool Gun Garth Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 I'm still researching my choice for a lever action rifle. My first choice would be the Henry big boy lever action in 357 / 38 special. I have heard that one of the reasons to Henry is not popular in Cowboy Action Shooting is due to its weight. My belief is that this shouldn't be an issue since the rifle should only be shouldered no more than 5 to 10 seconds. (Let's not discuss the issue of taking the five-second penalty assuming that you can I reload another round in less than 5 seconds). Recently when I went to our local gun shop to try out different lever action rifles such as the Uberti to determine their weight difference the salesman raised a better issue than wait. He raised the issue of having to reload the rifle should you miss a target. I have watched several youtube videos in which I have seen the shooter miss a target and reload however most of the shooters have rifles with a loading gate. Unfortunately the Henry lever action rifle does not have a loading gate. The question I have is how detrimental is having a lever action rifle in Cowboy Action Shooting that does not have a loading gate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Dave Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 In SASS you can not reload to re-engage a missed target. You can reload to replace an ejected of 'jacked out' live round. Some stages are written requiring a reload on the clock. IMO something with a loading gate is MUCH better suited to this game, however some folks like the big boy and shoot it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCandless Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 Here's some background to read: http://sassnet.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=243824&hl=henry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marauder SASS #13056 Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 The design of the Henry is not as good for our game. That is not even considering the magazine tube question. The old "toggle-link" design of the Model 66 and 73 allow for the cartridge to always be parallel with the chamber, so they are very smooth and reliable. The Henry is an angle action in that the cartridge has to come from the magazine and then go into the chamber on an angle. So they are much more length sensitive. The Marlin 94 is a similar design to the Henry but can be made to work very well - but I don't know of any Henry (modern) rifle that has been made to equal the Marlin or 66/73. When you start shooting, you will see that Henry Big Boy rifles are few and far between. That is due to experience. Many of us love our little Henry 22's, but not the Big Boy. Right now, the best bet is to go with a a Winchester 73 or Uberti copy and buy one already slicked up for speed and reliability. And the 357/38 is VERY popular for fun shooting that is less expensive as well. As second choice would be a model 66, then an older Marlin 94 in good shape, but those are sorta hard to find. As a note, the Winchester 92 copies are fun rifles but they cannot keep up with the other recommended rifles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carolina Gunslinger Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 Buy once, cry once! Codymatic '73 or Widdermatic Marlin for standard length stroke. Long Hunter is a good source for a new gun that will be short stroked by the time you get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Henry Quick Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 Buy once, cry once! Codymatic '73 or Widdermatic Marlin for standard length stroke. Long Hunter is a good source for a new gun that will be short stroked by the time you get it. What he said. I have a 73 that Cody slicked up and it's the slickest firearm I've ever owned. The only thing slowing me down is me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace_of_Hearts Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 The reload on a Henry Big Boy is accomplished the same as on a Marlin. Once the gun is empty, you open the action and throw the cartridge into the ejection port. Close the action and fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold Canyon Kid #43974 Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 I'm still researching my choice for a lever action rifle. My first choice would be the Henry big boy lever action in 357 / 38 special. I have heard that one of the reasons to Henry is not popular in Cowboy Action Shooting is due to its weight. My belief is that this shouldn't be an issue since the rifle should only be shouldered no more than 5 to 10 seconds. (Let's not discuss the issue of taking the five-second penalty assuming that you can I reload another round in less than 5 seconds). Recently when I went to our local gun shop to try out different lever action rifles such as the Uberti to determine their weight difference the salesman raised a better issue than wait. He raised the issue of having to reload the rifle should you miss a target. I have watched several youtube videos in which I have seen the shooter miss a target and reload however most of the shooters have rifles with a loading gate. Unfortunately the Henry lever action rifle does not have a loading gate. The question I have is how detrimental is having a lever action rifle in Cowboy Action Shooting that does not have a loading gate? Some stages require reloads. Reloading via the tube mag is not easy on the clock. Sometimes you jack out live rounds. Loading through the tube is not easy on the clock. The Henry Big boy is not a popular gun for CAS as not a single company sells hardware to improve it's use for cowboy action shooting. If just one company made hardware to keep it from jamming when run fast for example, it would be more popular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 You're kinda asking the wrong question. It's NOT that a loading gate is magic. But it is faster than loading the Henry magazine. It's the gun design, how smooth, how fast it runs, how reliable it will be, how many good quality speed parts are available. And just how natural some of these guns feel to shoot. You don't get much of that from a Henry Big Boy. You are counting on your "expertise" from totally the wrong place. Most gun shop clerks have NO idea of what cowboy shooters need for a gun. You won't want just any gun that looks Western when you start shooting. The competition bug will bite you and you will start wondering "What are all these other folks shooting that are so fast, so smooth, so trouble free?" GET OUT to some local matches before you do any buying! Or you COULD quickly cost yourself $3000 in guns that you will be sorry you bought when you do start shooting. Right now, there in Florida, the cowboy matches are "Going Great Guns" right now. Go see! Go ask questions! Go get guns shoved in your hands to try out! Go meet the good folks in this great game. Those folks are your REAL, LOCAL EXPERTS! Good luck, GJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold Canyon Kid #43974 Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 Some stages require reloads. Reloading via the tube mag is not easy on the clock. Sometimes you jack out live rounds when shooting. Loading through the tube is not easy on the clock. The Henry Big boy is not a popular gun for CAS as not a single company sells hardware to improve it's use for cowboy action shooting. If just one company made hardware to keep it from jamming when run fast for example, it would be more popular. I know many shooters that use the Henry as a back up gun since it never worked well for them and they had to purchase a 2nd rifle. Selling a used Henry is a lot more difficult than a Marlin, 66 or 73. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hurricane Deck 100366 Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 Weight and loading gate aren't the only reasons. the big boy is a nice rifle, but it's not well suited to the life a rifle leads in CAS. Few gunsmiths support it and they can be prone to jamming and ejecting live ammo when attempting to run them fast. (not to mention lack of short stroke kits etc..) Don't get me wrong, they are beautiful rifles. accurate rifles too and made in America. Just not suited well for CAS. Some shoot them, but they are a rare site. If you like the brass frame, I would point you towards the 1866. You don't see many Henry's in our game for a reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yul Lose Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 I shoot at five or six different ranges and I've seen one Henry in use and the shooter had trouble with it at both matches that he shot it at. There are reasons that few Henry's are in use in CAS and no loading gate is one but not the only one. I'd encourage the OP to go visit some matches to find out why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Saint Eagle, SASS # 64903 Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 We had a new shooter a few years ago that started with a Big Boy and said he liked the looks and wouldn't ever be fast enough too matter. Within a year he changed to a '66 and never looked back. Follow the above advice and try before you buy. Randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griff Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 I could write a book on the various rifles legal for SASS and their suitability for said game. Suffice it to say, all will be served with a varying amount of action work... from significant mods to general smoothing and a little trigger work. All lever-actions are cartridge overall length sensitive. To ignore this is to risk a bunch of unusable ammo. So, here's a list of the best rifle to use, and one or two reasons: 1873; take your choice of chambering, barrel length and whether carbine or rifle configurations, along with you prefer a straight grip or a semi-pistol grip. The details of the actual rifle one uses is a matter of personal choice and preference. This design has the trigger block safety to prevent an out-of-battery discharge. This also the easiest of the toggle-links to dis- and reassemble. It has a number of mods that can speed up the action and improve it's spped. I have 2 in different configurations. 1866; again, your personal preferences will dictate chambering, barrel, configuration, etc. It's a little more difficult to disassemble for cleaning, and lacks the trigger block safety. Like the '73, easily modified to improve speed. Marlin 1894; with proper tuning and tailored ammo they can be every bit as good as an 1873. Winchester/Rossi 1892: again, the actual version used is largely a matter or personal preference. There are NO short stroke options for this gun. But, they are very strong actions, and as such they can be very useful (I have 3, although I don't compete with them unless I want to). Henry 1860 (original toggle-link action, which Henry does make a version of). While on the surface this might seem a very good arm, the exposed follower is tricky to get used to, plus there is a hazard, as with any front loading cartridge gun using centerfire ammo of a magazine detonation if dropping cartridges down on top of previously loaded ammo. Like the 1866 & 1873 it can be short-stroked and smoothed up, but... unless you find one of rare "trapper" versions, they're very heavy. Winchester 1894/94; these are designed around a "rifle" cartridge that is over 2 inches long, the action has more moving parts and is just generally "slower" than those above. The short pistol length cartridges (think 1.6" max), don't feed with utter reliability in this action. Various copies of the Colt pump action. This weren't great commercial successes when they were first introduced. Neither the passage of time nor "improvements" any of those recently produced "copies" have been able to cure that. There have been some notable individual examples, but not so that you could say, "...buy this brand, it's great..." Unless that particular gun fits what you want your "persona" to be wrapped up in, pass them by. Which brings me to the Henry Big Boy; I've seen quite a few, and on occasion, I've seen one or two run relatively FAST reliably. I run deliberately slow, but I value smooth, I haven't seen that in a Big Boy. What I see is far more of them are clunky and far less than "competitive". That's not to say that they couldn't be... but no one has won a cowboy action match with one. I haven't seen a cowboy gunsmith take on the challenge of making a Henry Big Boy competitive. Whether their owners aren't interested, or ?, is open for debate. Speed is always a relative thing... my very fast is very slow for some shooters... maybe even for the average shooter. And, although I've been doing this for a long time, I got over the "competitive" bug some time ago. I've seen a LOT of people come and go in this game. Frustration is a major factor in that. As others have found, if you're a very competitive person, you just might find out that single action revolvers, lever-action rifles, and side-by-side shotguns are a technology that do not mesh well with your particular skill set. I've seen many a shooter that is a whiz at another shooting sport, think they are going to show us "cowboy shooters" just what a skilled gunman can do... I could not name you ONE that came into this and won everything (really anything) without some acclimation period... Most have left as they found out that the equipment needs to be specifically tuned, and to be at the TOP of any game requires prodigious amounts of practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carolina Gunslinger Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 If I were going to buy a Henry from Henry, it'd be the model of 1860. At least that can be slicked up to run fast with short stroke kits and you have the benefit of shooting .44-40 for ease of cleaning with smokeless or black powder. You're going to become a reloader if you shoot CAS for more than ten minutes so the caliber is not super important. Starline makes that brass! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283 Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 Howdy Yeah, you gotta get to some matches and talk to some real shooters. Gun shop clerks seldom know much about CAS. Regarding the weight, despite what you believe, it can be a big issue. The reload thing really does not enter all that much. At least around these parts we don't get reload stages very often. If you miss a target, you are not allowed to reload to make it up, you have to take the miss. Reloads only happen when they are written into the stage, or when you accidentally eject a live round. For reloads, almost everybody throws one more round into the loading gate, works the lever, and fires. Except for me. I shoot an Uberti replica of the 1860 Henry. No loading gate. For a reload I open the action, shove the carrier down with my thumb and load a new round over the top into the chamber. Close the lever and fire. Henry Bug Boy? Very seldom see them. Just not well suited to this game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sagebrush Burns, SASS # 14226 Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 At matches the people that I've talked to who are using the Henry Big Boy all seem to like them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Douglas Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 I have a big boy currently. I bought it before I even knew what CAS was. I would not recommend it for this. They are VERY COL sensitive due to the angle rounds are loaded as well as bullet type. Mine tends to cycle cheap 38's fairly reliably. 357's its hit or miss depending on length. It is not a fast gun, it is heavy (in 357), and if you operate it smoothly and deliberately it will work well. However, speed is not it's friend. In my experience, when I try to go fast, the carrier won't pick up the next round and I'll get a "click" when I pull the trigger and then have to cycle again to pick up the next round. If your length isn't right, cycling that first round isn't fun either. The closer you keep it to straight up and down, the better it cycles. Like others have said, no one makes speed parts. About all you can get for them is a John Wayne lever and a leather lever wrap. What you get out of the box is all you will get. On the plus side, they look fantastic. Fit and finish is perfect. I can't even get a business card in between the stock and receiver. They are tack drivers. At CAS ranges, if you miss, it will never be the guns fault. IMO, I would look to getting a used winchester clone and spending the money saved over buying new to slick it up. That's what I wish I would have done. But again, at the time I bought this, I didn't know about CAS. Overall, you might like it now, but you won't later (at least for competition). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Douglas Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 PS With that said, if you still have your heart set on a big boy, you can buy mine off me so I can fund an 1866 yellowboy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anvil Al #59168 Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 Your first choice would be my worse choice. Please do more research before you buy. Listen to those that have been around. There is a reason you just don't hardly ever see one at a SASS match. In fact. I can not remember the last time I have even seen someone shooting one. I have tried a couple. Never could get through a 10 shot string with any I tried at speed. Like the company. Have 4 of there .22's which I like. But that BB of there's for SASS?? I would rather throw a rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cypress Sam, SASS #10915 Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 Garth, I see that you are with the Lake County Pistoleros. That is a great club whose matches are every third Sarurday. If you go to the matches there and just start asking questions, you'll be able to get some advice from some very experienced shooters. They also have some weekly practice sessions where you could get some hands on advice. There are frequently people with guns for sale at the matches, not dealers, just folks selling stuff. There are also other clubs in the area with matches on different weekends, that are in easy driving range of Taveres. My club, The Weewahootee Vigalance Committee shoots on the first Saturday at the Central Florida Rifle and Pistol Club, www.cfrpc.com. We also have a Cowboy Clinic every Tuesday for training new shooters and practice for experienced shooters. You are welcome to visit us and try out some different guns. A note on the Henry Big Boy: The real problem with the gun is not the loading or the weight, it's the length of the lever stroke and the roughness of the action. I'm sure that the action could be smoothed up, but I've never seen anyone do it. Same with the length of the lever stroke. Come to Orlando this Saturday. It's our Annual match, The Reckoning, and I'm sure that you can get all the advice you'll ever need! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wichita Southpaw Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 Almost everyone ends up switching to 73. Almost no one ends up switching from 73. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLACKFOOT SASS #11947 Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 If you start going to some matches, say 3 or 4 different matches each month you will probably find someone shooting a Henry Bigboy within a year or so. Ask that shooter about his Henry! I started shooting CAS in 1997 and have been to a lot of matches including Winter Range several times with around 800 shooters. I recall seeing 3 people trying to shoot a Henry Bigboy and saw one who could actually get through a match with no problems. Your mileage may vary? Blackfoot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two Spurs Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 At matches the people that I've talked to who are using the Henry Big Boy all seem to like them. That is very much an exception to the rule- again, for all the reasons mentioned above. At my former club there was a new guy that jumped too quickly and did just what you're talking about. Went to the local gun shop and ended up walking away with a Henry because it was a cheaper than a '73. Ended up regretting it after the first day of shooting. Yes they are cool and I wouldn't even mind owning one as a representative piece of history . But not for the hard use/competition of our game. Enjoy the game because the bottom line is to do just that- regardless of what you shoot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 As Two Spurs said above (who happens to be one of only 4 Life Members of Thunder River Renegades--you have to earn that, you can't buy it) once you have tried both pick what makes you happy. After all we're all playing like we're 11 years old playing cowboys and Indians. cr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostVaquero Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 First off think what class you want to shoot in. 73 is great but not legal for B western. If you go with a BB get the steel one. Not as pretty but weighs no mor the a Marlin. If it is an 11 round stage just toss the 11th round through the ejection port works evsrytime. The BB is more or less internally like a Marlin 336 action. T The biggest drawback is there are very few go fast parts when compared to an 1894.Marlin springs and ejector fit right in. Anyway decide what ctegory and go from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie MacNeil, SASS #48580 Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 So just in case you haven't been piled onto enough over the Big Boy, I'll throw my two bits worth in. I've used a Rossi 92, a Uberti-made 1860 Henry, a Stoger (Uberti) 1866 Winchester and a Uberti 73 Winchester for CAS. The 92 was a "starter gun" that I bought locally because the price was right and I was underfunded, and it sorta ran for the first couple of seasons that my son and I shot CAS but not well. I went from there to the 1860 Henry while he went to a Marlin (he's since traded the Marlin for a 66). The 1860 had tons of style points and was super slick, but the mag tube gets hard to hang onto when you're shooting black powder in idaho in July , so I traded it for the '66. The '66 I shot until it died a lingering death, at which point I sold it and bought the '73 I have now. The 1860, the 1866 and the 1873 are all toggle-link actions that can be slicked up. All the foregoing having been "said", I've never fired a Henry Big Boy, and only seen one at a match. A shooter on my posse at Winter Range in 2014 had one, and it gave him nothing but trouble the whole match. If 'twere me, and I had it to do over again and had the patience to go to some matches and check out some rifles before I bought anything, I don't think I'd buy a Henry Big Boy for CAS, or a 92 either (unless maybe one of Nate Kiowa Jones' race-ready 92's. Still have to save pennies for that one too, though). If necessary I'd save my pennies and get something a little more capable of race-tuning. You might think you won't need a fast rifle, but sooner or later you'll get bit by the competition bug and want to go faster, so there's no sense handicapping yourself right off the bat like I did... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Bullweed Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 I admire the Henry company for their innovation and customer service. Their .22 rifles are well worth the price. Their cneterfire guns are okay for everyday use, but do not fit well in cowboy action. Like others gave said, get to some matches and talk to people already shooting. My guess is that, at the mention of a Henry Big Boy being used for cowboy action, some will flinch and not admit thay theybhave one sitting in the back of the safe that will never again see a cowboy action range. The vast major of the best shooters are using 66/73s or Marlins. There are some very good shooters who make the Win 1892 or Colt Lightning pump work but they have spent extensive time and money to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frederick Jackson Turner Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 Are you beginning to get a sense of things? .22 Henry's are good solid rifles. So are the B-Boys; but they are extremely poorly suited to Cowboy Action Shooting. So, buy one if you like the looks of the thing, then get a rifle suitable for CAS, and go shoot some matches. Pencils down. FJT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold Canyon Kid #43974 Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 At matches the people that I've talked to who are using the Henry Big Boy all seem to like them. And this from a guy that shoots a Spenser as his main match gun Could not resist. Your experience is not similar to what I have seen. I taught a new CAS shooter class for several years about the time the Big Boy came out and several new shooters had em. None liked them after they shot a few rounds through them seeing how rough the action was and how easy it was to get a jam. When they would not work, their only option was to mail them back to Henry, as local CAS gunsmiths did not want to see them. I call the Henry the Jamomatic rifle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold Canyon Kid #43974 Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 I could write a book on the various rifles legal for SASS and their suitability for said game. Suffice it to say, all will be served with a varying amount of action work... from significant mods to general smoothing and a little trigger work. All lever-actions are cartridge overall length sensitive. To ignore this is to risk a bunch of unusable ammo. So, here's a list of the best rifle to use, and one or two reasons: 1873; take your choice of chambering, barrel length and whether carbine or rifle configurations, along with you prefer a straight grip or a semi-pistol grip. The details of the actual rifle one uses is a matter of personal choice and preference. This design has the trigger block safety to prevent an out-of-battery discharge. This also the easiest of the toggle-links to dis- and reassemble. It has a number of mods that can speed up the action and improve it's spped. I have 2 in different configurations. 1866; again, your personal preferences will dictate chambering, barrel, configuration, etc. It's a little more difficult to disassemble for cleaning, and lacks the trigger block safety. Like the '73, easily modified to improve speed. Marlin 1894; with proper tuning and tailored ammo they can be every bit as good as an 1873. Winchester/Rossi 1892: again, the actual version used is largely a matter or personal preference. There are NO short stroke options for this gun. But, they are very strong actions, and as such they can be very useful (I have 3, although I don't compete with them unless I want to). Henry 1860 (original toggle-link action, which Henry does make a version of). While on the surface this might seem a very good arm, the exposed follower is tricky to get used to, plus there is a hazard, as with any front loading cartridge gun using centerfire ammo of a magazine detonation if dropping cartridges down on top of previously loaded ammo. Like the 1866 & 1873 it can be short-stroked and smoothed up, but... unless you find one of rare "trapper" versions, they're very heavy. Winchester 1894/94; these are designed around a "rifle" cartridge that is over 2 inches long, the action has more moving parts and is just generally "slower" than those above. The short pistol length cartridges (think 1.6" max), don't feed with utter reliability in this action. Various copies of the Colt pump action. This weren't great commercial successes when they were first introduced. Neither the passage of time nor "improvements" any of those recently produced "copies" have been able to cure that. There have been some notable individual examples, but not so that you could say, "...buy this brand, it's great..." Unless that particular gun fits what you want your "persona" to be wrapped up in, pass them by. Which brings me to the Henry Big Boy; I've seen quite a few, and on occasion, I've seen one or two run relatively FAST reliably. I run deliberately slow, but I value smooth, I haven't seen that in a Big Boy. What I see is far more of them are clunky and far less than "competitive". That's not to say that they couldn't be... but no one has won a cowboy action match with one. I haven't seen a cowboy gunsmith take on the challenge of making a Henry Big Boy competitive. Whether their owners aren't interested, or ?, is open for debate. Speed is always a relative thing... my very fast is very slow for some shooters... maybe even for the average shooter. And, although I've been doing this for a long time, I got over the "competitive" bug some time ago. I've seen a LOT of people come and go in this game. Frustration is a major factor in that. As others have found, if you're a very competitive person, you just might find out that single action revolvers, lever-action rifles, and side-by-side shotguns are a technology that do not mesh well with your particular skill set. I've seen many a shooter that is a whiz at another shooting sport, think they are going to show us "cowboy shooters" just what a skilled gunman can do... I could not name you ONE that came into this and won everything (really anything) without some acclimation period... Most have left as they found out that the equipment needs to be specifically tuned, and to be at the TOP of any game requires prodigious amounts of practice. Plus one! Great overview of all the options for CAS rifles. Even in the right priority order as far as I am concerned although the B Western shooters usually go with the Marlin as the 66 and 73 can not be used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mud Marine,SASS#54686 Life Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 I have shot darned near every rifle ther is over the years. I have Henry Big Boys in .45 Colt, .44 Rem Mag and .38/.357. I also have a Golden Boy and a meta l22, I have fired thousands of .45 Colt and seldom have had a problem. I use the .44 Rem Mag for pistol caliber long range matches. My Big Boys are super tack drivers.Their actions are smooth as silk. IMHO, any rifle that can consistently hit the targets with extra heavy loads of Holy Black and win my category both in the USA and Internationally is one H--- of a gun. Since I shoot BPCR with a C. Sharps Old Reliable in .50-140 650, the Henry;s weight is, in my opinion negligible. The key here is 99%of the members that downplay the Henry Big Boys have NEVER shot them. They simply say "I knew a guy the shot one and he had trouble." IMHO, new shooters and reloaders often have problems. Those that practice the skills required to do well in their sport usually succeed. Practice makes perfect at leastuntil you get to be a really old fart! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackey Cole Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Jade you referring to the 1860 Henry reap eating rifle or the modern Henry repeating arms manufactoring company. The biggest proble for the former which has a similar toggle link setup as the 66 & 73 but it has a tab that goes up and down the magazine tube with the last loaded round that you'll have to reposition you hand at least once while shooting it. The later you have the action mentioned above but no one has speed up the action of the later Henry's action because it's not popular enough. When I first started I had a Henry big boy ig 45 colt to me the action was a shorten Marlin 336 round bolt and all. So if it can be done to a Marlin I beleive an enterprising gunsmith could do it to a Henry big boy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brimstone Bill Willson Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 I'm not going to recommend a Big Boy(who thought that was a good name anyway), but two fellows compete with them in our club and I have never seen them have issues with them. One of them let me try it one time and it was nice and smooth, I am not fast so I can't comment on that part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 You don't have to have survived a disaster to have learned from what others went through in a disaster, and how to plan for, prepare for, or even better avoid the disaster in the future. I have not owned a Big Boy. I have personally assisted at least two shooters trying to make a Big Boy work. I have seen several shooters bring a BB to a match - once. That's enough for me to not invest $700 or so into one. To insist that the only folks who know about what level of problems occur with a gun must have bought one before they can have any valuable input is ... well, several bad things come to mind. Good enough, and good luck, GJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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