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Henry 1860 replicas


slk

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Hey guys. Is anyone here shooting an 1860 replica rifle? Just trying to get some opinions on them.Henry, Uberti,and Cimarron comparisons? Also is the feeder tube plunger annoying when it moves down the tube towards your hand? I was also comparing them to the 1866 sportsman's rifle which I know is a totally different rifle all together. Just wanting to get some thoughts for you.

 

Thanks

Steve

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1860 Henry, great gun and fun to shoot.  If you are going to shoot black powder get the one in 44-40.  They don't have as much blow back as a 45.

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I got the new HENRY carbine.I had to have it smoothed up to use it in Cowboy shooting.

I believe any Henry you get needs some smoothing up to use them in competition.

                                                                                                                                                               Largo

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First off Uberti makes guns for Cimarron(and Taylor's) so those are basically the same thing.

 

I'd say they're pretty much on par with each other if you're talking about 1860's. 

 

Outside of the 1860 model Uberti makes the best for this game(1873,1866) and Henry makes the worst(Big Boy).

 

 

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Uberti & Henry are manufacturers.  Cimarron is simply an importer.  They, along with Dixie Gun Works, Taylors import Ubertis.  My steel framed 1860 was imported by EMF, back before Uberti cut them off, (long disturbing story there, not belonging here).  The two manufacturers are slightly different.   When Henry introduced their copy, they said they reverse engineered an original 1860 Henry.  Maybe they did, but, in order to fire modern ammunition they had to lengthen the carrier mortise.  Not a big dealio, as Uberti did the same.  The good thing about the Uberti, is that "go-fast" parts for the Uberti '66 & '73 fit!  Another point is that they're not quite as expensive.

 

As for the follower... you either learn to count to five, and move the support hand, use a spacer stick, build a fat, ugly handguard... or... buy another model rifle!

 

The Uberti, in 45 Colt with a C45S carrier will hold 18 rounds! 

 

The 45 Colt with its straight walled case has several work-arounds to minimize the impact of powder fouling in the action, (mainly around the carrier).  

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you can put a short piece of dowel on top of the last cartridge you load--this will keep the plunger from getting in the way of your off hand

 

good idea to wear a glove on off hand to help with heat from barrel--can get warm on bare flesh

 

they are heavy!  be sure to hoist one to shooting position before you buy--not for we weak armed folks

 

 

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I’ve got an Uberti model 1860 and enjoy shooting it.  @Sedalia Dave was kind enough to give me a magazine spacer so you don’t have to do the “Henry Hop”.   Since I shoot Frontiersman I wear thin leather gloves which helps with the Henry because the barrel can get hot, I also hold it with my hand partially on the receiver.  It takes a little getting used to since it’s a lot of forward weight but once you do it’s accurate.  The internal action is the same as the 1866 so, at least the with the Uberti, it can have have the lever stroke shorten a little which helps.  

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11 minutes ago, Griff said:

 

The 45 Colt with its straight walled case has several work-arounds to minimize the impact of powder fouling in the action, (mainly around the carrier).  

 

Annealing is a beautiful thing

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I shoot a Uberti 1860 Henry in 44-40 and love it!   Personally I am saving up for the Henry Rifle Co. Version... They are absolutely beautiful firearms!  Steel frame, brass frame, or the carbine... And American made they way it should be.

 

During an event called the Classic Cowboy Showdown, we even put up a buckle for the fastest Classic shooter using a Henry.  Ain't nothing that screams CLASSIC more.

 

Several ways to shoot a Henry.... Do the 'hop' as the follower gets to your hand.  Put in a dowel rod after loading ammo, requires you to hold close to receiver.   Or cup you hand and let it roll between your fingers.

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I shoot both the 1866 and 1860 in 45c.  Swap them regularly between matches. or between stages.  The 1860 takes some care in loading the magazine tube. And getting used to the Henry hop.  Some pards use a spacer to eliminate that issue.

 

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1 hour ago, Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L said:

you can put a short piece of dowel on top of the last cartridge you load--this will keep the plunger from getting in the way of your off hand

 

good idea to wear a glove on off hand to help with heat from barrel--can get warm on bare flesh

 

they are heavy!  be sure to hoist one to shooting position before you buy--not for we weak armed folks

 

 

Mine is a Navy Arms (Uberti) in .44-40. Bought it when I started shooting in SASS. Haven't shot it much, even before the pandemic due to the muzzle-heaviness. Strains my poor ol' back a bit.  Just be sure to load the magazine with the rifle nearly horizontal, and wrap your other hand around the barrel and magazine so in case the follower slips it won't set off the rounds in the tube. Be sure to use flat nose bullets preferrably with a meplat of around .250" (larger than the diameter of the primer pocket of the round ahead of it). 

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I have both an 1860 in 44WCF and an 1866 in44WCF.  Both are fun to shoot. I strongly recommend getting one in 44WCF (44-40) even if you don’t shoot black powder. 
 

 As others have stated the Henry’s are on the heavy side. Also you need to practice loading over the top for the occasional reload. 

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I enjoyed shooting a Uberti 1860 Trapper modified to .45 Cowboy Special for years.  With only one piece of wood, Uberti often puts a stunning buttstock on these guns, though you might have to remove that red finish to see it.

The muzzle weight keeps the barrel down during recoil.

I sold mine to fund a move to B Western.

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yes , i shoot mine occasionally and yes the follower can be annoying till you get the feel of it , it is fun to shoot but ill not even break my record fast time with this - just shoot it for fun , 

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I shoot a 66. I always lusted after a 60 until I picked up another shooter's 60. I was surprised by how much the thing weighed. Between the weight and "Henry hop" decided that I would never want one for our game. That said, they are very cool.

 

Thinking about it, I sometimes shoot an ornery 87 shotgun (I don't know why - Style Points?). Maybe I need to rethink the whole 60 deal.

 

Rev. Chase

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I used a Uberti 1960 Henry for Civil War reenacting for 20+ years and always had a great time with it.  I once fired 690 blanks at one weekend event.

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8 hours ago, Reverend P. Babcock Chase said:

I shoot a 66. I always lusted after a 60 until I picked up another shooter's 60. I was surprised by how much the thing weighed. Between the weight and "Henry hop" decided that I would never want one for our game. That said, they are very cool.

 

Thinking about it, I sometimes shoot an ornery 87 shotgun (I don't know why - Style Points?). Maybe I need to rethink the whole 60 deal.

 

Rev. Chase

 

Yesindeedydoo! If'n yore shootin an '87 yous might as well grab a Henry. I did and love the duo.

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 I have a Henry in 45 Colt and another in color case in 44-40.  I definitely prefer the 44-40 for black powder but both are a lot of fun to shoot although generally slower than the '73. No, actually much slower than the '73, at least in my hands, the doggone wonderful things. :D (The Henrys, not my hands. )

 

No matter which caliber though they are a great rifle for BP, at least in terms of authenticity and fun. In fact, this last weekend I shot with two fellers who shot BIG BOOMING BP loads with their Henrys and it just seemed so... perfect. Made me wish I'd never packed smokeless for the match as I was shooting TB loads and really wishing I had BP instead.

 

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So from what i think I am hearing the 1866 is a tad lighter, and easier to handle. I was looking at the Uberti 1866 sportsman's rifle with the brass cap on the forearm. They are a sharp rifle for sure, and sidegate loading.

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1 hour ago, slk said:

So from what i think I am hearing the 1866 is a tad lighter, and easier to handle. I was looking at the Uberti 1866 sportsman's rifle with the brass cap on the forearm. They are a sharp rifle for sure, and sidegate loading.

A Tad lighter to a lot lighter.  Uberti '66's come in 20" and 24" rifles (octagon) and 16" and 19" carbines.

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I failed to point out the the 66's I shoot are carbines. They are much lighter than a Henry. My opinion is that 66 or 73 carbines are the best choice for our game. I know that Marlins are popular but, I've never warmed up to them (I have a 94 carbine and it's a good gun.) As a side note, regardless of the gun, I feel like a carbine buttplate is a much better choice for rapid fire that the crescent type, although the crescent style is good for more deliberate shooting. 

 

Rev. Chase

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I like the ones that have the brass cap on the forearms.

I was just looking at barrel lengths to get an idea of the heft of them. My original winchester 1892's all have 24" barrels, and my 1894's have 20". So that gives me an idea of what we are talking about here. The 24" barrels look so elegant to me, but I do not think they would have made good saddle guns in the old west, Carrying one in the woods for hunting might have been ok with more down range accuracy, but how much better who knows.

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I had a Uberti 1860 replica in the early 90's. At my first annual match I had round go off in the magzine right above my left hand. It blew a large hole. Hauled me to the ER for 25 stitches to close the hole. After repairing the magazine I sold that gun and got a 66.

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1 hour ago, slk said:

I like the ones that have the brass cap on the forearms.

I was just looking at barrel lengths to get an idea of the heft of them. My original winchester 1892's all have 24" barrels, and my 1894's have 20". So that gives me an idea of what we are talking about here. The 24" barrels look so elegant to me, but I do not think they would have made good saddle guns in the old west, Carrying one in the woods for hunting might have been ok with more down range accuracy, but how much better who knows.

Both a '94 and '92 will be considerable lighter than a '66.

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On 5/11/2022 at 9:57 AM, Reverend P. Babcock Chase said:

I shoot a 66. I always lusted after a 60 until I picked up another shooter's 60. I was surprised by how much the thing weighed. Between the weight and "Henry hop" decided that I would never want one for our game. That said, they are very cool.

 

Thinking about it, I sometimes shoot an ornery 87 shotgun (I don't know why - Style Points?). Maybe I need to rethink the whole 60 deal.

 

Rev. Chase

I shoot an 1866 carbine in 38-40 and an 1887 shotgun.  Love um.  Here is a pic from the Kansas State last weekend where I was shooting Senior Classic Cowboy.

 

Me.jpg

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I've got the Henry "Original Henry" in .45 Colt - very fun to shoot.   

 

The hop is very easy to get used to; i just grip very near the receiver for the first 6-7 shots (depending on the progression), then jump out for the last three or four.  

 

Mind you, I'm not even close to competitive (always in the bottom 25%).   But I'm almost always in the top 3 for Frontier Cartridge.   Except for the ultra rare occasions where there are more than three Frontier Cartridge shooters.  

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2 hours ago, Bart Slade said:

 

 I'm almost always in the top 3 for Frontier Cartridge.   Except for the ultra rare occasions where there are more than three Frontier Cartridge shooters.  

 

I resemble that remark. :P :D

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I saw a gent post his Uberti Transitional 1860 on GunBroker last month. Nobody wanted to pay 2 grand for a discontinued rifle. If I did get an 1860, it would definitely be that limited run rifle. (It has a loading gate and the tab is removed). But I didn't want to spend all that money while on vacation. If one ever goes back up for auction, I might take a shot at one...

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On 5/11/2022 at 7:39 PM, Reverend P. Babcock Chase said:

I failed to point out the the 66's I shoot are carbines. They are much lighter than a Henry. My opinion is that 66 or 73 carbines are the best choice for our game. I know that Marlins are popular but, I've never warmed up to them (I have a 94 carbine and it's a good gun.) As a side note, regardless of the gun, I feel like a carbine buttplate is a much better choice for rapid fire that the crescent type, although the crescent style is good for more deliberate shooting. 

 

Rev. Chase

Don’t forget to mention that the 66 carbine has that big beautiful brass butt plate. 

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Last weekend and the Kansas State match in the Classic Cowboy Henry fracas I saw 2 Henry Henrys being used, not the Uberti Henrys.

 

The Henry Henry (H2?;)) is definitely a work of art. Beautiful wood, high polished brass and blueing. The H2 is a  staggeringly beautiful gun. One of the shooters was using a H2 carbine with the shorter barrel. I had never seen one in person before. That Henry carbine was niiiiiice. He handled it well and most importantly (IMHO) shot it with BP which is a wonderful companion to any Henry rifle.

 

Ubertis are fine guns and good shooters. The Henry 1860 from Henry is such a nice piece I'd be hesitant to competete with it as I'd be worried about dinging up the Picasso of Henrys. :o Or perhaps not. 

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