Rossi Rifleman

Have to say I am first and foremost a Winchester lever guy.

My rather dismal experience with the marlin derived Rossi Rio Grande .45-70 has been a lesson in the sage advice that if you buy cheap, you get cheap. It took a lot of investigating to mitigate the inprecise manufacturing. I am jonesing for the Browning/Win. 1886, but the wallet ain't quite there yet.

The Miroku produced Winchester levers are top quality arms with extremely smooth reliable actions and awesome fit and finish. After less than satisfactory experience with a '70's marlin 1894 .44 mag, I find the Miroku produced Winchester 92' performance supremely superior to both the marlin 94 and the rossi 92. I often hear folks badmouthing the Miroku Winchesters (they like the term "japchester) for the rebounding hammer and tang safety, but I don't think they've put many rounds through one to know just how good they are.

I've fired a dozen rounds through the marlin action derived Henry .45-70 a friend owns, and I find that it to be a smoother made action than a Marlin, with better fit and finish. The loading regimen leaves me flat. along with the fact it is not the controlled round feed of a Winchester 86.

So, I am with you on the 1886 !

My only "turn off" aside from price of the Winchesters is the tang safety, handy for a left hander (me) but somewhat un-handy for a tang sight. Fine firearm none the less.

Make smoke,

My wait is over!

Henry's president, Mr. Imperato called my dealer last Thursday and told him that he shipped my 22 Mag to the shop, rather than to the distributor. The new rifle was expected on Friday but wasn't delivered until Monday. Bob called and I drove there to pick it up. I didn't fire it today so the following is my visual review. A beautiful, clean rifle, nicely finished making a nice, dark walnut piece of wood having a nice trigger with very little creep which should be gone after I get a hundred or so rounds through it. I just bought a bore snake in 22 cal but discovered today that it's for pistols so the weight you have to drop through the barrel doesn't make it through the entire length. Now I need the longer version.

I emailed the Henry president thanking him for all his help and he replied twice, thanking me for buying a Henry. Now that's the way to run a business, something that other manufacturers could easily imitate.

Oh, one final note. I paid much less than retail, I expected a discount from my dealer but this one was noteworthy. I'm a happy customer.

Thanks for your report Steebanger! If I was starting over, it would be with Henry leverguns.

I'm going to have to get me one of the Henry .22 Mags to go with my .22 s/l/lr.

I've always been a Winchester guy, My first rifle was a Winchester 94 .30-30.
My second centerfire rifle was a Winchester produced M1 Garand.
My 4th rifle was a Winchester 94 in .44 Mag.
I picked up the 1886 takedown in .45-70, 1895 in .30-06 a half round, half octagonal .22LR 1885 all made in Japan.
I also picked up a 1917 Enfield .30-06 produced by Winchester from a fellow who was leaving the country.
Managed to get a 9422M about a decade ago.
I own a couple more 94 .30-30s I've picked up in the past half decade.

What I haven't managed to do is get around to picking up a M70.

I did eventually get a couple Marlins, One is a .444 and the other's a 45-70.

I have a Henry .22 mag to go with my Henry .22 lr and really like both.

Archer wrote:What I haven't managed to do is get around to picking up a M70.

That can turn into an expensive hobby!

The stories that I've heard about Henry's customer relations are amazing. Not only here, but on other gun forums I've read that the company owner - Imperato - actually communicates directly with consumers. Amazing! SO glad they are an American gun company, even though I also don't like the tube loaded magazine so much.

I still need to get me one of these Henry's!

Adam

Good morning
Only gun company owner that has taken the time to write back to us. Only owner to actually follow through with a question and send an answer about whether their rifle would handle a 44 Russian.
And to beat all after we sent a photo of the very first shots at a 50 yard target of a 5 shot group with cast bullets from the right out of the box 41 mag Mr. Imperato sent us a very nice thank you letter nestled in a box of Henry items.
Hard not to like an American Gun company that has the time for their customers.
Mike in Peru

I feel the same about my 1873 even if the 44-40 has the trajectory of a cheap slingshot!