I'm a long-time .41 Mag fan, only recently interested in Henry rifles. The Henry company hasn't been around all that long, only since about 1996. We've all seen their brass-framed rifles, pretty but I wasn't interested in what I considered cowboy replicas, maybe a step above Italian black powder guns. So I kinda had this bias against Henry. Until I watched a video tour of their factories. They have two, one in New Jersey, another in Wisconsin. Nice, new, spacious, clean, modern places. Lots of new manufacturing equipment including electronics. Lots of quality control procedures and tools. I was impressed. As a result, I decided to take a look at their products at their online site. That's how I discovered they make several models with steel frames and round barrels. One such was a lever action in .41 Magnum.
I've wanted a rifle in .41 Mag for some time as I've got two Smith & Wesson Model 57's. Marlins have gotten to be hard to find and costly when found. When I saw the pictures of the Henry Big Boy Steel, I got interested. Next, I went to a couple of retail stores to look at Henry products. As might be expected, they didn't have one in .41, only .357 and .44. The .41's don't get called for all that often for a stocking dealer to keep one on hand. Using those on hand, I was able to see that the Henry Big Boy Steel was a quality firearm. Next, I went on Gunbroker and found an in-state dealer who would order me one at a discounted price and that's what I bought.
The Henry BBS has definite Marlin influences. What it doesn't have is a side loading gate. It loads through the side of the tube near the opening. The cartridges are held under tension from a spring in the removable magazine tube insert. Which is also like a Marlin - some of their .22 rimfire designs. Some people might not like this design, but I find it easier on older, fumbly, arthritic fingers. As I've gotten older, I find side loading gates to be pinchy and a bit difficult.
On the way home after I'd picked the rifle up, I was able to stop by the Plantation Gun Range in Whatcom Co. I tried the new Henry out and wasn't disappointed in the 20 rounds of soft-ball ammo that I keep on hand for the revolvers. I'm going to load up some ammo to higher velocity with jacketed bullets for this rifle.
The Henry rifle in .41 Mag has been made for about two and a half years. The serial number of mine is 3,5XX, which reflects that they don't make all that many of these. I've read that most of the .41's sold go to Texas. Mine has a 20 inch bbl., you can get them with a 16-1/2 inch bbl. that has a larger lever loop.
I've wanted a rifle in .41 Mag for some time as I've got two Smith & Wesson Model 57's. Marlins have gotten to be hard to find and costly when found. When I saw the pictures of the Henry Big Boy Steel, I got interested. Next, I went to a couple of retail stores to look at Henry products. As might be expected, they didn't have one in .41, only .357 and .44. The .41's don't get called for all that often for a stocking dealer to keep one on hand. Using those on hand, I was able to see that the Henry Big Boy Steel was a quality firearm. Next, I went on Gunbroker and found an in-state dealer who would order me one at a discounted price and that's what I bought.
The Henry BBS has definite Marlin influences. What it doesn't have is a side loading gate. It loads through the side of the tube near the opening. The cartridges are held under tension from a spring in the removable magazine tube insert. Which is also like a Marlin - some of their .22 rimfire designs. Some people might not like this design, but I find it easier on older, fumbly, arthritic fingers. As I've gotten older, I find side loading gates to be pinchy and a bit difficult.
On the way home after I'd picked the rifle up, I was able to stop by the Plantation Gun Range in Whatcom Co. I tried the new Henry out and wasn't disappointed in the 20 rounds of soft-ball ammo that I keep on hand for the revolvers. I'm going to load up some ammo to higher velocity with jacketed bullets for this rifle.
The Henry rifle in .41 Mag has been made for about two and a half years. The serial number of mine is 3,5XX, which reflects that they don't make all that many of these. I've read that most of the .41's sold go to Texas. Mine has a 20 inch bbl., you can get them with a 16-1/2 inch bbl. that has a larger lever loop.