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bradaz11 wrote:I find it ungainly, you have to bring the rifle back in, hold at an awkward angle, drop more rounds in, replace the tube, then get settled again. completely breaks the rhythm.

As the tube holds more than I ever shoot at a single target, there is no break in rhythm for me - the rhythm is broken no matter what rifle as I would be finishing the detail and dropping the rifle from my shoulder anyway.

My middle name is 'ungainly' so I'm not worried about that :)

Kungfugerbil wrote:

bradaz11 wrote:I find it ungainly, you have to bring the rifle back in, hold at an awkward angle, drop more rounds in, replace the tube, then get settled again. completely breaks the rhythm.

As the tube holds more than I ever shoot at a single target, there is no break in rhythm for me - the rhythm is broken no matter what rifle as I would be finishing the detail and dropping the rifle from my shoulder anyway.

My middle name is 'ungainly' so I'm not worried about that :)

mine takes 6 357, or 7 38's

bradaz11 wrote:mine takes 6 357, or 7 38's

My Henry manages 10 x .357 or 11 x .38 so should suffice.

You did pick a weird little crossbreed thing :)

I had this dilemma and went with a Henry Big Boy in 357 and went for the brass just because...

A word of warning, never ever ever let go of the tube when you've loaded the mag and try to close it. The spring pressure quite amusingly fires the entire rod a few meters out the front of the magazine tube.

You have to walk, red faced, out the front after a cease fire to collect your Henry Torpedo.

James048 wrote:I had this dilemma and went with a Henry Big Boy in 357 and went for the brass just because...

A word of warning, never ever ever let go of the tube when you've loaded the mag and try to close it. The spring pressure quite amusingly fires the entire rod a few meters out the front of the magazine tube.

You have to walk, red faced, out the front after a cease fire to collect your Henry Torpedo.

Been there - done that

Kungfugerbil wrote:

bradaz11 wrote:mine takes 6 357, or 7 38's

My Henry manages 10 x .357 or 11 x .38 so should suffice.

You did pick a weird little crossbreed thing :)

My Marlin holds 11 (1 in breach and 10 in magazine) x .38 or 10 (1 in breach and 9 in magazine) x .357

Kungfugerbil wrote:Father Christmas brought me a Henry Big Boy Steel in .357

It's as lovely as a lovely thing dipped in lovely...smooth, incredibly well made, great sight picture and feels like a gun that you don't want to get rid of ever.

So I got a chance to shoot it tonight. Using magtech roundnose cheapy .38s, I put 15 shots from seated at 25yds through a hole not that much bigger than a 50p piece. Standard open sights. I’m not the very best shot in the world so I’m delighted with that :)



Need to apply a brass drift to the sight to get the windage over though

Nice shooting. Looks like you had fun.

Kungfugerbil wrote:

bradaz11 wrote:I just can't get round the no load gate

It’s horses for courses - if it’s for cowboy action or some form of practical usage where you might need to top up a round under a pressure situation, a loading gate is definitely better.

If it’s for range use where you’re never going to need to reload under time pressure, the tube load is no issue. It’s easier on the thumbs and is at least as quick to load a full tube :)

Luckily there is no right or wrong answer. I played with every available rifle before going for mine and for me it was the best option.

A number of clubs here in NZ are starting to forbid the use of any firearms which load through the front of the magazine tubes. They seem to believe that loading through the magazine tube is somehow less safe. Personally, I do not see any inherent danger in this manner of loading, but my protests fall on deaf ears. I have a Rossi .22RF copy of the Winchester 62, which has been forbidden in a number of shoots. Should this idea spread, owners of rifles like the Henry - without a loading gate - could find themselves excluded from competitions.

Hi Gazza
my main lever action is a 2001 Marlin 1894c in 357. It makes a great choice for gallery rifle comps.
When I bought it, it already had the additions to the stock, scoped and had a one piece firing pin so the only other things I did was fit a Trigger Happy kit from Wild West Guns (eliminating the floppy trigger that stock marlins have) and a Palo Verde spring kit. The trigger breaks at a crisp 1.5 lbs and the action is butter smooth.
As stated already, it holds x9 357, or x10 38spl
regarding reloading costs you can download a free reloading calculator for your phone, You would need to work up your own load but to give you something to input, for my rifle, 3.8g (Vihtavuori N320) topped with a 140g TC works perfect at 25yd for me.

I've also recently bought a Rossi 92 in 45colt. Apart from fitting a Palo Verde spring kit and a Skinner peephole rear sight, I'm keeping this as is ( I'm hoping the peephole sight will give my ageing sight enough help obtaining a good sight picture) I've still got to work up a load for this one, but did a small batch of 5.6g (Vihtavuori N320) under a 250g round nosed lead that seemed a good starting point
The Rossi's action is a lot more agricultural but as long as you operate the lever as you should (not slowly or hesitantly) it's fine. Looking forward to using it on the speed steels at Bisley in the spring.

If Gallery rifle competions is your aim, I would choose a Marlin in a 44 caliber (bigger holes = more chance of nicking that higher scoring ring), and at cowboy action/gallery loads the reloading cost difference between 44 or 45 and 357 is negligible.
Alan