I have been spending some time looking at these online and have been tempted to buy one in 44 Mag.  I was wondering if anyone on the forum either owns one or has any experience shooting the X Model. I really like the side loading gate. My primary interest in this is for hunting whitetail.  My property on my new house is much more wooded than the other spots I have been hunting.  It looks like a perfect brush gun.  I also have an old Ruger 44 Carbine that can be used for this purpose but I don't own a Henry lever action.

My father in law has probably taken hundreds of deer with a .44 magnum lever gun.

He's really old and doesn't hunt much anymore, so he wasn't specifically using the Henry, but the caliber will more than meet your needs.

I have hunted and killed with 44 magnum.  I am just curious about the X Model in particular.  I think I will order one tonight.

10 hours ago, JC_68Westy said:

I have been spending some time looking at these online and have been tempted to buy one in 44 Mag.  I was wondering if anyone on the forum either owns one or has any experience shooting the X Model. I really like the side loading gate. My primary interest in this is for hunting whitetail.  My property on my new house is much more wooded than the other spots I have been hunting.  It looks like a perfect brush gun.  I also have an old Ruger 44 Carbine that can be used for this purpose but I don't own a Henry lever action.

How much for the .44 Ruger? Lol 

On 5/23/2020 at 8:30 PM, DaddyNick said:

How much for the .44 Ruger? Lol 

Get a Henry, you'll be happy. 

9 hours ago, Ray Ray said:

Get a Henry, you'll be happy. 

Already got a lever gun. Wouldn't mind the big brother to a Ruger 10/22.  

I had a henry rifle once, it was a brand new big boy brass model in 357/38. The thing was an expensive lemon from the beginning. It would not cycle 38 specials reliably and 357 magnum was not much better. I sent the rifle back to Henry twice to diagnose and repair and each time the rifle came back with new issues including a dented stock. I later traded in the Henry at a loss and got myself a new revolver including a new Marlin 336. FYI, the Marlin has been flawless and is a keeper. 

5 hours ago, marlintag said:

I had a henry rifle once, it was a brand new big boy brass model in 357/38. The thing was an expensive lemon from the beginning. It would not cycle 38 specials reliably and 357 magnum was not much better. I sent the rifle back to Henry twice to diagnose and repair and each time the rifle came back with new issues including a dented stock. I later traded in the Henry at a loss and got myself a new revolver including a new Marlin 336. FYI, the Marlin has been flawless and is a keeper. 

And your name is Marlintag? 

I don't believe your story 

On 5/23/2020 at 9:57 AM, JC_68Westy said:

I have been spending some time looking at these online and have been tempted to buy one in 44 Mag.  I was wondering if anyone on the forum either owns one or has any experience shooting the X Model. I really like the side loading gate. My primary interest in this is for hunting whitetail.  My property on my new house is much more wooded than the other spots I have been hunting.  It looks like a perfect brush gun.  I also have an old Ruger 44 Carbine that can be used for this purpose but I don't own a Henry lever action.

I was considering buying one of those a few months ago, but they were out of stock.

Instead I bought the Henry H012RCC, Color Case Hardened carbine in .44.

I now have 3 Henrys.  .22, .357, .44.   All large loop.  I had to buy the loop separate for the .22.

I really wanted to side-loading too, but I wanted the wood stock.    Add in that the X model was plastic fantastic and hard to come by, I just got the other one.

The very first round would not chamber.  Once I got it out, everything since has been fine.

 

 

21 hours ago, marlintag said:

I had a henry rifle once, it was a brand new big boy brass model in 357/38. The thing was an expensive lemon from the beginning. It would not cycle 38 specials reliably and 357 magnum was not much better. I sent the rifle back to Henry twice to diagnose and repair and each time the rifle came back with new issues including a dented stock. I later traded in the Henry at a loss and got myself a new revolver including a new Marlin 336. FYI, the Marlin has been flawless and is a keeper. 

Just finished ordering the Henry Model X in 44 Mag.  I own two Marlin lever actions and like them a lot. Both are "JM".  One is a Model 336 (30-30) that was made in 1973 and the other one is a Model 1894 in .357 Mag that was made in 1979.  I have not seen a single Marlin made since Remington Outdoor Company bought them that comes remotely close to the quality. 

I have a Henry pump .22, lever action .410, single shots in .410 and 20g, and the .410 axe. All have worked flawlessly. The side gate on the Axe is great. 
 

unfortunately I’m going to have to sell a couple guns to free some money up. My brother had a major stroke a year and a half ago and is in a LTC facility where he now has tested positive for Covid. Expenses are piling up and since I’m out of work I’m selling the .410 lever and .22 pump to free up a little cash. 

It's true Ray Ray, bought the lemon(Henry) at Tanners sports center in PA. It was a beauty with it's brass receiver, but my rule with firearms is that if I have to send it back to the manufacture to resolve an issue(s) twice and the issue still isn't resolved, then I no longer purchase  firearms from that company. Odd thing about the Henry was that if i cycled the action slowly the action would cause a jam. Also, if cycling was done at any angle with normal speed that would also cause a jam. The Marlin I have is of recent production and have seen the term "remlin" or "gremlin"  used to describe my Marlin, but mine is accurate, looks good, and cycles perfectly at any angle or speed. It was also half the price of the Henry.

5 hours ago, ChrisS said:

I have a Henry pump .22, lever action .410, single shots in .410 and 20g, and the .410 axe. All have worked flawlessly. The side gate on the Axe is great. 
 

unfortunately I’m going to have to sell a couple guns to free some money up. My brother had a major stroke a year and a half ago and is in a LTC facility where he now has tested positive for Covid. Expenses are piling up and since I’m out of work I’m selling the .410 lever and .22 pump to free up a little cash. 

I'm sorry to hear about your current struggles and wish you the best.  Will you be listing them here?

2 hours ago, CMJeepster said:

I'm sorry to hear about your current struggles and wish you the best.  Will you be listing them here?

Thank you. That means a lot. 
 

I have to look into listing them here. If I recall correctly, I tried to list something on here a while ago and I couldn’t for some reason. 
 

edit: I just looked it up- premier membership req’d. I couldn’t find how to obtain one back then... now I realize it’s in the store. 

Edited May 26, 20206 yr by ChrisS
An old dog learned a new trick

7 hours ago, marlintag said:

It's true Ray Ray, bought the lemon(Henry) at Tanners sports center in PA. It was a beauty with it's brass receiver, but my rule with firearms is that if I have to send it back to the manufacture to resolve an issue(s) twice and the issue still isn't resolved, then I no longer purchase  firearms from that company. Odd thing about the Henry was that if i cycled the action slowly the action would cause a jam. Also, if cycling was done at any angle with normal speed that would also cause a jam. The Marlin I have is of recent production and have seen the term "remlin" or "gremlin"  used to describe my Marlin, but mine is accurate, looks good, and cycles perfectly at any angle or speed. It was also half the price of the Henry.

First, you need to work a lever action like a man.  Don't baby it.  Second, Henry would give you another gun if it was broken.   Even if it could be repaired, they would rather it not come back again.   As for your Marlin, there's an old saying that goes like this:  "even a broken clock is right twice a day."

12 hours ago, Ray Ray said:

First, you need to work a lever action like a man.  Don't baby it.  Second, Henry would give you another gun if it was broken.   Even if it could be repaired, they would rather it not come back again.   As for your Marlin, there's an old saying that goes like this:  "even a broken clock is right twice a day."

First off no you should not need to man handle a lever action. I learned to shoot on a 1970 Marlin 39a. I wasent a man and had no problem operating it. 

I agree that Henry would definitely repair or more likely replace and gun that was not right. You would know better than most here on the inner workings of Henry anyway. 

As for the quality of remlins, in the beginning it was really bad but I've heard they are getting better and recently shot a new remlin 3030 and it was very accurate and cycled perfectly out of the box without cleaning or lube. 

In my opinion I'd say that Henry and Remlin are of equal quality when it comes to fit and finish. Both are good but neither are as nice as a JM Marlin 

 

23 hours ago, ChrisS said:

I have a Henry pump .22, lever action .410, single shots in .410 and 20g, and the .410 axe. All have worked flawlessly. The side gate on the Axe is great. 
 

unfortunately I’m going to have to sell a couple guns to free some money up. My brother had a major stroke a year and a half ago and is in a LTC facility where he now has tested positive for Covid. Expenses are piling up and since I’m out of work I’m selling the .410 lever and .22 pump to free up a little cash. 

Damn man good luck to you and your brother! 

3 hours ago, fishnut said:

Damn man good luck to you and your brother! 

Thank you. Much appreciated. 

4 hours ago, fishnut said:

First off no you should not need to man handle a lever action.

I meant as a joke, but in regards to bolt/lever/pump action firearms the slower you move the action the more chance of a failure.  No, you don't need to smash the lever like a monkey but you should run it like a bitch.

On 5/26/2020 at 9:43 AM, JC_68Westy said:

Just finished ordering the Henry Model X in 44 Mag.  I own two Marlin lever actions and like them a lot. Both are "JM".  One is a Model 336 (30-30) that was made in 1973 and the other one is a Model 1894 in .357 Mag that was made in 1979.  I have not seen a single Marlin made since Remington Outdoor Company bought them that comes remotely close to the quality. 

Best of luck with it. 

Suggestion: Invest in a spare firing pin, rear firing pin, and firing pin spring (the little doodad thing that aligns the front pin with the rear.)  

The Henry finally came in. I picked it up during lunch today.  I have to say that the fit an finish seem very good.  In addition, the lever is already smoother compared to my Marlin 1894.  I will give it a cleaning tonight and then shoot it tomorrow.  

5 minutes ago, JC_68Westy said:

The Henry finally came in. I picked it up during lunch today.  I have to say that the fit an finish seem very good.  In addition, the lever is already smoother compared to my Marlin 1894.  I will give it a cleaning tonight and then shoot it tomorrow.  

Excellent.  I'm really envious of the side-loading in .44.

 

Fired a few rounds off yesterday.  This gun is really smooth.  The side loading gate is way smoother than my Marlins. The rounds just slide right in.