Henry Repeating Arms: “Made in America, or Not Made at All”

Levergun popularity covers the entire spectrum of trim and finish to accommodate every type of user. Smith & Wesson, for example, recently entered the levergun market by introducing an upgraded version of the 1854 rifle.

It ain’t your great-grandaddy’s 1854. About the only thing it has in common with the original is its oversize lever ring. S&W chambered the new 1854 in 44 Remington Magnum, a cartridge introduced in 1956. The standard version has a black synthetic stock and stainless steel, bead-finish metal. It also has slots for attaching a bipod, tripod or shooting sticks.

Atop the receiver is a modern Picatinny rail for mounting a telescopic sight or an electronic sight. The crown is machined to mount a suppressor. It would be a great rifle for hunting deer from a ground blind or for still hunting. It would also be a superb home defense firearm.

Henry, the primary player in the lever-action market for the last 20 years, is introducing its Long Ranger model chambered in 300 Blackout. It has much of the same hardware as the S&W 1854. Lyn Forester, manager at Don’s Weaponry in Rose City, said Henry’s objective with the 300 Blackout is to offer a fully suppressed .30-caliber rifle.

“If you’ve got a 308 and it’s suppressed, it’s still going to be somewhat loud because it’s supersonic,” Forester said. “The 300 Blackout gives them a subsonic round choice that’s truly suppressed.”

In the middle are Henry’s rifles chambered for modern high-powered cartridges like 308 Winchester, 6.5 Creedmoor, 243 Winchester and 223 Remington/5.56 NATO.

A notch closer to traditional is the Ruger/Marlin SBL 1895 chambered in .45-70. Yes, Ruger is the latest company to wield the Marlin brand, having bought it from the wreckage of Remington’s bankruptcy.

At the most traditional end of the spectrum are the replicas of famous rifles from the 1800s. These are works of art in terms of metal finish, walnut grade, brass trim and tight wood-to-metal finish. Even they, however, are built to withstand modern chamber pressures of the 357 Remington Magnum and modern 45 Colt loads.

Ironically, these guns are mostly made in Italy by Uberti.

Ironically again, Hollywood is driving the renewed interest in lever-action rifles, Forester said. As much as pop culture campaigns against guns and gun violence, guns are cinematic staples, and gun enthusiasts pay close attention to what’s in screen vogue.

“It goes all the way back to the Silverado movie in 1985,” Forester said. “They were making fewer and fewer Westerns. People were concentrating on police drama and action movies. Silverado actually started a little resurgence. The early 90s saw ‘Dances With Wolves’, ‘Tombstone’ and ‘Wyatt Earp’. Some of the recent ones, like Hostiles with Christian Bale. A lot of moviegoers are young people. You will see a lot of those things rejuvenate as long as Hollywood is exposing young people to it.”

For about a decade, the levergun appeared to be headed for extinction. Winchester discontinued its famous 94 model, the lever-action avatar. Remington acquired Marlin and discredited the brand’s reputation. Henry singlehandedly kept the levergun alive while taking advantage of its lone presence in the arena.

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