The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, True Grit, and The Rifleman........ remember the feeling you had watching classic westerns as a kid? The thrill, excitement and adventure? You can feel it again and shoot all day without breaking the bank, with Henry's Frontier model H001T.
The Frontier really captures the American spirit with fine craftsmanship and quality. It is 38.5" in length, with a weight of 6.25 pounds. Chambered in .22 caliber, it handles long rifle, long, and short cartridges interchangeably. The tubular magazine is loaded by sliding out the inner magazine tube (attractively made of brass), and dropping the cartridges in a shaped cutout. To close, simply push the inner magazine tube (spring is inside) back in and lock into place. Henry's slogan of "It's a rifle that you could load on Sunday and shoot all week long", accurately describes the capacity of this rifle. It holds 16-long rifle, 17-long, and a whopping 21 rounds of short!
This is a solidly built rifle, American made with American parts. The stock and fore end are beautifully crafted out of American walnut with a satin finish. The steel has a nice blued finish and the accurate 20" octagonal heavy barrel is stamped with brass colored letters listing the caliber on the right side, and 'Henry Repeating Arms' on the left. The muzzle is flat, smooth, and crowned. Marbles semi - buck horn sights come standard, and are fully adjustable for windage and elevation. The front site has a brass bead, and the rear sight plate features a white diamond, but can be reversed for a solid black plate. Both front and rear are set in a dovetail and easily adjusted with a brass punch.
I've always believed that tight tolerances are a sign of a quality firearm, and the Frontier (or any Henry rifle in my opinion) is no exception. The cover comes with a 3/8" dovetail for optics, and fits tightly over the receiver and trigger group. Everything from the fit and finish of parts, to the cycling of the action is tight and smooth. The trigger is one of the best I've ever used, and while I haven't measured the break, it feels somewhere around 4-5 pounds. It breaks fast and clean with no creep. The safety for this rifle (besides the one between your ears), is operated by the hammer. To engage, start with the hammer fully lowered, draw it back about 1/4 of the way until you feel a click. This safely locks the trigger and keeps the hammer off the bolt group. Another way to engage (from the fully cocked position), is to guide the hammer down while quickly pulling and releasing the trigger... decocking the rifle. To disengage, cock the hammer all the way back, or cycle the action.
How would I rate the Frontier over all? Excellent. As with all of Henry's rifles, the pride and craftsmanship shows in the quality. How much should you expect to pay this level of quality? Not as much as you would think. The MSRP is $425.00, with the actual cost being somewhere in the neighborhood of $360.00 and up depending where you are. Henry Repeating Arms make a variety of rimfire and centerfire rifles that are "Made in America, and priced right". If you decide to purchase one, you won't be disappointed.
Thanks for reading,
- Rhody
