While I have always enjoyed a deep appreciation for classic lever action rifles, they have never held a home in my safe. Like many of you, my tastes and preferences have evolved over time, touching almost every facet of our industry. In recent years, suppressed personal defense weapons (PDWs) have dominated my attention – both practical and extremely satisfying to shoot – given the resources I’d own every available combination possible. However, there has always been a part of me that was drawn to a classic lever gun chambered in a big bore cartridge. So when the opportunity came to handle the new Henry loading gate lever action rifle in .45-70, I laid down my 300BLK subsonics and picked up a mixture of hardened brass and fine wood.

TFB REVIEW: In Through The Side Door – Henry Loading Gate Levergun In .45-70 Govt

Since I was stepping in to unfamiliar territory with a big bore Henry lever gun, I decided that a history lesson might be just as important as the actual range time. So here goes. In 1860, Benjamin Tyler Henry patented the first practical lever action repeating rifle. Known as the Henry Rifle, it was placed into service during the civil war, giving soldiers a huge advantage over those equipped with muskets. At the time, the Henry Rifle was chambered in .44 Henry (.44 Rimfire), giving the user the ability to load, fire and reload ten times as fast as the older muzzleloading rifles. Company ownership and compensation disputes regarding the Henry Rifle lead Henry to return to work as a private gunsmith, leaving Winchester to adapt the lever action design to later include a side loading gate for more efficient loading. It wasn’t until nearly a century and a half later that Henry Repeating Arms broke from their tradition to included side loading gate models into their product lines.

As for the .45-70 Government, this straight-walled cartridge was developed in 1872 for the Springfield Model 1873, or Trapdoor Springfield. Today it is predominantly used in hunting rifles for larger game. I for one am interested in giving Underwood Ammo’s +P 430gr hard cast lead rounds a try. You never know when a grizzly bear wearing body armor, standing behind a brick wall might become a threat.

Let’s take a look at the numbers.

Henry Loading Gate Levergun Specifications:

In addition to legendary Henry craftsmanship, the feature that gives this rifle its name takes center stage. The best-of-both-worlds design allows for quick reloads and top-offs so you can keep running and gunning for as long as your ammo lasts without even having to remove the stock from your shoulder. If you prefer, you can also load through the removable tube magazine, which hasn’t gone away here because it also provides safe, fast unloading. The result is a rifle that lets you use it in whatever way works best for you.

Handling:

I feel like we always talk about weight in firearm reviews in the abstract – the difference between five pounds and seven pounds is a big deal to some shooters, while inconsequential to others. Let’s put it this way: a gallon of milk weighs in at just over eight pounds. If you’re pulling that jug of 2% out for bowls of cereal, no big deal, you can manage a few bicep curls. On the other hand, if you enjoy several glasses of milk on your long mountain hikes, that gallon starts to look and feel heavier and heavier. Point being, the weight of the Henry .45-70 feels completely manageable to me, however if your trek consists of more than a short wander in the woods, seven pounds might catch your attention. Although I’m guessing most .45-70 rifles will weigh in at least seven pounds.

This Henry Rifle has the look and feel of a frontiersmen’s gun. Sure, the polished hardened brass receiver is a bit flashy for my normal tastes. But as a kid who grew up watching Jeremiah Johnson and Grizzly Adams, a walk in the snowy northern woods carrying a classic rifle brought back fond memories of LARPing with coonskin hats, powder horns and broomstick rifles.

The rifle itself has a sturdy, quality feel that avoids the factory line-assembled flavor that can come along with other lever gun manufacturer’s builds. Wood furniture meets the metal receiver and barrel precisely, the engraving is clean and deep and the finish on the brass and blued steel is even and unblemished. For those of you who buy guns to be functional and beautiful, you won’t be disappointed.

The star of this Henry show is the addition of a side loading gate for loading rounds into the tubular magazine. The spring that keeps the gate closed is strong and confidence inspiring and loading rounds into the tube is an easy process. I practiced loading and cycling the action a few dozen times before I took to the woods.

If by some chance you prefer a top loading tube magazine, Henry also has you covered. Just twist and pull the knurled magazine end to reveal the brass tube inside. And more importantly, this rifle can be unloaded without cycling the action using the same above technique.

While I doubt most of you will add a bipod, a quality sling will be a welcome addition to this big bore rifle. At this point, I would normally make an inappropriate leather dom joke, but I cringe at the thought of ballistic nylon touching this classic. Spend a little extra and buy something American made and not from Amazon Prime – this gun deserves it.

Although basic in form, the rear sight is adjustable for both windage and elevation. If you are dead set on your need for precision, opt for a proper optic and scope mount – the receiver is already drilled and tapped for rings or a base.

Even the model and serial number markings on the Henry are classy, with everything inset nicely into the metal of the upper tang.

As stated above, there is no cross bolt or thumb safety on the Henry .45-70. There’s also no half-cock position. Traveling on foot with a round in the chamber and the hammer in the down position is safe – pulling the uncocked trigger or any force applied to the rear of the hammer will not result in a round firing. Only pulling the hammer all the way back and pulling, and holding, the trigger will cause the hammer to contact the transfer bar and result in the firing pin striking the primer.

Bear with me on the walk through basics here, I’m fairly new to the world of lever guns.

Part of me expected a gritty, binding feeling when working the unlubricated action. And while it does have a definite analog feel in comparison to cycling a modern semiautomatic, it is still pleasantly smooth. Over the course of a few weeks, the action broke in a bit, feeling less sticky and more silky with each cycle. (That’s what she said.)

The front sight might have been my least favorite feature of this rifle. A pinhead sized white dot at the end of a 20” barrel, for me, gets lost in the area surrounding target, especially when the terrain is covered in snow. Luckily my backstop is completely black, allowing for my recently aging eyes to pick up a solid sight picture. My preference would be for the addition of a fiber optic or high-vis dot about twice the size of the current dot. however, it would undoubtedly be a detractor from this Henry’s traditional character.

Shooting The Henry .45-70 Side Loading Gate

There’s an elegant simplicity to this Henry .45-70. Heavy but slim. Shiny but classic. Engraved hardwood furniture but with functional practicality. This rifle seems perfectly balanced, making for easy carrying and shouldering.

The trigger is crisp, light and clean with a slight amount of take up before breaking. It’s a nice feeling to deviate from my standard diet of AR-style triggers and pull something a bit more refined.

With iron sights at 50 yards I was able to average a little over 2 MOA in eight, three-shot groups. My usual preference is for five shot groups, but with ammo cost, availability and a bit of recoil, I opted for more groups with less rounds. Some groups were slightly under 2 MOA, others were slightly over 2.5 MOA. I could blame the sights, or needing to readjust after each cycling of the action or the bluntness of the .45-70 round. But the group size performance lies squarely on my shoulders. With more practice, I feel like I could master the trigger and get groups down to around 1.5 MOA. Still, for a round that mimics artillery more than sharpshooting, I was pretty happy with the results.

While more accomplished lever gun shooters/hunters would have the confidence to stretch this rifle with irons out to greater distances, my preference would be to mount a scope for anything past 150 yards – especially if I was hunting. This limitation is more based on the .45-70 round itself and not on the Henry rifle system.

Conclusions:

Every American shooter needs both a big bore firearm and a lever action rifle in their collection. Why not have both in one package? I enjoyed my time with this classic and honestly couldn’t find much of anything to dislike. The Henry side gate in .45-70 is perfectly capable of taking down any beast in North America, yet is still able to live above the mantle as a showpiece. And that’s a rare combination of talents, especially at this price point.

Thanks for reading TFB.

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