Ever since I was a little kid, I have been fascinated by lever-action rifles.
Maybe it’s due to the fact that when I was a kid I would spend the weekends with my grandparents. Grandpa controlled the television after the Saturday cartoons went off the air, which meant that the rest of my day was filled with watching Western movies.
Anyone that’s seen an old Western can tell you one thing, you could not throw a rock without hitting one that had a scene with a lever action rifle in it somewhere.
The lever action rifle always just seemed so cool to me. As I grew older and began owning firearms of my own, I would always jump at the chance of owning a quality lever action rifle because they are shockingly accurate and just fun as all get out to shoot.
Which brings me to one of my latest purchases, the Henry Frontier Lever Action Octagon Barrel .22 Rifle. This one comes equipped with a twenty-inch octagon barrel. Being a fan of octagon barrels, this was a tiny little bonus that I especially loved. The finish on the steel is a done expertly with a deep blue/black. The stock is composed of American walnut and done very well.
The lever loop for the Henry Frontier Lever Action Octagon Barrel .22 Rifle is the standard type but a large lever loop is available for purchase. I love the look of the large lever loop, and have been into that since the first Winchester 92 that I owned back in the day that had an aftermarket loop. I ordered a large lever loop for this one and changed it out before heading out to the range.
Installing the large loop is a pretty straightforward process that is actually easier than installing an indoor antenna onto your television. You remove one screw to take the buttstock off.
Once the buttstock is removed, the receiver cover can be lifted off by unscrewing the four screws that hold it to the frame. A few small components are then taken out, allowing the original lever loop to be removed from the bottom of the receiver. The larger lever loop is carefully inserted into its slot. After securing it with the small parts, you simply reattach the receiver cover with the four screws and reconnect the buttstock.
After installing the large lever loop to the Henry Frontier Lever Action Octagon Barrel .22 Rifle I took care to lube the rifle and worked the action a little bit. Then I took her out to the range for a few hours and shot a few hundred rounds of various types of ammo.
I’m happy to say that the Henry fed every last round I put into it without so much as a hiccup. Ever since my initial trip to the range with it, I have gone out a few more times and haven’t experienced so much as anything that could be considered a malfunction. I’ve probably fired close to 750 rounds give or take and nothing to give me pause in terms of it not firing the way it was meant to.
The action is as smooth as warm butter and is very solid without any lateral play to speak of. I have to say that I have rarely fired a rifle that was so smooth.
The Marble Buckhorn sights are adjustable for elevation and windage. The front sight has a brass bead which is really great when it comes to getting a quick sight picture. Now, I know that there are some of you out there that simply do not care for this type of sort. I say work with whatever works best for you.
That being the case, I found it in my personal experience that the buckhorn sights are perfectly acceptable for the practical range of the rifle.
Speaking of range, I took my Henry Frontier Lever Action Octagon Barrel .22 Rifle out to a longer range and tried out some long range shooting from about fifty yards seated with a couple of old flannel shirts to rest in. Even at long range the Henry still maintained accuracy.
Which was actually pretty surprising because I thought that once I started firing at the fifty yard range that I may as well be firing blind. Not the case. As long as I was dialed into my target I was going to hit every single time.
SPECS:
- Henry Lever Octagon .22 LR
- Model Number H001TM
- Action Type Lever Action Repeater
- Caliber .22 S/L/LR
- Capacity 21 rounds .22 Short, 16 rounds .22 LR
- Length 38.5โณ
- Barrel Length 20โณ
- Weight 6.25 lbs.
- Stock American Walnut
As I mentioned before, the sights are a fully adjustable semi-Buckhorn rear sight, with a reversible diamond insert and a brass beaded front sight.
One of the added benefits that really wasn’t thinking about when it comes to the Henry Frontier Lever Action Octagon Barrel .22 Rifle is something that didn’t hit me until I was thinking about all those Western movies I used to see back in the day. I would watch those movies and think to myself that I would love to own the gun the cowboys have.
Believe it or not, one of these would actually be an excellent first rifle for our kids. My last trip out to the range a couple of Saturdays ago I was coming in and there was a husband and wife with their twin boys that were around nine or ten years old from the looks of it. I looked and wouldn’t you know it they were learning to shoot using the exact same Henry that I had been using on the range.
The funny thing about it was that the kids told their parents that they wanted to learn to shoot after watching old Western movies with their grandfather. I guess some things never change.
The Henry Frontier Lever Action Octagon Barrel .22 Rifle is affordably priced in the mid five hundred dollar range. Which is great because this is a gun that definitely needs to be within everyone’s price range because anyone that ever fires one will want to take it home with them.
