Henry Rifle Forums

Just picked up a Henry X .357/.38 for my first lever action. Took it straight to the range after making the trip to an FFL. Loading via the side gate went well, as was loading using the tube. All was well until I worked the lever.




Winchester 357 Mag 158GR Jacketed Soft Point

2A Warehouse was selling those at $9.99/box a week ago so I grabbed a few. They suck. At least in my rifle. They kept getting stuck. One round got jammed as I was working the lever which prevented the lever from closing. I had to get one of the employees at the range to get it out with his tools.

All in all, great rifle but that ammo is trash for it. Side gate is scratched up but I figured that's normal. As far as the cycling issues, it looked like the rounds kept getting deformed as the lever was being worked which prevented smooth cycling. I ended up loading each round one-by-one directly in the ejection port to prevent having more deformed rounds getting stuck. Unfortunately I have 5 more boxes of it to shoot. I'm guessing round nose ammo is best?

Zydeco did you try any other ammo. I used some of the same ammo in my BBS without the loading gate and they shoot fine. I am sure there are a lot more experienced Henry owners on this forum that can probably help you out on this problem. Have fun shooting.

I haven't tried that ammo, but, have tried Federal "American Eagle" 158gr JSP in my Henry .357 without issue. Looks just like the Win ammo you have. As mentioned above, maybe try some different ammo. Will you be handloading for the Henry?
Have a good 4th!

Im guessing you have an issue with the gun itself. One of the other members here has a 44 mag in the x model and I believe he also had a cycling issue. I think he had to send it to Henry. Id buy another box of a different ammo to be sure but it should run that Winchester ammo without a hiccup. Mine do.

Soft handling of the lever may be the issue. Rack that thing with zeal and see if that stops. Good luck.

Yeah I ran it a few times with snap caps and it worked just fine. That probably doesn't make much of a difference though. I'll try other brands of ammo before contacting Henry. Thanks for the input! I've learned a lot here already just by reading through old posts.

Keep us posted.