Henry 30-30 Issues

[Tejun]

Howdy from Deep East Texas !
Friend of mine came over yesterday and we were talking guns. He said he had a rifle he was about to toss in the lake. I asked him what kind of rifle. He went to his truck and brought back a Henry 30-30, said his wife had won it in a raffle last year. He proceeded to show me how the lever wouldn’t stay locked. He fiddled around and ended up getting a live round jammmed with the bolt open. I told him if he left it with me, I’d see if I could figure out. He handed it to me and said no hurry. After he left, I removed the lever and got the live round removed. Brought it in and did a complete disassembly and clean. Reassembled and put two dummy rounds in the tube and it cycled them fine. The lever would latch but not firmly. I was about to call him this morning and tell him to come try it but decided to load the magazine with more rounds. Well, it handles two ok but put a third round in the magazine and use the brass follower tube and the lever releases and cannot be latched. I called Henry CS this afternoon and the guy seemed rushed ( not typical experience I’ve had in past but it was late Friday afternoon) he told me it was probably the brass follower tube and suggested I call the accessories dept and order a new one. I’m having problems understanding how the follower tube could cause this issue ??

I don’t know the model. When I look on the Henry website, all the 30-30s (except brass) have the side port to load the rounds in the magazine. This rifle has no such port. The only way to load is via the mag tube.

Any of you have any experience with this problem ?

[Mags]

... he told me it was probably the brass follower tube and suggested I call the accessories dept and order a new one. I’m having problems understanding how the follower tube could cause this issue ??
:
:
Any of you have any experience with this problem ?

I have the older .30-30. I have not seen this issue and I also can't see how the mag tube follower would have anything to do with it unless the mag tube spring behind the follower is too strong. I think the problem more likely in the carrier group in the receiver.

[Vaquero]

I have no experience with Henry's 30-30, but I had a similar problem with my Rossi 357 when I first got it.
If I only loaded 7, 8 rounds it cycled just fine, but if I put the whole 12 rounds in it, the first few were problematic and would hang up.
Doing some research I read several people saying the the mag tube springs were known to be excessively long.
So I pulled mine and cut like a 4th of it off and it was better. So I pulled and cut an inch or so a couple of times to where it cycled fine.
Loaded up a full load of 38's and no problem cycled every last one. Never had an issue again.
Now I'm not saying that it is your problem.
If it were me I'd give them another Mon. and if they think the same then they should send you a new filler tube.

good luck.

RP

[Mags]

...
Any of you have any experience with this problem ?

RP triggered my memory on a really old post.

I partially take back what I said above. I think I did see a similar problem with my .30-30. Quote from my old post.

... jam on the first round when forcing the mag tube closed while its [tube lip is] hung up on a case rim. The lever pops open slightly because a round is partially forced into the action. Opening/closing the lever jams on that first round. It doesn't lift in proper orientation to enter the chamber.

And I bet the same effect could happen with a full magazine and stiff or too long of a mag tube spring putting pressure on the lever carrier group.

[Ratchet]

That sounds similar to what my rifle does. When I insert the mag tube sometimes the lever pops open. You can’t close it unless you cycle the action completely. After that it’s fine for the rest of the mag. I only use it at the range or occasional silhouette match, so it’s only a minor inconvenience to me. I saw a video on YouTube, but can’t find it now. The guy was saying the cartridge rim interferes with part of the lever, preventing it from closing. He removed a little material with a dremel and said that fixed it. I believe Henry eventually made a change to that area of the lever.

[Tejun]

Merci’ Boucoup for all the replies. I’ll do some checking this morning.

Ratchet, I did notice the part of the lever that fits in the bottom of the bolt had some material removed. I removed the lever on my .410 Henry Lever Action and compared. I’ll try to post some pics later.

Thanks again everyone, I’m firing up the smoker to smoke a ham and will do some more checking on the 30-30 once I load the ham.

[Mr. Neutron]

I'm not certain that the issue I've had with my .30-30 is the same as yours, but I have to own it as "my own fault". But if it helps anyone........

Both times that I have had my lever lock up was because a round was just partly loaded onto the elevator. This has the wonderful effect of locking the lever up pretty much in the completely open position. It's an easy fix; simply remove the lever, and the elavator suddenly has enough room to let the round come all the way onto it.

The reason this occurred with my rifle was because there was no or too little tension from the spring loaded follower in the brass tube. Rather than load rounds through the convenient loading gate, I decided to load from the tube a few times. Once, I had lost the o-ring on the knurled end of that brass tube somehow, and the tube didn't lock into it's little groove of the magazine that it's supposed to rest in. After shooting a coupla rounds, the brass tube backs out forwards and I hadn't noticed it. Suddenly you don't have enough spring tension on the orange plastic follower to push the next round completely onto the elevator, and you get a stuck round jam as you move the lever forward. This has happened to me twice, and in trying to fix the gun, both times I noticed the brass tube had backed out. And both times were completely my fault, not the gun's.

I have since repented of my wrongful ways, and now just load through the side gate, and only unload through the mag tube. I also put on a Ranger Point Precision quickie takedown knob/screw/gizzie in place of the slot head lever screw that I had a tough time finding a screwdriver that fits anyways...... Mostly for the next time I do something stupid, as lever removal is very easy now......

Shoot, I can hardly get the brass tube to seat all the way down in the magazine with more than 2 rounds in the magazine anyways. The brass tube keeps hanging up on the rounds somehow. So I'm grateful to Henry for providing the side gate models.

Added in EDIT:

Thanks again everyone, I’m firing up the smoker to smoke a ham and will do some more checking on the 30-30 once I load the ham.

Uh, I'm pretty sure that ham probably won't cycle after ya load it in the mag tube.....

[Mags]

.... The brass tube keeps hanging up on the rounds somehow. So I'm grateful to Henry for providing the side gate models.

I found out early on that hanging up on the case rim is 'normal'/common with .30-30 and .45 colt ammo. We're supposed to be twisting the mag tube while pushing it in. Supposed to cause the leading edge of the tube to spin off the case rims. One of the Henry loading videos touches on this but it is easy to not notice it.

Also, trying brute force on getting the mag tube in can cause a round to go part way into the receiver and jam the lever too.

[Mr. Neutron]

Oh, man! Great helpful info there, Mags!!
Thanks for that!

[Mags]

...Ranger Point Precision takedown knob...

There seem to be several. Which one did you get?

Oh, and take your o-ring to homedepot or ace hardware a buy some spares.

[Mr. Neutron]

More good advice on the O-ring!!! Thanks for that!!!

I got the only RPP lever take down knob they had in stock; model #145 in black. It has "WIN" and "30-30" on it. Last one on the right end in this pic:

https://rangerpointstore.com/Henry-lever-takedown-screw

It's sorta pricey ($29). But after I had this last feed jam I described earlier above happen during hunting this year, I wanted some "insurance" that I could deal with it a bit easier in the future, if needed. If nothing else, it makes tearing down enough to get the bolt out and clean my rifle easier.......

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but this also might help someone. I took a very narrow jeweler's file to the head of the OEM Henry lever pivot shoulder bolt, and made the slot wider to accept almost any decent sized screw driver. Takes a little patience and proceeding slowly. My Leatherman screw driver now fits this bolt, but not after it boogered it up a bit fixing the feed jam. Put some cold blue on it after I did the file job, and it actually doesn't look bad. It's just more convenient to use the RPP takedown screw when I don't happen to have a screwdriver handy. I drilled and tapped a pice of metal to fit the Henry shoulder bolt (10-32 threads, I think??) and clamped the metal in a vice while I filed it. A nut with the right threads would’ve been easier………

Added in EDIT: A pic of the widened lever shoulder bolt. Probably nothing new, and with the right file, easy to do….

1CBB2DFF-8554-4197-B2F0-92F24310660A.jpeg

[Mags]

I got the only RPP lever take down knob they had in stock; model #145 in black. It has "WIN" and "30-30" on it. Last one on the right end in this pic:

https://rangerpointstore.com/Henry-lever-takedown-screw

It's sorta pricey ($29). But after I had this last feed jam I described earlier above happen during hunting this year, I wanted some "insurance" that I could deal with it a bit easier in the future, if needed. If nothing else, it makes tearing down enough to get the bolt out and clean my rifle easier.......

Thank You! Fair trade on exchange of ideas and advice!
I had been carrying a long thin screw driver to dig out jammed rounds.

[Tejun]

Howdy Folks, sorry for not checking in and updating the progress. Been busy around the house and went on a deer hunting trip this past weekend.

I ended up calling Henry CS back that Monday and the guy I talked to said the brass magazine follower fixed that problem the majority of the time. He wouldn’t talk in any more detail citing they could not give troubleshooting advice. He offered to send a new tube and it arrived today. Unfortunately the problem still exists. I do notice some significant metal removal on the lever that looks suspicious. I talked to the owner and he said he had never taken the gun apart and that he had purchased it at a pawn shop. I will try to get some pics of the lever and post them. I will also try the twisting of follower tube trick as well. Thanks for the continued posts on this topic

[Mr. Neutron]

I will also try the twisting of follower tube trick as well.

Mags' advice about doing that really helps with my rifle!

Hope you get all these nagging little things solved, Tejun!

[Tejun]

Howdy Folks and Happy New Year !
Good news to report on this issue. I ordered a new lever from Henry. It arrived today and it solved the problem. The owner was adamant that the gun was new when purchased at a pawn shop but from what I could find, the H009 did not come with a big loop lever, which is what it had. The lever had some significant filing work done on it to remove the sharp edges which were distinctly different than on the new one. Installed it this afternoon and, although a little stiff, it worked as it should. I found one area that is showing signs of a “shiny spot” from cycling but before I do any adjustments I want the owner to do some breakin shooting for a bit. Will have him bring back after some shooting for a thorough cleaning and check that spot.

[Mr. Neutron]

Depending on where the shiny spot is, you may be able to “move” the wear area away from whatever or wherever it’s rubbing with some shims.

[ol'pole]

Depending on where the shiny spot is, you may be able to “move” the wear area away from whatever or wherever it’s rubbing with some shims.

It's a shame that we have to do an 'Afro American adjustment ' with shims or a file on rifles that should be engineered and built and leave the factory correctly for the money spent

[Rifletom]

Depending on where the shiny spot is, you may be able to “move” the wear area away from whatever or wherever it’s rubbing with some shims.

It's a shame that we have to do an 'Afro American adjustment ' with shims or a file on rifles that should be engineered and built and leave the factory correctly for the money spent

What you say is true, but, easy on the way you described it please. Thank you.

[DeathValleyMike]

Howdy from Deep East Texas !
Friend of mine came over yesterday and we were talking guns. He said he had a rifle he was about to toss in the lake. I asked him what kind of rifle. He went to his truck and brought back a Henry 30-30, said his wife had won it in a raffle last year. He proceeded to show me how the lever wouldn’t stay locked. He fiddled around and ended up getting a live round jammmed with the bolt open. I told him if he left it with me, I’d see if I could figure out. He handed it to me and said no hurry. After he left, I removed the lever and got the live round removed. Brought it in and did a complete disassembly and clean. Reassembled and put two dummy rounds in the tube and it cycled them fine. The lever would latch but not firmly. I was about to call him this morning and tell him to come try it but decided to load the magazine with more rounds. Well, it handles two ok but put a third round in the magazine and use the brass follower tube and the lever releases and cannot be latched. I called Henry CS this afternoon and the guy seemed rushed ( not typical experience I’ve had in past but it was late Friday afternoon) he told me it was probably the brass follower tube and suggested I call the accessories dept and order a new one. I’m having problems understanding how the follower tube could cause this issue ??

I don’t know the model. When I look on the Henry website, all the 30-30s (except brass) have the side port to load the rounds in the magazine. This rifle has no such port. The only way to load is via the mag tube.

Any of you have any experience with this problem ?

Sometimes a broken spring, messed up button or dirt can cause it to have cycling issues.
My buddy’s 45-70 had the same problem and a new (free/warranty) mag tube fixed it.