Big Boy All Weather .357 Bolt Problem

[Msand64]

I’ll try to give you the short version.

Went to pick up my new Big Boy Side Gate that I bought from a NJ gun shop and had shipped to my FFL in Mass.

At the FFL I was told that when they tried to work the action before I arrived they could not get the lever to open all the way.

It appears that the rear end of the firing pin is hitting the hammer as the bolt moves aft and will not move beyond it. That leaves the breach only partially open. The FFL said they suspect a broken firing pin. This is my first lever gun so I have no idea. It appears that as the bolt opens the rear end of the firing pin seems to drop just enough to hit the hammer.

We discussed sending it back to the dealer I bought it from but decided to call Henry first to get an opinion.

I called Henry while I was there and as usual they said no problem we will send you a new firing pin. I told them that I don’t know for sure that it’s the firing pin because I can’t get the bolt out enough to check it and I really don’t want to dismantle and possibly further damage a brand new already broken rifle. Again they said no problem they will send me a shipping label to return it to them. All good.

So I took possession and will ship it back to Henry. I’d rather just deal directly with Henry than get a dealer in the middle of everything. I feel confident that Henry will take care of it.

Long story long......has anybody come across this issue? It seems unusual that it would come with a broken firing pin. I don’t see any evidence of it being used or dropped. Perhaps people were playing with the action and dry firing with it at the shop?

If I can determine that it’s just a broken firing pin then perhaps I can just have Henry send me a new one and avoid shipping the whole rifle back and forth. Or maybe just send the bolt back if I can get it out.

Any suggestions appreciated.

Mike

[BigAl52]

First off Welcome to the forum and congrats on the new rifle. Im sorry to hear of issues with a brand new rifle. I would go ahead and send it to Henry and let them take care of it. Trust me you are not alone here with rifles that have been returned. Many of us have had to return ours. No one wants to do that including me. I have done it several times. But you are in good hands with a company that stands behind what they sell. Customer service at Henry is nothing short of first class.

[CT_Shooter]

So I took possession and will ship it back to Henry. I’d rather just deal directly with Henry than get a dealer in the middle of everything. I feel confident that Henry will take care of it.

Welcome to the forum from CT, Mike. I agree with Al. Return it to Henry. They will absolutely take care of it for you, and you'll be glad you bought a Henry when you finally get to shoot it.

[ESquared]

Yep, the advice above is the way to go. HRA will take care of you, as hard as it is to try to figure out what went wrong and even harder to part with a brand new rifle.

On a related note, sorry to see that the NON-Side-Gate All Weather has been removed from the Henry lineup. Always liked that finish.

[Msand64]

Thank you all for the advice. I will ship it back to Henry this week and eagerly await its return so I can finally get out on the range with it.

I will report back when I hear what the problem was.

Thanks.

Mike

[JEBar]

congrats on purchasing a Henry 357, ours is a fine shooter and has become a family favorite .... sorry to hear it has an issue .... as already noted, by others, you are doing the right thing to send it back to Henry .... they will most definitely take care of it .... do hope you will be an active member who reads and post often .... be sure to follow the link below to where you can add your rifle to our community's total

[MarkB]

Henry will make it right. They will inspect your rifle and replace any defective parts. It may be something more than just a firing pin. Henry has access to all the parts and the knowledge and skill needed to make your rifle a fine shooter that will last for decades.

[jstanfield103]

I can't remember if the Henry has a two piece firing pin or not like a Marlin. I believe they do. Anyway, like you are doing let Henry take care of it. Like said their customer service is top notch like Ruger if not better. Their customer service is probably the best in the business. I had to send my 45/70 H010 in because it was shooting 1' to the left at 25 yards. They sent me a replacement rifle I believe within two weeks. Not the first time I have had to use their customer service either. Both times turnaround time was very reasonable, but times have changed a little so hopefully you will receive yours back quickly.

[Msand64]

Update......

Just got a call from Henry regarding my Big Boy. I missed the call (unfortunately) but they left me a message with a summary of what was done to the rifle.

They replaced a cracked butt stock, replaced the hammer, replaced a tang(?) screw, adjusted a couple things I could not understand on the message, test fired it and said all was good.

It sure sounds like it got dropped somewhere along its journey to me. Whether that was in shipping to my FFL, or somewhere else we will never know. I don’t know how well it was packaged up for shipment to my FFL because I only saw the Henry box when I got there.

It doesn’t seem likely that a drop while it was packaged up could cause a stock to crack, so I’d guess that somebody somewhere dropped it directly on the stock, maybe on display in a shop? It came out of the box looking like it had never been unpackaged though. None of us noticed the cracked stock.

Doesn’t really matter. Henry took care of it and now I eagerly await its return.

Thank you Henry for just fixing what ailed it.

[JEBar]

good to hear she's on her way back to you .... Henry 357's are excellent rifles .... they are fun to fire .... looking forward to your future range reports and use impressions as you get to know her better .... be sure to follow the link below and add her to our community's total


http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.p ... 26#p158426

[BigAl52]

When you get it back let us know how it is.

[jstanfield103]

Henry is probably the best at customer service. Ruger and NAA are very good also. But Henry is definitely top notch.

[Msand64]

The Big Boy is back home. Contacted Henry on Jan 11, shipped her out on the 12th, fixed and shipped back a couple days ago and arrived today.

That’s 11 days from first notification to getting a repaired rifle back to me including ground shipping time both ways.

I’ll take that customer service every time.

Thank you Henry.

Now to go shoot.

[Vaquero]

Congrats on finally getting a serviceable rifle, we all had complete confidence in HRA.
Had a problem with one of mine a short while back.
I believe it was somewhere around 2 weeks on the complete turnaround.

Bet she'll be a shooter also, easy on the shoulder, and a ton of fun.

Let us know once you get to put a few rounds through it.

RP

[Msand64]

Oddly the package arrived with one of the box ends opened up. I sent it to Henry in a very oversized box with a ton of bubble wrap. It was shipped back in an over box that just fit the original Henry box with no padding.

It was the overbox that had one of the taped ends cut open exposing the Henry box.

I had a brief moment of panic and had the UPS guy wait there while I opened up the Henry box to make sure that the rifle was actually there and to be sure it was not damaged. It looked undisturbed and undamaged.

Not sure if somebody needed to open it to inspect it for some reason or if somebody thought about helping themselves.

I would think that if it was legit they would have either left a message or taped it back up.

Not sure if I should be notifying somebody about it.

[JEBar]

good to hear she's back and in good condition .... looking forward to your coming range and use reports