Compact

[r80rt]

I spent yesterday in the woods with my SS .357. On foot, on the fourwheeler and generally goofing off. It occured to me that if Henry would build these rifles with 20" barrels and compact stocks they would sell a ton of them, I'd buy one in a heartbeat. Am I wrong?

[Vaquero]

I just wish they made one in a caliber I'd like.
As far as a compact walking around rifle is concerned, I'll take my chopped down Marlin in 35 Remington.
Pictured here with another compact, the 444P.

20221101_093119.jpg (4.86 MiB) Viewed 5140 times

RP

[BigAl52]

Compact interchangeable barrels and more calibers have all been suggested and thought of. But maybe the sales arent there we dont know. It seems to me there must be a want for calibers in the restricted cartridge length states as that is the direction they seem to go. Not to mention the tacticool customization of Leverguns. Many people including myself have suggested a 38-55 but it falls on deaf ears like any other suggestions with the Single Shots.

[r80rt]

Im a big fan of big bore short rifles, but in my area for general woods bumming a .357 will handle anything I'm likely to see without a lot of recoil, noise and muzzle blast. I have other guns for other things, I'm just thinking of a general purpose woods rifle. I know I'm in the minority with my thinking, but I always have been.

[r80rt]

Compact interchangeable barrels and more calibers have all been suggested and thought of. But maybe the sales arent there we dont know. It seems to me there must be a want for calibers in the restricted cartridge length states as that is the direction they seem to go. Not to mention the tacticool customization of Leverguns. Many people including myself have suggested a 38-55 but it falls on deaf ears like any other suggestions with the Single Shots.

A .38-55 would be near perfect. Arkansas just went to straight wall cartridges for muzzle loading season, I work in a gun shop and we can't keep .350 legend on the shelf, rifles or ammo. You can't give a muzzle loader away now.

[Vaquero]

Since you work in a gun shop, do y'all have a gunsmith?
You could always have the rifle chopped to your desired length.
You mentioned in another thread that you own a pair of Rossi 357's, what barrel length are those?

RP

[BigAl52]

I havent researched 350 Legend to much but what little I have read the accuracy isnt that great. Might be just me but cartridges that head space on the mouth are going to be more work to get them to shoot as good as one that uses a rim.

[r80rt]

Since you work in a gun shop, do y'all have a gunsmith?
You could always have the rifle chopped to your desired length.
You mentioned in another thread that you own a pair of Rossi 357's, what barrel length are those?

RP

My Rossi rifles are both 16", yeah we have a lathe and I'm already considering chopping it myself, and I know Henry has a compact stock listed. Right now I'd better use it as is and see what it tells me after a few month's. The short light Rossi is a much better choice for woods bumming, but I like the simplicity of a single shot that doesn't throw my brass into the bushes.

[r80rt]

I havent researched 350 Legend to much but what little I have read the accuracy isnt that great. Might be just me but cartridges that head space on the mouth are going to be more work to get them to shoot as good as one that uses a rim.

Yup, I agree with you on that.

[North Country Gal]

None of these ideas are new or radical. TC did all of these and more with their Contenders and Encore platforms. With the Contenders, the standard carbine barrel was 21" and if that was still too long, you could go with a Super 16 barrel at 16.25". Encore rifles ran much longer barrels, but you could chamber them in anything you wanted and there was a 18" and 20" Katahdin barrel in some of the big bore cartridges. If you didn't like what TC offered, you could go custom barrel with Bullberry, SSK, or MGM.

By the way, TC is back in their original Rochester plant and is planning to reopen, soon. At this point, it looks like the Encore is coming back. Maybe this will push Henry to be a bit more competitive with their SS.

[r80rt]

Oh yeah, I loved Contender carbines, I had a 16" .22 hornet that was a ball to use. I look back on all the good old light weight single shots and wonder why it isn't done today. But like I said, I know my thinking isn't main stream.
I didn't think it was an original idea,was just thinking that a compact version would be a good seller.

[BigAl52]

Throwing brass in the bushes and on the ground is one reason my Single Shot is still here and the 2 357 levers I have owned are gone. Like Randy I have looked into getting a Marlin and almost bought one but the gun shop I was dealing with at the time was more proud of them than I was willing to be. Especially after doing repetitive business with them. Checking later at their online price they had come off of the one they had by about 80.00. If I would have been offered that price when I was looking I probably would have owned one.

[r80rt]

I get it, I like my brass in my pocket and not under the leaves. I use my levers quite a bit, but for general all around use in the woods a single shot is what I want. I don't hunt much anymore but I'm always out there looking for armadillos and groundhogs in the pasture, and any other vermin that might need a hole in it.

[BrokenolMarine]

I get it, I like my brass in my pocket and not under the leaves. I use my levers quite a bit, but for general all around use in the woods a single shot is what I want. I don't hunt much anymore but I'm always out there looking for armadillos and groundhogs in the pasture, and any other vermin that might need a hole in it.

With you on the armored dillos. They had been staying in the lower pasture leaving everything else alone. Now they are digging into the pond dam, and tearing up Miss Ts yard... You don't pull on Superman's cape, and you don't leave Miss Ts yard looking like drunk golfers played thru and didn't fix their divots.

[r80rt]

The darn things are a menace, I don't need a horse or cow with a broken leg from stepping in one of their holes. Groundhogs want to dig under the barn too, that's aggravating. I shoot on sight.

[BigAl52]

No Dillos or ground hogs in my pasture. But there is a hog and some squares and circles all lined up made of steel. One bowlin pin to. Big dirt bank where some guy throws some clays up on it. There not really annoying in any way but they sure are fun to ring and break.

[North Country Gal]

Yes, I think Henry would be surprised at how well a short barreled single shot would sell and there's a lot of cartridges that don't need long barrels for the sake of performance. Revolver cartridges like the 44 mag or 357 sure don't and even the 30-30 does very well in a short barrel. I used to shoot the 30-30 in a 14" Contender.

For sure, single shots aren't mainstream, but they never have been in modern times and in this day and age of the autoloader, maybe even less mainstream than ever. Still, there's always been a steady market for single shots and those of us who love them and shoot them have been very loyal over the years. Though I enjoy shooting all types of guns, I consider myself to be a single shot fan most of all. I consider our various types of single shots to be the largest and most important part of our gun collection.

And let me say that even though I don't own a Henry SS, I am grateful to Henry for keeping the single shot tradition alive. Thank you, Henry.

[r80rt]

No Dillos or ground hogs in my pasture. But there is a hog and some squares and circles all lined up made of steel. One bowlin pin to. Big dirt bank where some guy throws some clays up on it. There not really annoying in any way but they sure are fun to ring and break.

Man those dang bowling pins are the worst, I hope you knock it over every time it sticks it's ugly head up.

[r80rt]

Yes, I think Henry would be surprised at how well a short barreled single shot would sell and there's a lot of cartridges that don't need long barrels for the sake of performance. Revolver cartridges like the 44 mag or 357 sure don't and even the 30-30 does very well in a short barrel. I used to shoot the 30-30 in a 14" Contender.

For sure, single shots aren't mainstream, but they never have been in modern times and in this day and age of the autoloader, maybe even less mainstream than ever. Still, there's always been a steady market for single shots and those of us who love them and shoot them have been very loyal over the years. Though I enjoy shooting all types of guns, I consider myself to be a single shot fan most of all. I consider our various types of single shots to be the largest and most important part of our gun collection.

And let men say that even though I don't own a Henry SS, I am grateful to Henry for keeping the single shot tradition alive. Thank you, Henry.

I think on a .357, a standard buttplate instead of the thick cushion would get about 1/2 inch off the rear and 2" off the barrel would get you a rifle 35" long, and still have 20" of barrel for a nice sight radious. Easy changes that would make a dandy compact rifle. It's easy for me to day dream about it, But the market might not be there. I wonder if the compact .243's sell well?

[North Country Gal]

I've done something similar on a Contender carbine, but for the sake of reducing felt recoil. I found a shorter youth butt stock and then added a slip on recoil pad. Gives me the same length of pull as the standard stock, but a lot more help with recoil - and at just over 5 pounds without a scope, recoil with these very light carbines is stout, even with a 30-30 barrel. Overall length is just 35", though, even with a 21" barrel. That makes one very nice little carbine.