All Weather Rough Lever and bolt freeze

[CT_Shooter]

They fixed it and returned... I'll be shooting my Henry...

Good luck, Dahlia. Please give us a range report. Thanks.

[ruhler]

Ive been in contact with my reseller about my 44 allweather and Henry contacted them since I had to write a email and complain about this among other small things not suitable for Henry quality reputation. Got contacted by the storeowner immidiatly and on saturday night and he said that he was aware of this problem on mine and some other allweather but not all of them and it seems like they will replace the bolt, hopefully to a working one classic without the coating. Im worrying about it getting exposed steel and then rust when the coating is gone on the bolt at this rate the coating will be totally gone within a couple of months. So strange that it is noticable when you shoot after like 30rounds and then after 5-10 shots its like the material/coating gets heated up and then jam the bolt. It is not noticable when cycling the action othervice well the bolt doesnt always travel the whole way back every time and it results in a poor ejection even when you drive the action like you mean it and the brass bearly drop out the chamber and falls on your hand. I notice the tight tolerances when taking the bolt out its a little struggle to get it out and in of the action, first time I almost gave up. Anyway waiting until the store gets the new bolt in stock then we will replace it. So far been treated with the best support and care to solve my problem.

[JEBar]

I well understand the advantages of having a firearm designed and built with use in bad weather in mind .... we've had a Remington 700 stainless metal, synthetic stock 30-06 since the mid 90's that has been exposed to many, many days of rain, sleet and snow .... we have a Remington 700 BDL blued metal, wood stock 300 WBY Mag since the late 80's that has been exposed to many, many days of rain, sleet and snow .... both show signs of wear, neither show any signs of rust .... its no secrete that maintenance is a major key to longevity .... if I had an all weather Henry that had to be sent back for this issue and they installed a different bolt, if it functioned as it should, that wouldn't worry me in any manner whatsoever .... I'd just clean and care for it no matter which bolt was installed

[Yornoc3]

I think JEBar's on point here. The areas where the ""coating" - whatever it is - wears away will always be polished, so to speak, when the action is worked. It may have been intended to protect from rust where no contact is made, but normal lubrication and maintenance should take care of that anyway. To my mind, it's the areas of the barrel and receiver that are covered by the stock and forearm, the interior parts of the receiver and the magazine that benefit most from the chrome treatment (or being made of stainless steel, for that matter).

[Dahliathemeh]

I'm with ruhler on one thing he said, it feels like a heat issue, after a few seconds the bolt releases.

[crburb1]

I received the rifle back within one week of when it arrived at Henry. Awesome turnaround. They replaced the bolt with a new one. The new bolt was different than that on the original rifle. It in fact looked like a bolt from the Big Boy Classic .357. It worked smoothly out of the box. I took it out to the range and fired 100 rounds of .38 special full metal jacket then 75 rounds of fairly dirty Argentinian .357 lead tipped ammo (the stuff I was firing when it froze before). The rifle worked beautifully. I have fired it several times since and it is smooth as butter. Henry came through. I guess you only really learn about a company when there is a problem of some type. Just another great example of Henry service.

[crburb1]

Hi all, As noted above I received my Henry All Weather .357 back from Henry in February 2018. I took it out twice and fired 100 rounds each time completely problem free. Completely cleaned and lubricated after each use. However, yesterday I took it out again, 4/25/18, and it was notably sticky even on the first round. The problem got steadily worse and after 14 rounds I had to put a glove on my lever hand to keep my knuckles from getting beaten up any worse. It completely froze after the 28th round. Could not open the bolt more than about an inch. Feels like something in the action rather than the bolt this time. Almost like the lever or something else it catching. Brought it home and disassembled the rifle. Bolt slid out okay and the parts were relatively clean and free from dust or spent powder. Re-assembled it and no change. Sent it back it Henry today. It definitely is not an over heating problem with either of the two times it has been sent back. Really frustrating. Always had great experience with Henrys but this is really hard to justify. This is an All Weather after all. Should be more smooth and robust in difficult situations. I can't even trust it on the range.

[CT_Shooter]

Always had great experience with Henrys but this is really hard to justify. This is an All Weather after all. Should be more smooth and robust in difficult situations. I can't even trust it on the range.

Contact them again with this report. They will take care of it, to the point of replacement. I know from experience. Good luck.

[ruhler]

I finally got my bolt replaced with a new one, and its alot of difference from my old sticky one. Now I can easily slide the bolt out of the system for cleaning, the old one was close to stuck. The new bolt has edges chamfered off compared to the old one (but its made after the coating figured it will work as long I clean and add some oil on the surface., I mounted it all and worked the lever, took everything apart and cleaned with a little fp10 and the rag vas completely black, repeated it several times. Went to the range first time shot around 30shot no sticky bolt, took it home and cleaned it and the bolt had alot of black residue, so repeated the process clean, lube, work the lever several times. Yesterday I went to the range and shot around 30shots again started with plated bullets and then tried some SWC lead, all worked fine, noticed a little rougher bolt after shooting the hardcast but still no sticky bolt, its probably som residue from the brass got attached to the ejector. So will continue to work the action, clean lube between the shooting sessions. Hopefully I dont have to experience the sticky bolt again, the bolt is so smooth now i can push it with my fingers with close to no effort at all (keeping the hammer down ofc). Wondering what type of oil I should use on the bolt, I have used a drop of fp10 oil on the bolt.

What kind of oil, lube should I use on the bolt? I really like my rifles to be as dry as possible my experience is that oil/lube attracts dirt/moisture and causes jams, and maybe a freeze. If this rifle hadnt been trouble from the start I would just stick to that one drop of oil on the surface and never asked, and its my first levergun didnt expect it to have a malfunction like this. What do you guys use?

[ruhler]

Hi all, As noted above I received my Henry All Weather .357 back from Henry in February 2018. I took it out twice and fired 100 rounds each time completely problem free. Completely cleaned and lubricated after each use. However, yesterday I took it out again, 4/25/18, and it was notably sticky even on the first round. The problem got steadily worse and after 14 rounds I had to put a glove on my lever hand to keep my knuckles from getting beaten up any worse. It completely froze after the 28th round. Could not open the bolt more than about an inch. Feels like something in the action rather than the bolt this time. Almost like the lever or something else it catching. Brought it home and disassembled the rifle. Bolt slid out okay and the parts were relatively clean and free from dust or spent powder. Re-assembled it and no change. Sent it back it Henry today. It definitely is not an over heating problem with either of the two times it has been sent back. Really frustrating. Always had great experience with Henrys but this is really hard to justify. This is an All Weather after all. Should be more smooth and robust in difficult situations. I can't even trust it on the range.

Hmm strange so the bolt could easily be removed with the lever out, what operation does the lever do at that angle except ejecting the bolt, the "cartridge elevator" shouldnt even be active at that angle, neither is the "lockingmechanism" Any strange wear/marks on the lever?

[Mistered]

I well understand the advantages of having a firearm designed and built with use in bad weather

So do I and I also understand the mechanics of firearms and know the addition of certain 'coatings' on metal parts to 'protect' them from the elements can lead to more problems than they will ever prevent, that being weather protection, which is not so much of a problem as one might think and can be prevented on 'standard' guns by nothing more than attention to detail while cleaning a gun that has been subjected to adverse weather conditions. I have owned many guns that have been subjected to all manner of weather and still function as good as, or better than new due to diligent maintenance & cleaning. Most guns are never out in bad weather so much that good, basic maintenance will keep them free of weather related problems. I would much rather have a smooth, properly functioning gun as opposed to one that might have potential problems due to additional coatings or other materials added to solve a problem that doesn't really exist.