Don't know what happened, but i wrote up a few notes on my visit to Cabela's, where I handled, hefted, racked and pointed a Long Ranger in 223 and 243. He had a 308 in "the back," but I didn't make him drag it out. We agreed that the overall weight of the 308 would be ever so slightly lighter than the other two we were looking at, due to the amount of metal removed from the barrel and chamber for the larger round. I guess that assumes that the barrel blanks are identical, regardless of caliber, but if that's an erroneous assumption, please chime in.
Anyway, the overwhelming impression of this Long Ranger is that it's very sleek. From the lack of a magazine tube to the tapered, sporter barrel to the lack of sights (more on that later) to the smooth (non-honey-combed) recoil pad and the smooth alloy receiver, it's just a very sleek Henry lever action rifle. The furniture and checkering was beautiful, as you'd expect, and the other striking thing about the profile of the Long Ranger is the raised comb on the butt-stock, which sets this rifle up perfectly for a scope.
In addition to the looks of it, the sleekness is underscored by the weight, the heft of it, or the lack thereof. Admittedly, a few rounds of some pretty big ammo will beef it up, but it's very easy to handle. The fulcrum is right under the magazine, which a scope wouldn't change one bit, I wouldn't guess. Speaking of scopes, literally every review (written or in video) I've looked at had the reviewer doing his work with a scope attached. The only debate seems to be how big a scope to attach to it, and it's interesting to read and hear the "underscope" vs. "overscope" debate. Interesting, too, that the only models this Cabela's stocks is the "no sight" version, but I guess that has a lot to do with Cabela's being in the scope business in a big way, huh?
The action is unbelievably smooth (if you take out the empty mag) and the bolt is very long. It's gear-driven, which you can tell by the teeth on the underside, so it's probably no wonder that it's so silky; it's not just sliding back and forth, it's a true mechanical interaction of the parts.
While there, I worked a number of other Henrys that are written about here on the Forum, from a standard steel 30-30 to a brass 45-70, and the sleek comparison was just reinforced by that handling. It's still a Henry (to me, at least) by virtue of the workmanship and the furniture and the smoothness of the action, but it's clearly a "clean sheet of paper" Henry (even though many compare it very closely to the BLR).
If the traditional Henry lineup is "Old West," this struck me as "New West" in design, and the claim by all the writers that it's basically a bolt action lock-up engineered into a lever action rifle seems to be very spot-on.
So, when I think about the Long Ranger 308 vs. a CCH 30-30, it's nothing but apples-and oranges. Going from a BBS .357 to a CCH 30-30 is like getting into a higher horsepower version of the same car with a different paint job. Cooler car, no doubt, but do I want another Mustang (or whatever - insert car model here) in the garage? The Long Ranger is a DIFFERENT car altogether, but made by the same manufacturer, if that's not stretching the analogy too far.
It's interesting how Hickok reacts to Henrys in general and how he sort of tolerated the Long Ranger in his review, but didn't really endorse it in a big way. Just Google "Henry Long Ranger 308" and there are actually lots of written and video reviews out there, many of them with credible range/accuracy reports, even one by one guy who seems to have put 4 rounds through the same hole at 100 yards, something he claimed he had never done before. They all seem to prove that it's a sub-1" rifle with a scope and a rest at 100 yds.
Speaking of vids, here's one from a guy I'd never run across before and he's a hoot (to me, anyway). Sort of like a Hickok45 with high mileage and having led a much harder life. But he's a gun guy, that's for sure and he seems to like the Long Ranger, that's for sure. Hppe this transfers properly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p2S_JQZ00M&t=3s
Anyway, Mags wanted a write-up, so here you go, from a Henry newbie with "the bug."
Very enjoyable read; just wanted to share it with everybody.
