Stock Warning

[BigBlue]

I was at my local gun shop on Thursday when a gent was picking up a Henry single shot rifle that he had ordered. He took it out of the box and you could see how beautiful the wood grain looked. He slid the sock down, that Henry uses to protect the receiver finish, and the stock let go right at the wrist. It was broken clean through and as soon as he tried to raise up the rifle the break let go. I think the poor guy's heart broke right then and there and the dealer apologized profusely, but the only thing for it was to order another and send this one back. The box was still in decent shape and this could happen to any rifle, but I think the rifles packaging could be better. Luckily this happened before the rifle was transferred, it makes the process easier. I just thought I'd give you all a heads up and let you know to check the rifles out very closely before accepting the transfer. Had this been a smaller crack the poor guy may have gone home with it and not even noticed it.

[CT_Shooter]

It's hard to imagine how the factory box could have been "in decent shape" but the hardwood stock had been severed in two. This is something that will certainly get HRA's attention when it's returned.

I was at my local gun shop on Thursday when a gent was picking up a Henry single shot rifle that he had ordered. He took it out of the box and you could see how beautiful the wood grain looked. He slid the sock down, that Henry uses to protect the receiver finish, and the stock let go right at the wrist. It was broken clean through and as soon as he tried to raise up the rifle the break let go. I think the poor guy's heart broke right then and there and the dealer apologized profusely, but the only thing for it was to order another and send this one back. The box was still in decent shape and this could happen to any rifle, but I think the rifles packaging could be better. Luckily this happened before the rifle was transferred, it makes the process easier. I just thought I'd give you all a heads up and let you know to check the rifles out very closely before accepting the transfer. Had this been a smaller crack the poor guy may have gone home with it and not even noticed it.

[GFK]

Sorry about what happened. It can be disappointing for things to meet expectations. But, it may be worth the wait.

[DAVIDF]

Even if he got it home, then found the issue, Henry Repeating Arms would have taken care of him. A fellow bought a Big Boy at the same store I bought mine. He strapped it to his motorcycle to ride home. The box came partially loose and began dragging at the muzzle end. The muzzle was destroyed. Henry replaced it even though it was his fault. Fortunately we are dealing with a company that will go to the greatest lengths to make all of us happy

[North Country Gal]

Could have been a factory defect, not a shipping issue. We all love fancy curl and figure in a stock, but there's one place on a stock that should be as straightforward grained as possible and that is at the wrist. If that stock had figure and curl in the wrist, it should have been weeded out somewhere in the QC process. Something to note when inspecting a gun to buy.

[steider]

My 44 is at Henry for the second time so they can put the 3rd butt stock in the last 3 months on the gun. My 45-70 has been sent back because of a loose butt stock so it’s getting its 2nd butt stock and my 20 gauge is on its second butt stock also. I’m not sure if Henry has a engineering or quality issue with the single shot rifles and shotguns but the stocks don’t hold up to recoil of even pistol caliber rounds. With 2 stocks severely cracking while shooting literally under my hand at the pistol grip. It wouldn’t surprise me if Henry isn’t considering a mass recall right now.

[PT7]

_WELCOME!_.jpg (16.33 KiB) Viewed 13149 times

….and Greetings from the Show-Me-State, Steider.

Wow, for your first Henry post you've given us some pretty vivid rifle damage photos. I've not ever seen Henry wood look like that. And honestly, hope I don't see many more like it soon.

Anyway, glad you've joined the Forum.
PT7

My 44 is at Henry for the second time so they can put the 3rd butt stock in the last 3 months on the gun. My 45-70 has been sent back because of a loose butt stock so it’s getting its 2nd butt stock and my 20 gauge is on its second butt stock also. I’m not sure if Henry has a engineering or quality issue with the single shot rifles and shotguns but the stocks don’t hold up to recoil of even pistol caliber rounds. With 2 stocks severely cracking while shooting literally under my hand at the pistol grip. It wouldn’t surprise me if Henry isn’t considering a mass recall right now.

[CT_Shooter]

My 44 is at Henry for the second time so they can put the 3rd butt stock in the last 3 months on the gun...

Thanks for the photos and the heads up on this issue. Keep us posted, please; and welcome to the forum from CT. Glad you joined us.

[Shakey Jake]

Yikes! I'm wondering what's up with that? Crazy to have 3 with the same issue.

[steider]

Well, I picked up my 30-30 single shot today from my FFL. Is it bad that I wasn’t surprised that the butt stock is cracked on this one also? My FFL said he’ll send it back to Davidson’s but I need to pay the return shipping for Davidson’s warrenty. I just told him I’ll fill out a Henry Warrenty request online and let Henry deal with it. Now my 45-70 single is at Henry for a loose stock. My 44 single is at Henry for a cracked stock. And, soon to be my 30-30. They can’t be making any profit on these guns with the shipping cost, new parts and labor for warranty repairs. I highly recommend everyone with a single shot to go to the range and shoot it 50 times and check the stock. Here’s a pic if my new 30-30.

[Cofisher]

Dang! Sure makes you review the nice wood! Appreciating my straight grain carbine!

[Yornoc3]

Well, I'm close to that round count with my 45-70, and so far, so good.

I cracked a 30-06 pre-'64 Win. Model 70 Featherweight stock like that, by refinishing it and later hunting in a wet snowstorm. I believe the stock swelled a little, the tail end of the tang contacted the stock at the wrist, and when I shot a little buck, it acted just like a wedge, and cracked the stock; mostly because I failed to check if the tang was relieved so the recoil lug would absorb the force. I'm wondering if Henry's stock carving machine's computer has run amuck, and is allowing a small area of the tang to bear on the wrist of the stock, instead of the entire surface area. If so, a stock could crack simply from over-tightening the bolt.

I hope they solve this one quickly, a stock breaking in your hands would be bad . By the way, I replaced that cracked Model 70 stock with an early Brown Precision synthetic, back in the "do it yourself days". Now synthetic stocks are a dime a dozen - but none are a pretty as Henry's Walnut .

[steider]

Well, just recieved my 45-70 from Henry warranty repair for the butt stock coming loose. I opened the box and there’s a crack 1” long. My 44 and 30-30 are still at Henry for cracked butt stocks. This is becoming ridiculous.

[PT7]

Sure is a shame seeing that beautiful walnut cracked like that. And to have so many instances on different firearms, too.
Keep us posted, Steider, and really hope all is resolved completely to your satisfaction. Plus I hope Henry figures out why this is happening.....
PT7

[JEBar]

if you have pictures of the others as well, I'd recommend you email them, along with comments, directly to Anthony .... this is the type of thing he most certainly needs to know

[bandit1250]

This problem with the stocks cracking looks like it could cost Henry quite a bit of money if the problem is not found quick. There may be a lot of the guns already shipped that could have the same issue when fired. I hate to see these reports of Henry having so many rifles sent back for warranty issues. Almost starting to make Marlin's not sound to bad. They will get it figured out. They are a very good company that always takes care of their customers. A friend of mine has a fantastic piece of wood on his chambered in 223 Rem. and he is now afraid of shooting it due to hearing about the stock cracking issues.

[Yornoc3]

I have to wonder if there's someone there working on them is over-tightening the stock bolt. They only need to be snug, maybe they're cranking them down too tight. After all, two piece stocks are hardly a new feature , and we have SXS shotguns with less wood bearing area than what my Henrys appear to have (haven't removed the stock to look) holding up just fine for hundreds of rounds; many with equal or even more recoil energy applied to the wrist. But yes, I hope they figure this out fast, and then report it. It does make a guy wonder. My 45-70 has been fired about 30 times, though, so I'm thinking it's fine. The .243 seems OK, too, but there's not much recoil there .

[steider]

If I had Anthony’s contact info I most certainly would contact him. I have Tia Rodriguez email and have been sending pictures to her. As far as I can tell she’s the head of customer service at the Rice Lake plant. Also, by how dirty the barrel is when returned. They are test firing the gun after the repairs. You would think someone would catch the cracks if it’s happening before shipping. I do know the first two Single Shot rifles I bought right after Henry released them to stores had loose butt stocks after 50 rounds. Now, they don’t get loose, but they are cracking. I also noticed that Cabela’s used to offer all the calibers online. Now they only offer the 243 and stopped selling the other calibers. Also, it isn’t just the rifles. My 20 gauge cracked after 12 shells and when I went to Cabelas because they had the 12 gauge. The one they had in box was cracked so I took the one they had on display. So, I think it isn’t just one person at Henry over tighting. It’s more of a procedure or engineering issue because my 12 has a different size butt stock than my 20 and I’ve seen both guns with cracked stocks. I don’t think one person is tighting all Henry butt stocks. Im literally up to around 10 return labels in my emails now for this issue. Yesterday, I actually got a return label email before I recieved the confirmed delivery email from Henry for my 30-30. Henry is super fast on responding, it’s just frustrating that I have 5 single shots and 4 of them are on their 2nd or 3rd butt stock.

[JEBar]

This problem with the stocks cracking looks like it could cost Henry quite a bit of money if the problem is not found quick. There may be a lot of the guns already shipped that could have the same issue when fired. I hate to see these reports of Henry having so many rifles sent back for warranty issues. Almost starting to make Marlin's not sound to bad. They will get it figured out. They are a very good company that always takes care of their customers. A friend of mine has a fantastic piece of wood on his chambered in 223 Rem. and he is now afraid of shooting it due to hearing about the stock cracking issues.

in another thread (link below) addressing cracked stocks Anthony Imperato stated in part, "From the numbers of replacement stocks shipped compared to 300,000 guns being shipped it is a very insignificant number – that being said, we want it to be close to zero." .... I have no reason to doubt his numbers and having them does put the issue in perspective .... without having access to the total picture, its really easy to over/under estimate the scope of an issue .... I didn't buy our 3 Henry rifles to sit an look at them .... they were purchased to be fired and fired often .... the good news if, at worse case, one or more of ours was to crack, in a couple of weeks it would be back in house, ready to let rounds fly



http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=5599

[CT_Shooter]

If I had Anthony’s contact info I most certainly would contact him.... it’s just frustrating that I have 5 single shots and 4 of them are on their 2nd or 3rd butt stock.

Steider, you can contact him at:
Anthony@Henryrepeating.com
Keep us posted.