Lever Action 357

[Redz72]

Anyone have any experience with the Henry Big Boy X or Citadel Levtac 92? I’m looking closely at those two and am having trouble deciding. Henry is about 1000 and Citadel is 800. I budgeted around 1000 so if I went with the Citadel, I’d get plenty of rounds with it and still be under 1000. But Henry reputation is hard to pass up.

 

[DEG]

I owned a Big Boy 44 magnum and it was a pretty but very fragile rifle. It went back to the factory 3 times for repair and the 3rd time I ask them to buy the gun back and they did. First time was a broken NIM shell lifter. Second time was for a broken firing pin. Third time it went back was due to the kinetic hammering of loaded shells in the magazine caused the pin on the tube to hammer against the notch in the magazine eventually tearing the very thin metal of the magazine launching the tube downrange. It's a pretty wall hanger; not a shooter. Modern Henry rifles do not have a very good reputation. They are not the old Henry.

A Marlin 1894 in 357 would be a better choice and they can be had new for under $1000. Even better would be one of the older "JM" Marlin Cowboy Limited 1894s but they run over $1500 used. I have two of the Cowboy Limited guns; one in 357 and one in 44mag.

 

[Redz72]

Thanks for the info brother! I’m looking to build a tactical lever action. The Marlin is beautiful and I’d hate to buy that just to swap out the stock and foregrip etc. the Citadel comes with tac furniture already. It’s made by Rossi in Brazil and the reviews are generally good. Just not sure about the longevity. I’m looking to get my hands on both and I’ll be sure to give a close look to the issues you suggested.

 

[n8zcc]

I've got several Henry Big Boys in .357 and .44 mag., carbine and 20" barrels with and without side gate loading, all are large loop. Unlike DEG, my experiences have been perfect, not a single issue with any of them. Henrys have the smoothest actions I've ever seen. Henrys also has a lifetime warranty and as DEG experienced, Henry stands behind their products.

If you have trouble finding a Henry model you want, send an email to Henry customer service, and they will locate dealers and/or distributors that have the model you are looking for. Dealers around me never have the X models in stock but not hard to get once you have Henry find you one.

I paid around $800 for my Henrys, I use a Henry Gold Star dealer not far from me. You should be able to purchase Henry's well under MSRP.