Henry or Cimarron

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Gary_fires

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I am thinking about getting my first lever-action rifle , should I go with Henry or Cimarron? I'm looking for something dependable and classic-looking that I can easily get parts for. I plan to use it for hunting and target shooting
 
I’d go with Henry for reliability and parts or Cimarron if you're after a more historical look and custom choices. Think about your budget and if you have a local gunsmith who can help if needed
 
If you start with a new gun you won't need parts. The type of lever gun is a choice of what you want to shoot for a cartridge. If you want to shoot it on a regular basis then anything in a pistol cartridge. The also opens you up to adding a handgun it the same caliber. Also think 44 special/44 magnum or 38 special-357 magnum. This gives you a lot more options. I have shot Uberti lever guns for years and have had few if any, or major problems or had to replace parts. If you don't reload and don't intend to then it's how much you want to spend on ammo. Any rifle cartridge is going to cost way more per round. Think about shooting 100-200 rounds at the range with 38 special or 30-30 or 45-70. If you do reload then it's a lot cheaper to load 400 rounds of 38 special on a progressive press. How much shooting do you really want to do?
I have never owned a Henry anything and don't plan to. I have nothing against Henry, I just would rather have a reproduction of a Winchester 66', 73' or 92' than a Henry that is a copy of nothing. I also shoot original Winchesters and Marlins of the era. Reloading opens many doors and options.
You might want to look at a Rossi lever gun too. They are also very popular. My 2c
 
I've heard the Henry Big Boy lever-action is super smooth and has a great fit and finish right out of the box.
 
Shootin Iron said:
If you start with a new gun you won't need parts. The type of lever gun is a choice of what you want to shoot for a cartridge. If you want to shoot it on a regular basis then anything in a pistol cartridge. The also opens you up to adding a handgun it the same caliber. Also think 44 special/44 magnum or 38 special-357 magnum. This gives you a lot more options. I have shot Uberti lever guns for years and have had few if any, or major problems or had to replace parts. If you don't reload and don't intend to then it's how much you want to spend on ammo. Any rifle cartridge is going to cost way more per round. Think about shooting 100-200 rounds at the range with 38 special or 30-30 or 45-70. If you do reload then it's a lot cheaper to load 400 rounds of 38 special on a progressive press. How much shooting do you really want to do?
I have never owned a Henry anything and don't plan to. I have nothing against Henry, I just would rather have a reproduction of a Winchester 66', 73' or 92' than a Henry that is a copy of nothing. I also shoot original Winchesters and Marlins of the era. Reloading opens many doors and options.
You might want to look at a Rossi lever gun too. They are also very popular. My 2c
Click to expand...
That's good stuff about the pistol calibers! Since you like the old-school look, have you ever thought about a Taylor’s & Company replica or do you only go with Uberti?
 
Alex said:
That's good stuff about the pistol calibers! Since you like the old-school look, have you ever thought about a Taylor’s & Company replica or do you only go with Uberti?
Click to expand...
Basically Taylor's is Uberti, they are a distributor. But to answer your question I think I have one long gun from Taylor's. A do have a couple of SAA's and I can't remember what else. The other Italian brand is Pietia but they just do handguns and the other distributors are EMF and Cimarron. I have some of those too. The deal with playing Cowboy Action is when you buy one sixgun at some point its "I need another one just like it in the same caliber"
Then when you fall into a deal on one it a caliber you don't have then you need another sixgun and a rifle to go with it, or is a carbine better? You can
see the dilemma. And then of course depending on barrel length and model, Dang! you now need new gun leather! It compounds when you reload.
Then there is, "Do I want to shoot period correct original guns?????" I think it's one of the only shooting sports where you can go down multiple rabbit holes. Yet some shooters stick to just the four same guns and the same gear. For me there is no fun it that!
 
Shootin Iron said:
If you start with a new gun you won't need parts. The type of lever gun is a choice of what you want to shoot for a cartridge. If you want to shoot it on a regular basis then anything in a pistol cartridge. The also opens you up to adding a handgun it the same caliber. Also think 44 special/44 magnum or 38 special-357 magnum. This gives you a lot more options. I have shot Uberti lever guns for years and have had few if any, or major problems or had to replace parts. If you don't reload and don't intend to then it's how much you want to spend on ammo. Any rifle cartridge is going to cost way more per round. Think about shooting 100-200 rounds at the range with 38 special or 30-30 or 45-70. If you do reload then it's a lot cheaper to load 400 rounds of 38 special on a progressive press. How much shooting do you really want to do?
I have never owned a Henry anything and don't plan to. I have nothing against Henry, I just would rather have a reproduction of a Winchester 66', 73' or 92' than a Henry that is a copy of nothing. I also shoot original Winchesters and Marlins of the era. Reloading opens many doors and options.
You might want to look at a Rossi lever gun too. They are also very popular. My 2c
Click to expand...
You’ve got some excellent points about picking the right cartridge and reloading. Should I start with a pistol caliber lever rifle, like a .44 Special, to save money when practicing? Or should I just go straight to .30-30 if I plan to hunt seriously?
 
Pirate said:
You’ve got some excellent points about picking the right cartridge and reloading. Should I start with a pistol caliber lever rifle, like a .44 Special, to save money when practicing? Or should I just go straight to .30-30 if I plan to hunt seriously?
Click to expand...
It depends on what you really want to do more of. If you get into reloading then it kind of a moot point. If you got a lever gun in 44 Mag you can use it to hunt with and then you can still shoot 44 specials in or just make reduced 44 mag loads. 38-357 is the same deal. Having a pistol caliber lever gun gives you the option to carry a handgun in the same caliber. If you want to go big game hunting then the 30-30 or bigger caliber would be the way to go. Shop around, you should be able to score a used 30-30 lever gun for short money and play with it for a while. Or maybe you have friends that will let you shoot there lever guns and sort it all out from there. My 2c
 

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