Working the Henry Big Boy Rifle

Not the least among the differences between the Big Boy and the Golden Boy are the calibers and receivers. The Golden Boy’s small-bore receiver is hidden under a brass-plated zinc cover. Its .44 Magnum/.44 Special big brother’s receiver is solid brass. In fact, no American-made rifle has worn this much brass since the original Henry of 1860. The Henry Big Boy sure is pretty, but it isn’t very tough. You must use screwdrivers with hollow-ground blades that fit screw slots like they were custom made to fit them.

Otherwise, one slip and you’ll be looking at a deeply scratched receiver—in addition to a beaten-up screw head and a ticked-off gun owner. Speaking of which, there are a few things in the Big Boy owner’s manual you should be aware of, because owners rarely study the manuals and often don’t even keep them. Under the topic "Safety," the manual describes the patented Transfer Bar Safety System the Henry employs. It prevents the rifle’s being fired except when the hammer is fully cocked and the trigger is pulled.

There is no half-cock notch or cross-bolt safety. Nor will you see the more familiar hammer block in the Big Boy. It is, instead, seated within the body of the hammer itself, and don’t bother looking for it on the complete gun schematic which identifies the transfer bar pin (#14) but does not show the transfer bar itself (#13).

Related to safety and appearing under the heading "Ammunition" the owner is informed—if he bothers to read it—that the rifle is chambered specifically for the Remington .44 Magnum and the S&W .44 Special— and no other cartridges. Noted in the manual, probably because the presence of an elevator under the rear sight is so obvious, is how to make height adjustments. Not noted is the white diamond insert on the rear sight.

Held in place by a screw, the insert is reversible to provide either a Uor V-shaped notch, which is raised or lowered to fine tune adjustments made with the elevator. It is when the manual initially advises how to clean the rifle that it errs. In our opinion, no rifled firearm should ever be cleaned from muzzle to breech as the printed words state.

Almost immediately thereafter, it appears wiser heads prevailed, and the following method of cleaning the Big Boy is paraphrased from the manual: Open the lever (#23) and back out the lever screw (#12). Pull the bolt (#16) from the receiver. With the bolt out of the way, the ejector (#31) and its attached spring (#32) may or may not fall from their

receiver slot. If not, reach in with tweezers, pluck out the assembly, and don’t lose it. Now there’s nothing to get in the way, and the gun can be cleaned the right way—breech to muzzle. Field Stripping Plus… Before going further, here area couple of advisories about the schematic drawings. In the factory opinion and my own, the main overall drawing doesn’t show the entire triggerplate group in proper detail. The secondary schematic does, and for that reason is included here.

Parts numbers on both drawings coincide, with the "BB" prefix on the trigger-group drawing being the only difference. What the prefix stands for, if you haven’t already guessed, is Big Boy. In addition, Henry has provided detailed drawings showing both sides of the completed assembly for your reference. All manufacturers should be so considerate of gunsmiths. Ease the hammer into its fired position. Remove the tang screw (#49). Pull the stock (#54) off to the rear.

To take the pressure off the main spring (hammer spring, part #50) and remove the spring seat (#31), insert a screwdriver blade under the rear end of the yoke assembly (#33) and pry it away from the triggerguard plate (#2). Open the lever (#23) half way, back out the lever screw (#12), and pull the lever from the bottom of the receiver. The bolt is taken out as described previously, as is the ejector. Going Further There are two triggerguard plate screws, #47 and #48.

Take them both out and separate the plate from the receiver. I found the fit snug, but excessive force was not necessary to remove the plate. Looking down into the vacated receiver you can see the locking bolt (#35). Lift it out, but don’t lose its spring (#59) in the Left top: This photo shows a bottom view of the stripped receiver with the triggerplate assembly removed. The arrow indicates the magazine-retaining screw.

Left bottom: In this photo of the trigger mechanism, the transfer-bar safety is visible within the body of the hammer. The system prevents the rifle from being fired except when the hammer is fully cocked and the trigger is pulled. lifting. Turn the receiver on its side and remove the carrier screw (#46). I found reaching in through the ejection port with an active finger freed the carrier with little anguish. With the carrier will come its dog (#28), dog pin (#29), and spring (#30).

Unless one or more of the carrier parts has been damaged and needs replacement, you might as well leave it as is. Consider that a suggestion, not a warning. The same can be said of the hammer assembly because of the transfer-bar safety system. At least for now. Meanwhile, let’s move to the front end of the rifle. A twist to the right and a gentle pull as you look down on the magazine tubes with the muzzle facing away from you will remove the inner mag tube (#34).

There is no further disassembly of that particular element. It is available and sold only as a complete unit. After setting aside the inner tube, back out the barrel-band screw (#53), and slide the band (#52) off the forend and remove the wood. The band itself slips over the front sight and off the rifle. The outer magazine tube is held to the barrel by its tube support (#42). The support is dovetailed and pinned to the barrel.

Before the support can be drifted from the Opposite page: There is no numerical difference between the overall schematic (top) and the detailed triggerguard plate drawing (bottom) except for the use of the prefix "BB" in the detail drawing.

Henry Big Boy Lever-Action Rifle (Specificationssubjectto changewithoutnotice) 1 Receiver 2 Triggerguard Plate 3 Hammer 4 Trigger 5 Sear 6 Rocker 7 Trigger Lock 8 Sear/Rocker Spring 9 Trigger Lock Spring 45 Hammer Screw 54 Buttstock Assembly 10 Sear/Trigger Spring 46 Carrier Screw 55 Forearm 11 Lock Pin 47 Triggerguard Plate Screw 57 Extractor Plunger 12 Lever Screw 48 Triggerguard Plate Support Screw 58 Extractor Spring 13 Transfer Bar 49 Tang Screw 59 Locking Bolt Spring 14 Transfer Bar Pin 50 Mainspring 60 Mainspring Yoke Pin 15 Trigger/Rocker Link 51 Mainspring Seat 61 Front Sight 16 Bolt 52 Barrel Band 62 Rear Sight 17 Firing Pin, Front 53 Barrel Band Screw 63 Rear Sight Elevator 18 Firing Pin, Rear 19 Extractor Triggerguard Plate Assembly 20 Firing Pin Spring 21 Firing Pin Retaining Pin, Front 22 Firing Pin Retaining Pin, Rear 14,60 23 Lever 24 Lever Plunger 3 25 Lever Plunger Spring 26 Lever Plunger Pin 27 Carrier 28 Carrier Dog 29 Carrier Dog Pin 33 30 Carrier Dog Spring 31 Ejector 32 Ejector Spring 33 Mainspring Yoke Assembly 34 Inner Magazine Tube 35 Locking Bolt 36 Barrel 37 Outer Magazine Tube 38 Magazine Tube Follower 39 Magazine Tube Spring 40 Magazine Tube Knob 41 Magazine Tube Knob Pin 42 Magazine Tube Support 43 Magazine Tube Support Pin 44 Magazine Tube Retaining Screw

dovetail, the magazine-support pin (#43) has to be driven out from the left side. That means from your left to your right when the muzzle faces away from you. Hmmm. The outer tube still won’t let loose. The reason is an 8×32, conical-point set screw (#44) located in the receiver under the front end of the now absent triggerplate. The screw is secured with blue Lok Tite, so you might have to apply a little heat to break the bond.

Rather than using an open flame, I recommend you apply the tip of a electric soldering iron to the head of the screw until it can be backed out easily. Below top: When removing the mainspring seat, a screwdriver is slipped under the yoke assembly (arrow) to lift it free from the guard plate. The spring and upper tang are omitted here for clarity. Below bottom: The right-hand side of the triggerplate is shown here.

Note that the triggerlock link (arrow) must be reinstalled flush in reassembly, along with the different diameter retaining pins in the guard body. Don’t forget to freshen up the blue stuff when reinstalling the screw. Additional Disassembly Working from front to back seems the best way to go. The hammer is loose because you backed out the hammer screw. Pull the hammer out. Remove the trigger/rocker link (#BB15), the transfer-bar pin (#BB14), and the mainspring-yoke pin (#60).

Pick the transfer bar (#BB13) from the hammer. Next come the rocker (#BB6) and rocker spring (#BB8). There are two different diameter pins used in the trigger/sear/ lever detent assembly. The trigger and sear pins are .094 inch, while the lever-detent/trigger-lock pins are .078. Remove the trigger pin (#BB10) and separate the trigger (#BB4) from the sear (#BB5). The sear pin comes out followed by the sear and the trigger-lock/lever-detent pin (#BB11). The trigger lock (#BB7) and its spring (#BB9) are next.

The lever-detent pin secures the lever in its closed bolt position by exerting pressure on the lever plunger (#24) and lever spring (#25). Those parts are held in the lever by the plunger pin (#26). Reassembly is undertaken in reverse order. Speaking of reverse, you may have to flip the trigger/ rocker link end to end. It must seat fully in the assembly to avoid interference between the guard plate and receiver.

I don’t know exactly why this flipping might become necessary, but try it if the link fights you going all the way back in. Also note that the tab on the lower front of the hammer must fit underneath the rocker, and note that the transfer bar only fits inside the hammer body one way. It can’t be installed backwards. That’s good, because it has to seat in the hammer below the centerline of the rear firing pin.

When the trigger is pulled, and only when the trigger is pulled, the bar raises up allowing the hammer to make contact. This brings us to bolt disassembly/reassembly. Pins #21 and #22 retain the front and rear firing-pin halves respectively. Both are factory installed from the bottom of the bolt. They are driven out in the same direction. This will free both firing-pin halves, #17 and #18, plus the firing-pin spring (#20), the extractor (#19), extractor plunger (#57), and spring (#58).

When they go back into the bolt, those firing-pin halves and their spring must be in line. The forward half has a flat on its front end. Don’t let it rotate during reinstallation. I prevented it from turning with a wedge fashioned from a tongue depressor and slipped into the receiver slot where the lever enters and exits. Say "ahh." ■