Working the Henry Rifle And its Uberti Replica

Benjamin Tyler Henry was a brilliant gunsmith, inventor, and firearms designer. The Henry repeating rifle bears his name, after he altered and improved the design of a rifle originally developed by his former employers, Daniel Smith and Horace Wesson. The Henry Rifle’s direct ancestor was the Smith & Wesson Magazine Pistol or the "Volcanic," as it is commonly known. This was a radical weapon at the time, firing a case-less cartridge.

If you’re not familiar with the term, a case-less cartridge is essentially a bullet with a hollow base that contains both the priming and propellant charges. The S&W Magazine Pistol was a financial failure, but not because the concept or workmanship were at fault’as we’ll see in a moment. I purposely used the word "radical" in the last paragraph to describe the S&W Magazine Pistol. This pistol used an ingenious lever-operated toggle action, equipped with a tubular magazine under the barrel that held its cartridges.

The cartridges were fed upward into the action by a moving carrier. Quick use of the finger lever cocked the hammer, raised up anew cartridge, and fed it into the barrel chamber with two short swipes. This was exciting stuff for 1854, when most weapons were muzzleloading singleshots that had to be loaded in several slow and deliberate steps.

The financial backing for the S&W venture came from a consortium of local businessmen; not coincidentally, one of the officers of this consortium was a man named Oliver Winchester. B. T. Henry originally worked as S&W’s shop foreman on the Magazine Top of page: This modern copy of the Model 1860 Henry in .44-40 caliber is manufactured in Italy by A. Uberti Firearms. Author photos. Pistol project.

After the financial buyout of his friends at S&Win 1855, Henry moved from Norwich to New Haven, Connecticut, along with the new owners, who formed a company called Volcanic Repeating Arms Co. Volcanic continued to produce the Magazine Pistol until early 1857, when anew company called New Haven Arms Co. was formed, and Oliver Winchester played an even larger role in this firm. New Haven Arms ex-

panded on the Volcanic line to include long arms’rifles to be exact. The Smith & Wesson Volcanic cartridge, as innovative as it was in its day, was terribly underpowered. What’s more, that volatile mixture of fulminate it used as a powder charge proved to be highly corrosive. B. T. Henry set out to alter the design so its action could be made to handle and fire a more powerful, self-contained metallic cartridge. Henry’s final cartridge would become famous as the .44 Henry Flat Rimfire.

The cartridge was so-named because of its flat-nosed bullet, which was designed to prevent one bullet’s nose from setting off the cartridge in front of it in the magazine. The .44 Henry was basically a scaled-up version of Smith & Wesson’s .22 Rimfire No. 1 cartridge, a successful cartridge that S&W had been using in their seven-shot revolvers since 1857.

When it was reintroduced in 1860 under Henry’s name, the rifle used the same basic mechanical components that had worked so flawlessly in S&W’s Magazine Pistol, with an elongated action to hold the new metallic cartridge. Other additions to the S&W action included a redesigned firing pin or striker to dent the hollow cartridge rim and explode the priming compound, as well as an extractor mounted on the bolt to remove fired cartridge cases from the chamber. Henry’s repeating rifle became an instant success.

The Henry rifle provided the equivalent firepower of 15 single-shot rifles, except that the Henry was a good deal easier and faster to reload. Small numbers were even used in the American Civil War, where this 15-shot repeater was referred to as "that damned Yankee rifle you could load on Sunday and shoot all week." Like the S&W before it, the Henry rifle’s magazine tube was machined as part of the barrel.

The magazine was loaded by pivoting a barrel extension, then literally pouring the cartridges, base down, into the front of the magazine. Inside, a spring-loaded brass cartridge follower with a handle that stuck out through a slot in the bottom of the tube served to push the cartridges back into the action. One flaw in this was this follower handle, which could run into the shooter’s hand and stop the cartridges from feeding.

Another was the lack of forearm wood; when the barrel heated up after a few shots, the Henry became too hot to handle. Despite its flaws, Henry’s invention was a brilliant accomplishment, and it became the first in along line of toggle-action repeaters. Winchester took over the company from Henry in 1866, and that old Smith & Wesson design formed the foundation of the highly successful Winchester Repeating Arms Company.

Takedown Instructions These basic steps can be used with Uberti-made replicas and original Henry rifles. The original rifles differ slightly, primarily in the firing pin and mainspring areas. Unless otherwise noted, I’ll be using Uberti’s parts nomenclature in these instructions. 1. As always, start by making certain the rifle is unloaded.

Grasp the rifle around the barrel with your left hand, point the muzzle in a safe direction, and turn the lever hook’s ome times called a "lever lock" (#542) until it points sideways. This unlocks the lever (#89). (On the original Henry, this is called a "finger lever.") Open the action by pulling the lever all the way down with your right hand. Check to see if there is a cartridge in the barrel’s chamber, and look down into the open action to be sure there is not a cartridge in the cartridge carrier (#7).

If there is a cartridge in the carrier, the rifle will be loaded when you close the lever. To safely unload a Henry rifle with a loaded magazine, make sure the muzzle stays pointed in a safe direction, and with the lever still in the open position, push the magazine follower (#113) all the way forward and hold it there. Now twist the sleeve (#223) as far as it will turn in a clockwise direction (viewed from the muzzle). Hold the rifle over a wooden bench or table top and tip it so the muzzle is facing down.

All the car-

tridges in the magazine should be free to slide forward and out of the magazine. You can now twist the sleeve back into its original position and ease the magazine follower rearward and back into place. Make one last check after unloading to be sure that no cartridges remain in the magazine. Keeping your fingers away from the trigger, operate the lever all the way closed and then back all the way open, and ensure there is no cartridge in the cartridge carrier. 2. Removal of the buttstock and mainspring come next.

Unscrew and remove both screws located behind the hammer. One is the upper tang screw (#63) and the other is a wood screw (#62) from the upper tang’t he rearmost of the two screws. Then remove the lower tang wood screw (#62). The buttstock (#57) can be removed from the action (#1) by pulling it off toward the rear. On the Uberti, open the lever slightly and remove the mainspring screw (#36) from the lower tang. The mainspring (#20) can now be removed out through the back of the action.

Make Then push down on the carrier block and remove it through the opening in the bottom of the receiver. On the original Henry, with the hammer sitting in the forward position, use a pair of spreader-type pliers to compress the top of the mainspring just far enough to disengage the spring from the stirrup. Then release the tension on the spring, and use a small drift punch and hammer to drive the mainspring sideways and out of its seat in the lower tang. 3.

Begin removing the sideplates and the lever spring by loosening the two

Henry (Uberti) Model 1860 Toggle-Action Rifle (Specifications subject to change without notice) 1 Receiver 2 Hammer 3 Barrel 7 Carrier Block 15 Sight 19 Trigger Spring 20 Mainspring 36 Mainspring Screw 55 Rear Sight 57 Buttstock 58 Buttplate 62 Buttplate Screw 63 Tang Screw lever-spring screws (#124) about two full turns each. These are located justin front of the lever on the bottom of the receiver. Unscrew and remove the lever screw (#101).

The sideplates (#73-Rand #74-L) are dovetailed into the receiver sides and are meant to slide out from bottom to top.

By using a small block of hardwood approximately 1/2 x 1/4 x 4 inches as a drift punch, you can carefully hammer the sideplates down from the top, using alternating blows 67 Firing Pin Extension 69 Rear Base 72 Cam Lever 73 Sideplate, Right 74 Sideplate, Left 76 Rear Running 79 Extractor 80 Front Band 83 Rear Link, Right 84 Rear Link, Left 85 Front Link, Right 86 Front Link, Left 89 Lever front and rear until both plates are freed from the receiver.

Remove the two lever-spring screws (#124) along with the left and right lever springs (#92 and 93). Be sure you make note of their positions for later reassembly. 4.

To disassemble the action, lift out the left (#84 and 86) and right (#83 and 85) link assemblies from their respective sides of the frame, then drive out and remove the lever pin (#107) from the top of the lever (#89). 90 Lifter Arm 92 Right Lever Spring 93 Left Lever Spring 95 Firing Pin Spring 96 Magazine Spring 97 Breech Block 98 Firing Pin 99 Trigger Pin 100 Hammer Pin Screw 101 Lever Screw 104 Firing Pin Stop 105 Rear Link Pin 106 Link Pin 107 Lever Pin 108 Extractor Pin 109 Cam Lever Pin 112 Hammer Link Pin 113 Magazine Follower 115 Hammer Link 121 Band Screw 124 Lever Spring Screw 217 Buttplate Gate 223 Sleeve 233 Protection Running Screw 234 Protection Running Spring 237 Lever Hook Spring 263 Trigger Spring Screw 458 Buttplate Gate Pin 536 Sleeve Latch 538 Sleeve Latch Rod Spring 542 Lever Hook 544 Rear Sight Pin 546 Sleeve Latch Rod 550 Magazine Follower Screw 552 Lever Hook Spring Screw 600 Rear Sight Spring 609 Rear Running Stop Screw Lift up just slightly on the lifter arm (#90) and pull the lever straight out through the bottom of the receiver.

You can now push up on the carrier block (#7) and withdraw the lifter arm down and rearward, until it can be removed out through the lever opening in the receiver bottom. Unscrew and remove the trigger-spring screw (#263) and the trigger spring (#19) from the front of the trigger (#10). After unscrewing and removing the hammer-pin screw (#100), the ham-

mer (#2) can be withdrawn up and out through its opening in the receiver top. Push down on the carrier block and it can be removed through its opening in the bottom of the receiver. 5. Remove the firing pin, trigger, and lever hook on the Uberti by using a small pin punch and hammer to drive the firing-pin stop (#104) out through the side of the breech block (#97). The firing-pin extension (#67), firing pin (#98), and firing-pin spring are now loose and can be withdrawn out through the rear of the receiver.

The breech block itself can now be removed by tilting it all the way down while withdrawing it toward the rear. This allows the sleeve-latch assembly to be taken apart. Use a cup-tipped pin punch and hammer to drift the trigger pin (#99) out from either side of the receiver. The trigger can now be pulled out from the bottom. The lever hook (#542) is removed by unscrewing it out through its hole in the lower frame tang.

The lever-hook spring (#237) is removed by removing the lever-hook spring screw (#552) located on the inside of the lower frame tang. On the original Henry rifle, move the breech-bolt assembly to the rear until the extractor pin in the bolt is aligned with the notch in the receiver. Then drive out the extractor pin using a hammer and along pin punch. The firing-pin extension is then unscrewed from the rear, and then the firing pin can be pulled out through the back of the receiver.

The firing pin (or boltface) can be lifted off the front of the breech block. As the bolt is moved forward, the extractor will be free to be lifted off from the top. Remove the breech block by tilting it all the way down as it is withdrawn to the rear. 6. Disassemble the magazine by unscrewing and removing the magazine-follower screw (#550) from the right barrel side.

I Using your thumb, push the magazine follower (#113) all the way forward, then hold it forward while you twist the sleeve (#223) clockwise (viewed from the front) as far as it will turn. The magazine follower is now free to be carefully eased back and out of the sleeve. Use caution, along with both hands to control and contain the magazine spring (#96), which is rather long and under tension. Next, unscrew and remove the band screw (#121) from the left side of the barrel muzzle.

The front band (#80) and the sleeve assembly (#223) are now free to slide forward and off the barrel. If necessary for repair or parts replacement, the sleeve can be further disassembled by unscrewing the sleeve-latch rod and removing it and the sleeve-latch rod spring (#538) from the inside rear of the magazine portion of the sleeve. The sleeve latch (#536) is now free on the front of the sleeve. Take note of the positions of these parts for later reassembly. 7.

Disassembly of the buttstock begins with unscrewing and removing the two buttplate screws (#62)"one at the top and one at the rear of the buttplate’and then removing the buttplate (#58). The buttplate-gate spring (#231) is removed by removing the buttplate-gate spring screw (#232). Take note of the positions of these parts for later assembly. That completes the disassembly of the Henry rifle and the near-clone made by Uberti. Reassembly of the rifle proceeds in the reverse order of the above.