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Lever Guns

Oh I cycled the heck out of it shot it full of oil & cycled it some more, blew it out, oiled it up again, cycled some more.

It got worse instead of better.
It feels like something is galled.
 
Well I worked on it another hour,. I sprayed it out with Winchester spray cleaner & shot it out with compressed air repeatedly & from different positions. I oiled it & worked the action

I ran the bore snake through it, swabbed out the action again the best I could without opening the action, blew it out again with the solvent & compressed air, more oil, more exercise, more air.

Eventually it started to loosen up, or rather stop balking, scraping, galling or whatever.

Since it improved, I'm inclined to say screw the warranty and tear it down for a complete polishing.

However, there is one thing that seems odd. I don't know yet. I need to study the exploded diagrams & maybe check out youtube.

(That odd thing was the nub of the ejector, which floats around a little in its hole in the receiver. I thought it looked like a loose drift pin. It's not. It's the thing I grab with a magnet in the pics below.)
 
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That sucks. It's like these manufacturers don't test anything before it leaves the factory. Marlin went way downhill, although I hear it is getting.
Try holding the hammer in the half cock position and cycling it over and over. If it is galled, it will, be in the action between the trigger and lever.
 
I'm finding rust in the feed tube. There was a bit in the feed tube of the Henry .22, so I brushed this one & patched it out about 20 times.

There was some rust on the bore too. Not heavy, but not good. I got that cleared up & NOW I'm going to open the action.

I kinda know what I'm gonna find. ;(
 
About midnight I tore the bolt & lever off the Henry .357 & spent another hour cleaning rust out of it.
That's why it doesn't feed. It runs MUCH better now, but I did NOT do the trigger group or elevator yet; just the bolt, lever, breech & ejector, barrel, and tube feed & extractor plunger/spring. They all were a bit rusty.

The lever comes off with one screw, easily if the bolt is closed. Tie the hammer down with a shoelace & the bolt comes right out. The ejector is the bolt key, & there are rails or keyways cut into bolt & receiver. That was rusty and dragging a lot.

To reassemble it you need a good magnet to hold the ejector in place while you install the bolt. Easy as pie once you know the two tricks: shoelace & magnet.

When "running the action" to smooth out a new gun, tie the hammer down or you'll gall the hammer against the bolt.

This is the exact issue I have with the Mossberg. It doesn't get lubed much there unless you repeatedly lube it, & it helps to fire the gun each time you rack it. (I hate to dry fire. Use the shoelace.)
 
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This magnet came from an old hard drive. It's very strong. The cloth prevents scratching the receiver.
I positioned the ejector with pliers, & locked it in place with the magnet.
This allowed the bolt to be easily installed.
magnet.jpg
 
Wow. I expect to do a little initial cleaning but rust to the point of affecting function is unacceptable and really is makjng me have second thoughts about this model.

Glad you got it working.
 
It's the weather. After years of drought we're having lots of rain. People aren't taking proper precautions, and it's been the perfect temps for rust to form. Warm And Wet: normally a good thing, but not for guns.

However. the rust was very light and came right off. The thing is that the fit is so close on these parts (bolt and ejector) that even the lightest rust was enough to jamb them.

I haven't fired it yet, but first I'll clean up the trigger group and elevator. Busy on another project right now.
 
This is Henry's "semi-fancy American walnut stock".
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This is a field-grade gun, not a show gun, so not glossy.
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I wiped it with an oily rag & shot these in my garage at night with garish lighting.
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Sorry it's not a Mossberg guys....

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here I'm checking ammo for length. Short 38 specials won't feed according to Henry. 158 grn was recommended.

I was trying to shoot 125s, and single shot is the only way with those.

HPR .357s were the longest, most consistent, and fed the best.

The FMJ was very smooth, but sorta semi-flatnose -- not as round as this gun wants. The Blazers and Winchesters were soft hollow points, so not so consistent either, Either feeding or shooting.
 
Hey, I got some Federal round-nose 158 grn American Eagles at Big 5 while on lunch today. These look like they should cycle much better.

I also bought a tube of gun grease, which is normally $3 at Walmart. When the gal rang it up at $24.99 + tax I had a stroke right there.

After a lengthy wait the manager showed up, peeled the tag off the bottom, rescanned it and charged me $3.49.

Man it's getting hard to shop any more.
 
BTW, The right bullet for this gun is the middle one.
top to bottom:

HPR .38 Specials 125gr FMJ
Federal .38 Spec 158gr round
Win .357 Magnums 158gr HP
3rounds.jpg

I would have bought MUCH less expensive ammo if Henry had warned me away from the flat noses, as they don't feed well; but, lucky me, the Evil Roy will shoot all of it (which was always my Evil plan. LOL )
 
Looks good CaddmannQ. Are you satisfied with the way it works after the through cleaning?

I like the Buffalo Bore 180gr .358 rounds. They pack a punch. I have not shot any deer with them yet but they are a blast to shoot form the Contender and my revolver.
 
Well this gun ran really well at the range Sunday. It was nearly flawless with the Federal 158 gr ammo.

I can't wait to get a scope on it now.
 
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