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Hi All,
I have the opportunity to buy this rifle and was hoping for some input from the good members here. Does it look correct and what would be a fair market price.
Thank you all very much for any and all comments.
Tom
Thomas, The pictures you posted show what looks like a very nice military Henry. Placing an accurate value would require a lot more pictures of every angle showing colors of the blue/patina, wood fit, “all ” numbers, and any signs of repairs or replacements. An auction house with the gun and a screwdriver in hand can only estimate value within 5-10 thousand. That said, 20-40 thousand is a extremely rough number. I once had a individual bring me a Henry that he had on approval, it was 45 caliber,a well aged and remarked barrel. The seller wanted $30,000. Buy it on approval and take it to someone you trust for a opinion! T/R
Thank you all very much for your comments and advice. It is definitely a very nice example and expensive! I will continue to look into this.
Thanks again,
Tom
Tom,
As TR said, that is a very good looking rifle, and I can’t find anything wrong with it, but would want it in hand to inspect like TR said. It was made in Sept./Oct of 1863 and in the serial range of 3000 to 4000 where the 800 military rifles went to the 1st DC Calvary. They did not list any rifles to individual soldiers, so serial checks come up empty. Also pension records of mustering out soldiers didn’t list the rifles. The 1st DC Calvary lost a bunch of Henrys in their first battle, so the rifle very well could have been taken be a Confederate soldier.
Back to your potential purchase, everything looks good, and the numbers are where they’re supposed to be, especially the military markings. No sling swivels were put on that group of guns.
Henrys are soft on the market now, and there are a lot of them for sale. At the Denver Show recently, I’ve never seen so many Henrys for sale. BUT, you have a special rifle there. I would guess it could be in the mid 20’s to mid 30’s at best.
If there were provenance, it would be on the higher end.
Drop me a PM if you want and we could exchange some more specifics.
Bill
Thomas Foster said
What means this marking in the buttstock ??
Greetings from Argentina
That is a small military inspectors cartouche. Although hard to read, it should have the same initials as on the barrel, CGC. This stands for Charles G. Chapman.
Online
There is about a $5,000 to $10,000 increase for the rifle being a military issued gun, with no provenance, over a commercial gun in the same condition. Wiley Sword’s book lists that this serial number would have been made in October of 1863.
Wiley Sword, The Historic Henry Rifle. Les Quick, The Story of Benjamin Tyler Henry and His Famed Repeating Rifle. Bruce McDowell, Development of the Henry Cartridge.
I have Henry #8062 which is a pretty good cond. non military Henry with decent orig. finish remaining, I am asking $23,000.00 U.S. for it , if that helps You any.
W.A.C.A. life member, Marlin Collectors Assn. charter and life member, C,S.S.A. member and general gun nut.
I, too, would love to own a decent Henry.
The reality is that these have peaked and may never return to their highs. I am biding my time until they diminish further. The buyers for these are younger generations, as with any item. There is much less interest in these amongst younger generations and they don’t have that kind of money to devote to one historical object. Plus, there is a glut of these as old timers are selling because they have no choice.
Simple supply and demand.
Question for the experts from an amateur who knows squat about Henry’s: How do you feel about the wood-to-metal fit on the butt plate:
1. top third or so of the vertical curve;
2. the small curve transition from vertical to horizontal;
3. square end terminus of horizontal.
Thanks for the education.
One thing I know about Henrys is in the old days before they were worth anything a guy would buy one from a dealer with several and if he didn’t like the wood they would swap it with another without any thought.
The other thing, does it have the Henry bump on the stock?
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
mrcvs said
I, too, would love to own a decent Henry.The reality is that these have peaked and may never return to their highs. I am biding my time until they diminish further. The buyers for these are younger generations, as with any item. There is much less interest in these amongst younger generations and they don’t have that kind of money to devote to one historical object. Plus, there is a glut of these as old timers are selling because they have no choice.
Simple supply and demand.
I’m in the same boat as you. Luckily i’m one of the younger ones so i have the time to wait for the prices to hopefully drop to a level of affordability!
Thank you all very much gentlemen for your advice and thoughts. Yes, there is the Henry bump on the buttstock.
Tom
This is just my opinion with out having the gun in hand, everything about it looks right as rain. I don’t see any problem what-so-ever with the butt stock. Cartouche matches the inspectors marking on the barrel and also the overall condition of the rifle. If serial number matches on the stock, then your good to go. I have no doubt that it does.
How does the wood fit at the toe of the butt plate?
If you grab the sides of the butt plate with your finger and thumb and run them from the metal surfaces onto the wood is the wood higher than the metal? Do this below the top bend area. Wood/metal fit looks pretty good to me.
If you pull the stock there should be a serial number on the left side of the lower tang and on the stock in the upper tang groove
Chuck said
How does the wood fit at the toe of the butt plate?If you grab the sides of the butt plate with your finger and thumb and run them from the metal surfaces onto the wood is the wood higher than the metal? Do this below the top bend area. Wood/metal fit looks pretty good to me.
If you pull the stock there should be a serial number on the left side of the lower tang and on the stock in the upper tang groove
I must defer to you guys. My reason for asking is to determine the extent to which a variance from perfection is still within the norm.
Other than the toe itself, where the wood is shy (which I often see as part of what I assume it normal wear/chipping at that point), it seems the bottom two thirds has an excellent fit. But the top third seems to start to gap, however so slightly; the transition curve seems off (but on closer inspection it seems that is more on the plate side than the wood side, and the plate has good numbers, so . . . I guess that’s not an issue in my mind even if the metal is rough); Finally, when I close in tight on the top/forward end, it seems the wood is straight up and down while the brass is tipping forward toward the top and proud at the top, almost over-lapping the wood a little. Just below that, it is the opposite. Maybe it’s just the angle of the photo.
So, in the end, if the consensus it this is a good wood to metal fit for the rifle and time, I will walk away larn’t. Thanks, all.
If the serial number on the gun, tang, stock and buttplate match there is no reason to worry. If you choose to remove the stock they can be very tight on the tangs. DO NOT FORCE anything. You can slightly tap/move the wood up and down to loosen the grip. DO NOT move it sideways. Once it is loose pull it straight back and off the tangs.
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