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Henry 45-70 jammed closed

Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2017 12:45 am
by MacDonald
On 06/17/2017 I purchased a Henry 45-70 lever gun. Three days later, as I was cycling rounds through it, the gun jammed closed. :(

I am returning it to Henry - I know they have great customer service - but I am concerned: In researching the internet I find that this is not an unknown problem with lever actions. If this were to happen while I was hunting dangerous game, I would be hating life! Are there other lever fans that deal with this problem? Is it a regular thing??

Re: Henry 45-70 jammed closed

Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2017 7:28 am
by AlanM
Is it in full battery? With a live round?
If so, what is the legality and procedure for shipping a loaded firearm?

Re: Henry 45-70 jammed closed

Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2017 2:58 pm
by schmieg
AlanM wrote:Is it in full battery? With a live round?
If so, what is the legality and procedure for shipping a loaded firearm?
Fire it first?

Re: Henry 45-70 jammed closed

Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2017 5:25 pm
by JimE
You cannot ship a loaded firearm. Shippers for the most part will not accept ammo in the same container as the firearm (airlines are different)...it may be a DOT regulation.
If the rifle is un-loaded, no problem. If a fired case is stuck, contact the company , some will not even accept fired brass in the same box.

Re: Henry 45-70 jammed closed

Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2017 7:36 pm
by glocksmith
Yep, it's jammed...but there is an easy fix...shoot it. Sounds to me like you chambered a round with an OAL much longer than a lever gun will cycle. I think anything much longer than 2.550" OAL will jam up the action ie. won't extract. I know this because I chambered a round in my Marlin and had to tote it around loaded until I could get somewhere to safely fire it.

Re: Henry 45-70 jammed closed

Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2018 4:03 pm
by MacDonald
Been awhile since I revisited this thread. No, there was no round in it, and Henry fixed it, no questions asked. I am, however, wondering if other lever guys/gals can enlighten me on what to do if this happens again. I do not want to have to send it off every time this happens, and if it happens with a make that does not have lifetime warranty - I am screwed.

...eh...I guess youtube is my friend...

Re: Henry 45-70 jammed closed

Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2018 4:43 pm
by Mr. Glock
I'd hope that it doesn't happen again, since Henry would have fixed any mis-sized chamber or other issue.

I'd measure all your ammo from that batch before using it, to see if anything was also oversized.

It's either a mis-sized chamber or mis-sized ammo, most likely.

Re: Henry 45-70 jammed closed

Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2018 6:25 pm
by sodbuster95
MacDonald wrote:Been awhile since I revisited this thread. No, there was no round in it, and Henry fixed it, no questions asked. I am, however, wondering if other lever guys/gals can enlighten me on what to do if this happens again. I do not want to have to send it off every time this happens, and if it happens with a make that does not have lifetime warranty - I am screwed.

...eh...I guess youtube is my friend...
I'm a big fan of lever guns, but have never run into this on any of the lever guns I've owned. So, I'd be interesting in reading about what you find out.

Also, when you say that there was no live round in the chamber, do you mean that was because you were able to discharge the round or because it locked closed without a round chambered?

Re: Henry 45-70 jammed closed

Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 5:09 pm
by tracker1
I don’t know about the Henry action but when I bought a Marlin some years ago I was surprised how simple and few parts there was in the receiver, I always take new guns apart to clean up the machining.
From what I seen it would be difficult to lock up my Marlin but if it did I could unlock it.

Re: Henry 45-70 jammed closed

Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 10:51 am
by Cybercop
Ok, I'll take a crack at this.

I'm gathering that you got a live round stuck under the shell lifter. This happens more than you can imagine, but there is an easy fix. This normally happens when someone leaves the action open when loading, but dropping rounds strait down can do the same thing if the rims are a bit undersized. The only way to get them out is have someone hold the rifle muzzle down, and with a "Soft" leather faced mallet strike the muzzle. Inertia should jar it loose, it may take more than one attempt.

When loading if your unsure of the rim size of the lot and/or brand hold the rifle at about 30 degrees when loading, this will take a bit of the energy out of the round when it strikes the shell stops.

Also FYI Leverloution ammunition will *not* work in Henry 45-70 rifles, they need to stand fairly strait up to the the tube past them (Found that out the hard way.)

HTH Jim

Re: Henry 45-70 jammed closed

Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 3:28 pm
by AlanM
I'm having a hard time visualizing that procedure.
Hold the gun muzzle down and strike the muzzle.
Which way?
Are you saying to strike the end of the barrel with the mallet in line with the bore or 90° to it?

BTW I would think a hard rubber mallet would be less likely to cause any damage.

Re: Henry 45-70 jammed closed

Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 5:47 pm
by sodbuster95
AlanM wrote:I'm having a hard time visualizing that procedure.
As am I. :?: