Henry h001t problem

[H.Plummer]

Any Henry experts out there? My Henry Frontier is basically inoperable at the moment.
The tip of the trigger is dragging and hanging up on the lever when the lever is squeezed closed, which is every time, since I rest the front of the lever in my palm to shoot.
I dry fired about 3000 times over last winter with not even a hiccup and my trigger was buttery smooth...until now.
Any ideas before I call Henry on Monday?

[ppkny]

Can you push it back before you close the breach, or is it always sticking out and stuck.
ppkny

[H.Plummer]

Can you push it back before you close the breach, or is it always sticking out and stuck.
ppkny

If I let the lever drop down from the lower tang, the trigger operates freely. If the lever is fully closed and up against the lower tang, the trigger hits the trigger guard portion of the lever and won't move rearward.
Does that make sense?
What's weird is that it just started this after working properly for a few thousand rounds. It's like my trigger grew in length by a few thousands.

[ppkny]

Sorry I misunderstood I thought it was the firing pin hanging up. Check if the return spring on the shear is broken.
ppkny

[ppkny]

The hammer and the shear are he same part. They get reset by the long spring that's attached to the hammer/shear.
ppkny

[H.Plummer]

The h001 style is different than the illustration you posted but, in any case, the hammer spring is in place and not broken.
Forgot to mention...a guy posted the exact same problem on rimfire central but no one had a solution.
Hopefully Henry has heard of this and has a solution and an explanation as to why it happened in the first place.

[ppkny]

Good luck with Henry. In my experience they (no manufacturer) will give any advice due to liability. They'll want yu to send it to the.
ppkny

[H.Plummer]

Good luck with Henry. In my experience they (no manufacturer) will give any advice due to liability. They'll want yu to send it to the.
ppkny

I'm afraid you're right. I know a gunsmith that can look at it next week. Maybe he'll have an answer. If not, I guess my summer of match shooting is over. Bummer!

[ppkny]

Got this from another shooter:

The Henry trigger problem sounds like the problem Miker had with his bolt. I bet the top portion of the lever has worn a divot in the bolt. That causes 2 problems. The bolt no longer closes all the way, and the lever closes closer to (or now touches) the butt stock, which could explain why the trigger now contacts the trigger guard portion of the lever. The metal used to make the bolt is apparently soft which causes the divot to form, especially if the rifle is used a lot. Note that H. Plummer said he dry fired his rifle 3000 times over the winter. That’s my 2 cents.

[H.Plummer]

Ironic that you posted that. I spoke to my gunsmith last night and he said the very same thing. I'll be seeing him this afternoon but I suspect that is the cause.
It's worth noting that, yes, I dry fired a few thousand times, BUT I was only cocking the trigger between shots, and not operating the lever. I have actually fired, and operated the lever, of this rifle fewer than a thousand rounds. If your guy and my guy are correct, and they likely are, that doesn't say much for the quality of Henry. Perhaps the old saying, "you get what you pay for" applies here, or they are fine for occasional plinkers but not up to the rigors of competition (and practice). I'll post my findings later and we can put this mystery to bed.
Pass on my thanks to your knowledgeable guy and thank you for taking the time and effort to pursue this on my behalf. Greatly appreciated!

[ppkny]

Here's a picture of he problem:
ppkny

[H.Plummer]

Okay, mystery solved, and it is as suggested.
The part of the lever that contacts the bolt and holds it in the closed position and the corresponding part of the bolt had both worn down enough that the lever had to be lifted higher toward the buttstock to completely close the bolt. Well, the lever can only be lifted so high before it contacts the tip of the trigger, preventing its movement.
In my case, the wear only amounted to about .016" but it was enough to create the problem.
Now we know and can help the next guy who's experiencing this problem.
Thanks again!!

[potterboy1]

H. Plummer
The picture that ppkny posted was of my Henry Frontier. I will say it is disappointing that Henry has this problem and they haven't addressed it yet. I talked to at least one other shooter that had the same problem. I also had your problem with the trigger rubbing against the lever and at that point I filed off the bottom of the trigger not realizing that I had a bigger problem looming. Finally, when I was having several misfires during Silhouette matches I dug deeper and found the wear issue. It was bad enough that I could push the bolt forward with the lever fully closed.
My opinion is that the wear comes from squeezing the lever towards the tang. I had to borrow a bolt from a fellow shooter's Frontier so I could go to Lever Action Nationals in Ridgway.
All that said my Henry is a great accurate shooter and for me that is the important part. Plus Henry turned the repair around in less than a week and I paid nothing, they also paid for the shipping both ways.
Good luck with the repair.

[H.Plummer]

Potterboy1,
Thanks for posting your experience, and I agree that Henry should address this issue.
I'm used to my Winchester 94 that requires closing the lever tightly against the tang to depress the safety button. Seems to me that squeezing the lever tightly closed is the natural thing to do, but that's just me.
I'll get the repair done and then decide if it's a keeper or if it's going on the chopping block. I've never been disappointed in the accuracy so, we'll see
Thanks again!