Lever action 22LR: Winchester or Henry?

This is about the most ridiculous article I’ve ever read. Perhaps if someone is independently wealthy, a $1200 + .22 rifle might be something they want to add to their collection but for most of us, that would never be a consideration when you could pick up 3 Henry lever action rifles for the price of 1 9422. If the reviews are to be believed, the Henry is every bit as reliable if not more so. For the price of just 1 9422, a wise shopper could conceivably purchase a .22 lever action Henry, a 12 guage pump, a self defense sidearm chambered in 9mm or .40 caliber and a .22 semi auto such as the Ruger 10/22. Trying to persuade your readers that a $1200 .22 has any practical purpose in survival is ludicrous.
-A

I suppose you didn’t read the part about “In my opinion you are best served with a semi auto 22LR such as a Ruger 10/22 or a Marlin.” My posts aren’t that long, try reading them in full next time before getting so upset.
And no, the Henry is a great 22 (clearly the way to go for the money ) but better than the Winchester it is not. The fact that the 9422 can get pretty expensive to buy doesn’t change in any way its performance as a firearm. I can buy two Hi-Point 9mm for the price of a Glock… I’d still rather have the Glock.

That rifle has been out of production for many years and they have gotten very expensive, if you can locate one. People would be better served with a Henry lever gun. Excellent quality, affordable, and currently available.
-Kurt

.
Other than the superior construction, the same traits and qualities of the Winchester apply to the Henry. Basically you’re still talking about a reliable, handy .22 lever action that can handle S, L and LR.
I actually had to pick between the Winchester 9422 XTR (pictured in the post below, which I bought) and a Henry rifle. I wanted something affordable because this was mostly intended for my son. Can’t remember the exact price but I believe I paid around 350 USD for it, plus shipping and paperwork. The used Henry was about the same price, maybe 50 USD cheaper. The Henry was sold by someone local, so I was saving on shipping money.
You see, I didn’t spend $1000, and actually knowing which one was best allowed me to make an informed decision. So if you’re buying a used one, find a good deal somewhere, or if you so happen to be rich which some people are, it’s good to know what you’re dealing with.
The Henry is also a great little 22LR for the money, but obviously the Winchester 9422 is better. It has an all steel construction, forged steel receiver and is simply built to a higher standard. In fact that standard was so high and it was so expensive to make, that’s why they stopped producing it in the first place. This is why you see some very old Winchesters, beaten the crap out of and with almost no bluing left still ticking, the kind of gun that outlasts its owner with ease. This is why they are highly regarded and go for pretty high prices.
As I said in the previous post, if you want to keep it simple and cheap get a Ruger 10/22. You should own one anyway.
For what I had in mind (and yes, given that the price wasn’t an issue) the Winchester presented certain advantages.
As a heirloom gun, its hard to go wrong with a lever action Winchester. For a novel shooter the lever action makes the shooter take his time, be more aware of the round in the chamber and overall keeps things simple and at a nice slow pace to learn proper marksmanship, even if with practice he can become pretty fast with it. In my son’s case playing “Fallout” and liking to use the lever action in the game was an added bonus.
As for the price, of course it makes no sense to spend a grand on a 22 unless you have money to throw around, but if you can get it for a great price like I did then more power to you. Nothing wrong with owning a gun that keeps gaining value as time goes by, rather the opposite.
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”