Henry Repeating Arms unveiled its X Model line in January 2020, and by the end of the year it was the third-fastest lever action sold by FFLs using the services of GunBroker.com. That’s a big move for any gun, but in a year when purchases were primarily focused on handguns and home-defense semi-autos it says even more for a firearm just entering the market.
Of course, the company’s reputation for quality helped bolster those early orders that are traditionally moderate for retailers to first “gauge response.” The firearm’s concept was teased during the 2018 NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits, but enthusiasts didn’t get a glimpse of the final product for another year and a half. It was worth the wait.
Originally there were five models, Big Boys that chambered .44 Mag./.44 Spl., .357 Mag./.38 Spl. and .45 Colt. There was also a .45-70 Gov’t. version as well as one for .410-bore shotshells. This year the company added a .30-30 Win. version to the line. MSRPs are $1,000 for everything except the latter, which comes in at $1,019.
Each have a pistol-gripped buttstock made from black synthetic and a generous rubber recoil pad. Picatinny and M-LOK accessory rails are on the fore-end and sling swivel studs are integrated into the polymer stock design. Their matte-blued steel receivers are drilled and tapped to accept optic mounts and feature a side loading gate. Rifle versions have their barrels threaded for muzzle devices and the smooth-bore .410 is internally threaded to accept invector-style choke tubes. Fiber optic sights ride the rifles, whereas the shotgun has a single fiber optic up front.
The guns use tubular magazines, with the .45-70 Gov’t. holding four rounds, the .357 Mag., .44 Mag. and 45 Colt versions carry seven and the .30-30 Win. comes in at five. The .410 holds six shotshells.
The X Model shotgun has a barrel length of 19.8". The figure is 17.4 " in the pistol cartridge models, 21.375" for the .30-30 Win. and 19.8" for the .45-70 Gov’t. Each have a transfer bar safety and weights run roughly between 7 and 8 lbs.
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