Henry Big Boy All Weather Rifle in 357 Magnum, My New ATV Gun

By Major Van Harl
The Major adds the Henry Big Boy All Weather Rifle in 357 Magnum to his tool box.

Henry Big Boy All Weather 357 Mag Lever Action Rifle
Henry Big Boy All Weather 357 Mag Lever Action Rifle
Major Van Harl USAF Ret
Major Van Harl USAF Ret

Wisconsin –-(Ammoland.com)- It would appear that Joseph Jakubowski was not happy with his world and wanted it to change.

His problem is he tried to change things allegedly by stealing rifles, handguns and even a fully automatic rifle from a south central Wisconsin gun shop. He then compounded his problems by mailing a 160 page manifesto to the President of the United States. Oh, and he had to video himself mailing the package to Mr. Trump. The concept of a domestic terrorist comes to mind.

In Wisconsin the Jakubowski story was on all the local TV stations and because he involved the White House the national and international press had the story.

We have a farm in western hills of Wisconsin. A couple of weeks ago I was out there shooting the new Henry lever action 410 shotgun and the news coverage of Jakubowski was on the radio the entire time we were at the farm. I mentioned to the Colonel that is was a little creepy. Jakubowski could very easily head west and be hiding out in the hills around my farm.

As we drove home there were electronic billboards on the interstate with warning messages for the public to be aware of Jakubowski and that he was armed and on the loose, but nobody knew where.

On 14 Apr 2017 on the news I heard that Jakubowski was captured and no shots had been fired, but I did not know where they found him. So I went to my computer and discovered he was found sleeping under a blue tarp on a farm about 33 miles from my farm, both farms are in the same county.
Ten minutes after I read about Jakubowski being illegally armed and that close to my property, I got an e-mail that said my new Henry Big Boy All Weather 357 mag lever action rifle had just arrived at the Shooters Sports Center in Racine, Wisconsin (www.shootersonline.com). The little gray cells started to go into overdrive and I made the decision that the All Weather Henry was my new field rifle.

Henry Big Boy All Weather 357 Mag Lever Action Rifle

Henry Big Boy All Weather Rifle and stainless 357 mag revolver.
Henry Big Boy All Weather Rifle and stainless 357 mag revolver.

I carry a stainless 357 mag revolver when I am at my farm. I work hard and I want a handgun that does not rust because it is riding on my hip as I am sweating doing manual labor. So a rifle in 357 mag as a companion to the handgun makes perfect sense to me.

Henry’s All Weather Big Boy has a hard chrome finish that is very resistant to moisture damage and resistant to the knocks and bangs of field use. Going on line I ordered a set of rifle racks to mount onto my ATV so I can now take my Henry with me as I travel the woods of my land. Other than during deer season I have never come upon a trespasser on my land, armed or otherwise – so far that is.

Now during deer season I have run into people armed and on my land and not happy that I want them to leave. Even the big city deer hunter who only has a rifle in his hands one week a year can become a little too emboldened when he is armed and you tell him “no.”

I have made up my mind that I will put the Henry All Weather 357 mag rifle on my ATV and along with my chainsaws, ax, shovel, hammer, and pick I will consider the rifle just another tool I need to take with me into the woods.

Mr. Imperato the president of Henry Repeating Arms does not believe in the use of plastic stocks on his lever action rifles. When you first see a Henry All Weather rifle you might think the stock is black plastic. It is in fact a walnut stock with an extremely durable and scratch resistant coating on the wood.

Think of the expensive, long lasting, wear resistant sealants that are used to protect the hard wood floors of high end homes.

There is no plan to leave the rifle mounted on my Honda and parked out in the rain and snow for days on end, but I do have plans to have the All Weather Henry strapped onto my four wheeler for long days of backwoods field management.

Running into Mr. Jakubowski or anyone else of a criminal like-minded attitude without a long gun at hand is something I need to prevent. Always remember, the primary use of a handgun is to fight your way back to your long gun. If you don’t have the long gun with you in the first place you may be headed to a fair fight. There is no honor in losing a fair gun fight.

The Henry All Weather Big Boy holds ten, plus one rounds of 357 mag ammo. You can get eleven, plus one if you load the rifle with 38 Special. An extra fifty round box of 357 mag ammo takes up very little room on an ATV. So if you have both a handgun and a rifle chambered in 357 mag you can resupply both firearms with less stress in a crisis. That crisis being a Jakubowski want-to-be roaming your land with a load of stolen firearms, some as in Jakubowski’s case fully automatic.

Henry Big Boy All Weather Rifle in 357 Magnum
Henry Big Boy All Weather Rifle in 357 Magnum
Henry Big Boy All Weather Rifle and 357 Magnum Ammo from Buffalo Bore
Henry Big Boy All Weather Rifle and 357 Magnum Ammo from Buffalo Bore

Mr. Tim Sundles’ Buffalo Bore ammunition is the 357 mag ammo already chambered in the handgun I carry everyday on my farm. It will be a simple matter to take some of this rather warm and fast shooting ammo and load it into my Henry All Weather 357 mag lever action rifle. The Buffalo Bore 19D/20 357 mag ammo uses a 125 JHC bullet that travels at 1700 fps in a pistol. In a rifle it generates the energy of the 30-30 Winchester cartridge.

A “Henry Delay” is the concept of delaying evil from harming you or your family. In most cases the person carrying a Henry rifle in the woods is not in law enforcement. It is not suggested you need to stop evil, by taking the law into your own hands, that is what a cell phone is for after you delay evil.

Call the law, but expect the reality that you are standing in the woods miles from the nearest Sheriff’s deputy, your holding a firearm that can change your entire life in a split second. If you cannot retrograde out of the area and stay safe from evil you may have to engage that evil. The problem is you have to be prepared to withstand potential violence when you are in the bush.

You must be armed and have given serious thought to the idea you might have to use your firearm or you could perhaps come out of the woods strapped on the back of the ATV. You know, the way they bring deer out after a successful hunt.

The All Weather Henry is a Big Boy steel rifle that Henry has been making for years. There is no question about the quality of the rifle. What you are getting with the All Weather Henry rifle is the ability to be a bit rougher with your firearm in the field, have that lever gun take the punishment and keep functioning as the expertly manufactured tool Henry made for you.

Henry Big Boy All Weather Rifle in Hard Chrome
Henry Big Boy All Weather Rifle in Hard Chrome

Man is a pretty weak creature without his tools. We do however have the ability to develop sophisticated ones. I would suggest the All Weather Henry Big Boy lever action rifle is sophisticated enough to keep you alive in a back woods crisis or your home in the city at 3:00 am. You just have to make the decision to own the tools that will keep you safe and afford you that edge that allows you to prevail in a crisis. Even more importantly you have to make the decision to take the tools with you when you go out into the world.

You will not get to pick the time and place you have to engage with your Henry to save your life, evil gets to pick that. Your requirement is to have the skill to successfully engage and the ability to make the split second decision to delay evil.

I believe a quality Henry rifle in your hands will make the difference in surviving the day.

Major Van Harl USAF Ret. / [email protected]

About Major Van Harl USAF Ret.:Major Van E. Harl USAF Ret., a career Police Officer in the U.S. Air Force was born in Burlington, Iowa, USA, in 1955. He was the Deputy Chief of police at two Air Force Bases and the Commander of Law Enforcement Operations at another. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Infantry School.  A retired Colorado Ranger and currently is an Auxiliary Police Officer with the Cudahy PD in Milwaukee County, WI.  His efforts now are directed at church campus safely and security training.  He believes “evil hates organization.”  [email protected]

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John Dunlap

It is sad that the author is encountering so called hunters who don’t have the common sense or moral character to obtain the land owner’s permission before setting foot on his property. I own a Henry Big Boy in .45 Colt. It’s an excellent rifle. The removable tube system makes it easier and safer to unload than other lever guns, but that same feature is the reason it isn’t my go to for bumps in the night. It’s just too slow and cumbersome for high stress reloads. While this would not be an issue during the average self defense encounter… Read more »

PastorGlock

Mr. Gaffney it’s magazines not clips. Clips are for hair or potato chips.

John Brown

Clarkie is a certified idiot. Nuff said

Bob Shell

A 357 in a handgun & rifle is an excellent choice especially if you hand load. I have a Ruger 77 in 357 and it is so accurate and flexible. I have chronographed loads in both and the difference is very pronounced. I have fired the Liberty in the rifle & got just under 2700 FPS & in a 4″ about 2000. Most ammo is 3 to 400 FPS difference. With a good 180 or 200 gr big game is on the menu. I can shoot 30’s in & am thinking about rechambering to a 357 maxi which would be… Read more »

Alan Moon

Nice gun and a good choice for you but just 2 things. #1 Slow to load with the sliding tube magazine, and #2, the law in many states is that no long guns can be loaded in or on a motor vehicle. if you get into some kind of pickle, reference problem #1. It’s hard to beat an AR-15 that’s just as weatherproof, way quicker to load, and can cost less. Obviously, it’s your local law situation that will be a big factor of what will work best for you.

Ted

Is a farm quad, not tagged or registered for on-road use, considered a motor vehicle in WI?

Joe

Those laws usually don’t apply in your own vehicle while operated on your own land.

john gaffney

i have a decided disgust for “military” style firearms. so anybody posting how a “military ” style firearm is better … i suggest you join the military ! I like civilian sporting firearms. I also read my bible. It says that they pounded their plows into swords, then after the battle, pounded their swords into plow shears. I’ll take a civilian rifle over a military one any day.a civilian one requires care to keep it in good working order. i don’t know of any respectable firearm owner that won’t take care of their tools. So, my point is he refered… Read more »

John Dunlap

Your position mystifies me. The vast majority of modern firearms, including your “doc holiday” single action, are the modified descendants of military arms, some obsolete, some still in service here and there. For rural land owners, ranchers, hunters and others enjoying the outdoors on public and private lands, today’s reality includes not just wild animals and the occasional lone two legged predator, but the very real potential of running afoul of drug smugglers and human traffickers, often armed with actual, illegal and fully automatic military weapons. THIS HAS HAPPENED to me and other members of my family, so don’t even… Read more »

Tony York

Your statement strikes me as one saying ‘I love a good pocket knife, but am disgusted when I see someone with a Bowie’, the so-called military style weapons are guns, plain and simple, not unlike a Remington 7400 although considerably less powerful than a 30-06 version. FYI I do not own an AR-Ak type of rifle i dislike the things myself, however, i have no issue with those that do own the things.

Joe

One could easily take away from his post that he sounds like he might be a hater of all things military to which one would be justified in asking does that include the military itself? Just asking the obvious question based on his comment that he is disgusted with military style weapons and that if we like these we should go join the military and he ends that statement with an exclamation mark!

Clark Kent

22 magnum revolver as a carry weapon? Better practice hitting yourself in the head with it because that is what will happen when the suspect that you shot with same takes it away from you after the round(s) FAILED TO STOP THE LETHAL THREAT PRONTO.

John Dunlap

It’s all about shot placement, Clark. The round and the gun would not be my first choice, but I wouldn’t volunteer to be the target either. The .22 Magnum is ballistically similar to the 5.7 x 28mm. Fired from a rifle, it can punch through level IIA armor inside 50 yards or so. From a handgun, some .22 Mag loads are on par with the .380 auto.

Joe

22 mag projectiles will take a lot of things down. If the options are nothing or a 22 mag, I’d say you are pretty well armed……

Robert Thomas

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Yours shows plainly you are a fool.

Brandi

Your comment is one of the most ignorant, uneducated, ridiculous and condescending I’ve read in a long time. If you don’t like “military style firearms” then don’t use them but berating their utility is simply willful ignorance. All firearms are tools regardless of what they look like. You seem intent on labeling other gun owners to convince yourself of your own perceived superiority. It’s interesting that you base your decision that the rest of us should use only the firearms you approve on your comment that “most engagements in civilian settings are over with only 4 to 6 rounds fired”.… Read more »

Gerry Matheson

Just because something has never happened before, or that you won’t need more fire power at some point, seems pretty narrow minded and limiting. Times are a-changing… it is very possible (likely even?) that in the near future you may need to fend off multiple assailants or advancing enemies… hopefully with more than a .22 six shooter…

Joe

You are clueless as to when or where violence strikes when you question why on earth a person would ever need a gun with larger capacity magazines. Take a power outage lasting days or a natural disaster and you will see why people feel the need for these weapons. Also, your disgust for military style weapons also leads me to ask if you are also disgusted with the military???

Joe

You sound like you are “disgusted” at the military….. I sense you are a liberal who not only hates all things “military” but it also sounds like you are ignorant of why/when you might need a “military style” weapon with a 20-30 round capacity. When the SHTF you will need a fairly long range weapon that fires large quantities in semi-automatic mode and that cries out for the AR-15 or other similar weapon and we’re NOT talking about a 4-5 shot bolt action deer rifle here…… Also, the AR-15 IS the civilian equivalent of the military version because the military… Read more »

M Reyna

A lot of people on farms and ranches use 4 wheelers
For all kinds of chores including riding fence. A good
All purpose rifle is the Ruger Ranch rifle come in .223 or .308 with 20 round magazines that do not extend to far making it easy to carry and handle. that I would think would be the better choice.
As far as which hand gun its about which kinds of critters you have in your area. But a .357 side arm is not a bad choice it’s just and individual choice

Mark Lee

I would never own a rifle with a tubular magazine unless it could be loaded by a receiver side-loading port. It might work for a plinking .22 rifle, but not for a defensive firearm.

ralph

Think I’d opt for the Taylor Alaskan 357 magnum Takedown.

A bit more $$$ but: it’s takedown…..5.9 lbs ( I believe Henry is at least 7 lbs )…..& has side load gate.

To me, the extra $$$ is worth it.