Henry has just released the Lever Action Supreme Rifle, an AR magazine-fed lever-action available in .223 Rem. and .300 BLK.
Since lever-actions began soaring in popularity again a few years ago, manufacturers have approached the trend in different ways. Some kept things simple and classic while others went modern and tactical. Somewhere in the middle is the new Henry Lever Action Supreme Rifle, or LASR. Featuring wood furniture and mostly traditional looks, the lever-action has a few modern tricks up its sleeve too.
First and foremost, the Lever Action Supreme is available in either .223 Rem./5.56 NATO or .300 BLK and feeds from standard AR-15 magazines. Switching from a traditional tube magazine to box mags enabled Henry to chamber the rifle for these common cartridges, something typically not possible due to their pointy spitzer bullets. The change also increases the gun's potential capacity, as even though each Lever Action Supreme will ship with a 5-round (10-round with limiter) PMAG, the guns can accept any standard AR-pattern magazine.
Other features include threaded barrels (1/2×28 for 5.56, 5/8×24 for .300 BLK) and drilled and tapped receivers for mounting optics. The rifles also have match-grade adjustable triggers, adjustable rear sights and ambidextrous controls. Further, Henry says that the actions are exceptionally smooth and that the free-floated barrels are capable of sub-MOA accuracy (18-inch barrels for the 5.56 model, 16.5-inch barrels for the .300 BLK model). Despite some of those more modern details, the Henry Lever Action Supreme still looks pretty classic thanks to its American walnut stock and forend. The furniture also features a rubber recoil pad and sling swivel studs.
Andy Wickstrom, President of Henry Repeating Arms, said this about the new rifle:
The Lever Action Supreme Rifle is a testament to our commitment to innovation and pushing boundaries while preserving the soul of the platform that brought us to the dance … With several patent-pending advancements on board, we’ve created a rifle that propels the lever action into the future.
The .223 Rem./5.56 NATO and .300 BLK Henry Lever Action Supreme Rifles share an MSRP of $1,299 and both are available now.
For more information, visit henryusa.com.
More On Lever-Actions:
- Tactical Lever-Action Rifle: Best Of The New Old School
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- On The Range With The Marlin 1894 Classic
- Marlin Model 1895 Trapper Review: The Hunting Panther
- The Lever-Action .22 For Every Shooter: Rossi Rio Bravo
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Many believe that the most important innovation in this lever gun is its bolt and system of lockup. Original lever guns used a not-very-strong rear link/toggle type. The legendary John M. Browning came up with an entire new system using vertical sliding bars at the back of the bolt, vastly increasing the strength. But even that innovation could not match the Mauser-style rotating forward lug of bolt guns for strength. And also of great importance is that a forward locking lug has the potential for far greater accuracy than any rear-locking bolt system. This from the Henry web site:
“At its heart lies a patent-pending quad bar linkage and slider crank mechanism that propels the already famously smooth Henry action to new heights. This action drives a bolt with a multi-lug rotating face for positive lockup, extraction, and ejection.”