by Supaduke » 12 Sep 2016, 3:45 pm
I can say that the loading tube was not an issue. For hunting you can load 5 in the tube (Henry says 4 ,to avoid over compression of the mag spring I guess) and drop one in the chamber for 6 rounds of 45-70. Nothing that walks this planet is getting up after 6 rounds of 45-70. If it does, the zombie apocalypse has begun and we all know you should double tap the head.
With a little practice, tube feeding is actually very quick. Hold the rifle upside down with your support hand. Twist and slide the tube with your other hand and expose the gate. Grab four shells, clink,clink,clink,clink. They go in very easily. Slide and twist closed, rack, point, fire. I think if I was in a hurry I could do it in about 10 secs.
When shooting off hand I loaded the tube. When shooting off the bag I usually single fed, which was easy to do.
For sh1ts and giggles at the range it's really hard to beat a lever gun. Shooting groups with a scope is fun. But shooting a lever off hand at short to moderate range is a real hoot, especially at some sort of reactive target. I like clays and milk bottles full of water.