Henry Golden Boy Youth 22 S L LR Lever Action 17 in. – Superb Easy First Lever Gun

Description

The Henry Golden Boy Youth is a scaled down lever action rimfire, model H004Y, and it is the rifle a lot of people picture when they picture a first rifle that will still be in the family in fifty years.

Seventeen inch octagon barrel, Brasslite receiver, American walnut, and a tube that takes .22 Short, .22 Long or .22 Long Rifle. Twelve Long Rifle or sixteen Shorts.

What the Henry Golden Boy Youth gives you

• .22 Short, .22 Long and .22 Long Rifle, all three
• Twelve Long Rifle or sixteen Short in the tube
• 17 inch octagon barrel, 1:16 twist
• Brasslite receiver
• American walnut stock
• Lever action with a tubular magazine
• Drilled and tapped
• 33.75 inches overall, six pounds
• Henry part number H004Y

Why the Henry Golden Boy Youth is a good rifle to learn on

• The lever stroke is a deliberate, visible action that an adult can watch from beside the shooter
• Nothing is loaded until the lever is worked, so the rifle can be carried safely with a full tube
• A tube magazine has no detachable part to lose in long grass
• The action is the same one a child has seen in every western ever made, which matters more than adults think
• It is quiet in .22 Short, which takes the intimidation out of a first session

Henry H004Y specifications

• Manufacturer part number: H004Y
• Model: Golden Boy Youth
• Caliber: .22 Short, .22 Long and .22 Long Rifle
• Capacity: 12 Long Rifle or 16 Short
• Action: lever action
• Magazine: tubular, front loading
• Barrel length: 17 inches, octagon
• Rate of twist: 1:16
• Receiver finish: Brasslite
• Stock: American walnut
• Sights: fitted
• Drilled and tapped: yes
• Overall length: 33.75 inches
• Weight: 6 pounds
• Hand: right

It feeds three different cartridges, and almost nothing else does

Sports South records the chambering as .22 Short, .22 Long and .22 Long Rifle, with a tube that holds twelve Long Rifle or sixteen Shorts. Very few modern rimfires will do this, and it matters more than it sounds. .22 Short out of a 17 inch barrel is remarkably quiet, which makes it the right thing for a young shooter’s first session, for teaching in a confined space, and for pest work close to buildings where a Long Rifle would carry. Mixing types in the tube is not the idea: load one kind at a time and the lever does the rest.

We do not currently stock .22 Short, so plan on Armscor 36 grain Long Rifle as the everyday load, which we hold deepest, or Winchester Wildcat in a 1,500 round jug. Ask us if .22 Short matters to you and we will look at getting it in.

The Henry Golden Boy Youth receiver is Brasslite, not solid brass

Henry call the receiver finish Brasslite, and Zanders records the metal color as bi-tone. It is a brass colored alloy receiver rather than a solid brass casting, which is exactly how Henry keep a youth rifle light enough and affordable. It looks like the full size brass guns and it will not patina in the same way. Anyone buying this expecting the solid brass receiver of a full size Golden Boy should know the difference before the box is opened rather than after.

Sizing the Henry Golden Boy Youth against a smaller first rifle

At six pounds and 33.75 inches this is a youth rifle for a bigger child, not a small one. For comparison, the Keystone Crickett we also stock is three pounds and 30.5 inches, single shot, and suits a genuinely small shooter. This one is heavier than the Crickett and heavier than some adult .22s, because the octagon barrel and the walnut are where the weight is. That weight makes it steady to shoot; it also means a very young child will struggle to hold it up unsupported. Buy the size, not the looks.

And on hearing protection, the same point applies as on any rifle a child will shoot: youth sized electronic earmuffs let them still hear you correcting them. Adult muffs leak at the seal on a small head.

Scopes and other Golden Boys

The receiver is drilled and tapped, and because a lever gun ejects from the top the usual answer is a forward mount: the Henry cantilever scope mount for the Golden Boy is the factory part for it, and there is an EGW scope base as the alternative. Elsewhere in the Golden Boy rack we have the H16 Golden Boy Deadeye and a second Deadeye configuration, and if you want the same lever action in something far larger, the Henry Brass .45-70 Side Gate is at the other end of the range.

Worth knowing before you buy

• The Henry Golden Boy Youth has a tubular magazine loaded through the front of the tube. No detachable magazine.
• 17 inch octagon barrel, 1:16 twist, drilled and tapped.
• American walnut stock, no checkering, no swivel studs and no recoil pad.
• A youth rifle is for supervised use. It belongs in an adult’s hands between sessions, with the ammunition stored separately.
• The .22 rimfire family is standardized by SAAMI, and Henry publish their range at henryusa.com.

Why the Henry Golden Boy Youth earns its place

• Three cartridges from one rifle, including the very quiet .22 Short
• An octagon barrel and walnut on a youth gun, where almost everything else is synthetic
• A lever action, which is the most watchable action to teach with
• Made by Henry, who replace parts and answer the phone
• It will look worth keeping in twenty years, which matters for a first rifle

This suits a bigger child or a small adult, and a family who want the first rifle to be something kept rather than outgrown and sold. It suits anyone teaching in a confined space, because .22 Short through seventeen inches of barrel is genuinely quiet. It is not the right rifle for a very small shooter at six pounds, it is not fast, and it is not cheap for a .22. The Henry Golden Boy Youth is bought by people who have decided the first rifle should be a nice one.