In recent years, center-fire lever-action rifles have been undergoing a tactical transformation. In place of their 19th century hardwood stocks and blued-steel finishes, they have been retrofitted with polymer and skeletonized aluminum furniture and treated with various colors of Cerakote coatings. Other features have been updated as well, including the incorporation of Picatinny optics rails and fiber optic sights from the factory. The big-bore versions of these “cyborg” lever-guns have become popular options with hunters who want to hunt with a suppressor, so threaded muzzles are now a standard feature.
Henry’s latest rimfire carbine incorporates features borrowed from the center-fire X Model series.
Henry Repeating Arms took its first steps into the modernized lever-gun market back in 2020 with the launch of the polymer stocked, centerfire X Model series of carbines and rifles. Early in 2025, this company launched the Lever Action Supreme lineup. Although these guns are still outfitted with American walnut stocks, they fire AR-15-compatible cartridges fed from AR-pattern magazines. Then, later in the year, the SPD HUSH models began shipping with AR-type handguards and carbon-fiber-wrapped barrels.
Clearly Henry is not shying away from the 21st century lever-gun movement. Rumor has it that more are in the works. And even the new models that do not fully embrace the tactical treatment are still incorporating popular features including Cerakote finishes and threaded barrels.
This model can shoot .22 Long and .22 Short in addition to .22 LR, if you can find them.
But my question for the past several years remained unanswered. What about Henry's exceptionally popular H1 series rimfire models? As much as fans of these handy little lever-guns enjoy the classic hardwood furniture and styling, there has to be more folks other than just me asking for an H1 update.
At long last, the rimfire requests were answered at the beginning of this year when Henry announced the launch of the H1 X Model. Available chambered in .22 LR or .22 WMR, these H1 carbines sport a brand-new receiver configuration and the most popular features of the center-fire X Models. For this evaluation, I went with the model chambered for .22 LR.
The X Model pistol grip stock and oval lever loop take the place of the classic straight-grip stock and standard lever.
This version of the H1 does not wander too far from the smooth-operating and reliable lever-action it has always been. It still has a lightweight aluminum receiver with blued-steel appointments, a round-profile barrel and a tubular magazine with a removable brass liner and a cartridge-shaped loading port. This model ships with the shorter carbine-length 16.5" barrel and a magazine capacity of up to 12-rounds of .22 LR.
The hammer has the familiar serrated spur, for added purchase, and the quarter-cock safety. When the hammer is partially cocked, it is out of contact with the firing pin in case it gets bumped, and the trigger is blocked from cycling until the hammer is fully cocked manually or by cycling the action.
The magazine holds up to 12 rounds of .22 LR.
From here the carbine's features move into X Model territory. Like the center-fire models in the series, the barrel has been threaded at 1/2x28" TPI to support popular muzzle accessories including sound suppressors and compensators. A knurled thread protector, with a rubber gasket to keep it from shaking loose, is provided.
The receiver's 1950s era 3/8ths groove rail has been replaced by an integral, full-length Picatinny rail. This type of scope base is all but ubiquitous these days, making the latest H1 optics-ready right out of the box for most of the readily available scopes and red dot optics on the market.
A new feature for the H1 series is the integral optics rail paired with fiber-optic sights.
Thankfully, Henry did not do away with this carbine's iron sights when they added the optics rail. In fact, the sights have been upgraded from the buckhorn configuration found on the classic models. The front sight, which sports a bright green light pipe, is paired with a rear sight that has two red pipes on either side of the square notch. This rear sight is fitted with a height-adjustment screw and it is drift adjustable for windage.
The black polymer forend is straight out of the X Model playbook. The grip surface is rounded with light texturing on either side for improved purchase. In place of the classic barrel ring, two screws are used to secure the forend to an internal mount. It has also been extended to provide a total of three M-LOK type accessory slots and an integral sling-swivel mount. This simple modification to the forend makes it easy to attach bipods and other accessories.
Removable spacers allow the length of pull to be adjusted.
For those who are familiar with the traditional H1 models, the changes to this version's grip, lever shape and trigger will be among the most noticeable. The straight-back grip has been traded out for the X Model style pistol grip. The lever's loop is curved downwards, to match the shape of the grip, but also larger and more rounded to make it more comfortable to cycle with either bare or gloved hands. The smooth faced rimfire trigger has been replaced with the same grooved trigger found on the center-fire X Models.
The author found that the H1 X Model is just as enjoyable and reliable as the classic models.
The black polymer shoulder stock with its textured grip is the same profile as those found on other X Models. However, the soft rubber recoil pad has been replaced with a diamond checkered polymer butt plate. This plate is supported by a pair of removable 0.25" thick spacers which allow the length of pull (LOP) to be adjusted to 14", 13.75" and 13.50" depending on the owner's preferences. It is a nice touch that makes this model more accessible to small-framed shooters.
Overall, the H1 X Model exhibited the same top-notch fit and finish for which Henry is famous. It tipped the scales at 5 lbs. 4.9 oz., making it one of the lightest H1 series guns available. It balances nicely and cycles smoothly right out of the box. The creep-free, single-stage trigger exhibited a 0.25" arch of travel after breaking cleanly with just 2 lbs. 8 oz. of trigger pull according to a Lyman digital trigger gauge. Folks have paid good money for custom rifle triggers or upgrades to feel as light and smooth as this one does from the factory.
This carbine printed some tight groups using commonly available .22 LR loads.
At the shooting range, the H1 X Model was put through its paces using a mix of commonly available .22 LR loads including practice and premium-grade options. The optics rail was put to work supporting a Bushnell Rimfire 3-9x40 Rifle Scope featuring a DZ22 Dropzone 22 reticle using a Weaver One-Piece SPR (48377) scope mount. As expected, the levels of felt recoil were tame and the rifle reliably cycled all of the ammunition fired. There were no malfunctions, gun or ammunition related, throughout the course of testing.
The best individual 3-shot group of 0.49” was fired using the Aguila high velocity load.
Formal bench-rested performance testing was conducted by firing three 3-shot groups, using a trio of loads, into paper targets posted at 50 yards. A Garmin Xero C1 Pro chronograph was used to measure the average bullet velocities at the muzzle for 10-shot strings. The ammunition used included Aguila Interceptor, CCI Clean-22 and Remington Standard Velocity loads. Sub one-inch groups would have been a plus with this gun. But some loads demonstrated half-inch group potential. Here are the results:
Henry's choice to add the H1 carbines to its X Model series is a timely one. As beloved as the classic models are, and will continue to be, shooting sports enthusiast’s expectations are changing. By applying the X Model features to these rimfires, the H1s can now compete with the more tactically minded .22 LR semi-automatics without sacrificing the features that make working with rimfire lever guns such an enjoyable pursuit. This is now a truly do-all platform that can be used for plinking, target shooting, easily outfitted with an optic for small-game hunting, and it makes for a quiet and reliable sound suppressor host. The .22 LR model discussed here is available for a suggested retail price of $590 with the .22 WMR version listed for $690. For more information, visit henryusa.com.
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