Henry Big Boy Side Gate .45 LC Octagon - Polished Blue, 20" Barrel, 10 Rounds, American Walnut Stock

I have been wanting one of these for a long time and now I have one. The color case hardening and the checkering are beautiful. Very fast shipping, ordered on a Sunday afternoon and arrived at my FFL on Tuesday.

I chose to pay with a check and Buds is not kidding when they say that will delay delivery. 5 days to clear and then multiple days to ship. Somewhat used to 2 day shipping on firearms. Not a complaint since Buds is clear about that but I won't go the 5 day check clearing route again. As far as the gun goes... This is a beautiful solid feeling gun. Unboxing it was a great pleasant experience of ongoing appreciation for the soundness of this gun. Then it went south as I inspected the gun closely. 1.) The surface of the side loading gate on this brand new out of the box gun is extremely scratched up. Not sure if if that is possible to scratch the gate like that with the at factory firing test. To me it shows like excessive wear. As if this gun has been used a fair bit already. Or the polish and finish on their steel is extremely soft which doesn't bode well. 2.) Worse are two hard knicks in the bluing of the barrel down to bear steel on the edge of the octagon barrel of the gun itself. They are almost like burrs when you run your finger over them. My experience with the gun stops there as I will not fire or use this gun until Henry remediates. Have my first call into them and am praying this 100% satisfaction guarantee thing from Henry has weight to it. Still not looking forward to having to pay additional shipping costs and delay my use of this piece. Bought this for heirloom piece for my offspring, there are 4 inspector signatures from the factory employees on the Henry inspection card and not sure how a gun this blemished would have ever been shipped out.