Project Description
!!!!!SOLD!!!!! This is a 1/2 scale Henry lever action military rifle made by master miniature maker Isaias Aguilar of Corpus Christi, Texas, probably in the 1990’s. Mr. Aguilar worked for Tom Weston in Mexico City, Mexico before immigrating to the U.S. to live with his daughter where he set up a shop & continued to make miniatures. 21 7/8″ long overall with a 12 1/8″ octagon rifled barrel of .22 caliber. Brass frame, sideplates, cartridge lifter, magazine follower, buttplate, & buttplate cleaning rod trapdoor. Steel barrel, rear sight, sling swivels, trigger, checkered hammer, lever, lever latch, and screws, all finished in the white. Nickel silver front sight. Unfinished walnut buttstock. Fully functional, but non-firing. Looks to have the proper functioning twin firing pins & twin extractors, & is chambered for the 4mm rimfire cartridge. The barrel address and rear sight markings were hand engraved b y Mr. Aguilar. Formerly in the Joel Morrow & Cranford Dalby collections. Near mint as made 98%+ condition showing only the most minor of handling wear. Unlike an actual Henry rifle where the barrel & magazine are machined from one piece of steel, Mr. Aguilar made them in two pieces & soldered them together similar to some double barrel shotguns. There are some minor voids in the solder joint on both sides, & the hammer spring is very weak. This exact rifle featured in the book The Art of Miniature Firearms – Centuries of Craftsmanship on page 195. Most, if not all, of the Henry rifles made with sling swivels were bought & used by various military entities including the governments of both sides in the Civil War, & numerous state or private regiments. Of course after the war, these ended up in civilian hands & were used throughout the western expansion of the U.S.. “Pa” from the TV show Bonanza carried a Henry rifle, which at that time was probably an original! !!!!!SOLD!!!!!
